My people-watching session proved to be more fruitful than I expected! Through the magic of common begging — and with the help of a generous Comic-Con attendee — my boys and I were able to enter the Con and take a quick lap around the exhibit hall to see what we could see.

If you dislike large, fantastically dressed crowds, or are a supervillain wishing to avoid any run-ins with the superhero community, you would be wise to stay away from downtown San Diego this weekend! Comic-Con 2009 has long been sold out — not to keep rubbing it in — but the Gaslamp Quarter is still the place to be this weekend, if only to get in some of the best people watching of the year. Sitting out on the patio of any restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter gives you ringside seats to a true San Diego spectacle as our most colorful conventioneers fill the streets.