[singlepic id=469 w=320 h=240 float=right]What a fun weekend!  This was my first time spending any amount of time in San Diego.  I had a day trip there a few months ago for work, but I don’t really count that.  After staying out later than I should have on Friday night, Vince and I started our trek to San Diego around 11 AM yesterday.  The main reason for heading down to San Diego was to catch the Mets as they were playing the San Diego Padres.  The drive to San Diego was over 3 hours with lots of traffic on the way.  It wasn’t pretty, but we finally arrived at the hotel ready to start the festivities.  We stayed at the Marriott @ Gaslamp Quarter.  Gotta love being able to use hotel points for a weekend getaway.  There’s no way I would have stayed there if not for the points.  But I have to admit, the location couldn’t have been any better.  The hotel was literally right across the street from Petco Park and just a few blocks from main attractions of the Gaslamp Quarter area.  After grabbing some lunch we made a quick trip up to the Sky Lounge on top of the Marriott.  The view from the Sky Lounge was unbelievable.  We could have watched the game from the Lounge as it looked right over left field of Petco Park.  But that just wasn’t going to happen.  After a drink at the Sky Loung we went to the game.  Petco Park is a pretty nice stadium.  Our seats were pretty good, we were on the lower level along the 3rd base line.  During the middle innings we walked around the stadium to see what it had to offer.  I actually thought the park behind center field would be a cool place to go and hang out on game days.  Tickets to see the game from the park are $5, which is very reasonable, and the view is pretty good.  After that, you just have to be up for paying $8 for a bottle of Bud. In the end, the Mets lost.  It’s been a tough season for them (and their fans).

[singlepic id=479 w=320 h=240 float=left]The festivities didn’t end after the game.  After heading back to the hotel to drop a few things off (sunglasses that were no longer needed), we went to 4th Ave to check out a few bars.  Well, we only ended up checking out one bar, Dick’s Last Resort.  Not only is Dick’s a dive bar with live music, the wait staff are outright rude… on purpose!  They literally give everyone a hard time, no one is exempt.  At times I thought it was little over the top, but oh well.  The drinks were reasonably priced and there was a good crowd.  Another thing I didn’t really understand about the bar, people throw paper balls at each other.  At times I couldn’t tell if people were pissed or not when they were hit… not by me, I didn’t partake in that part.  After having a few too many drinks at Dick’s we went back to the Sky Lounge at about midnight to finish the night.  There was a long line to get into the elevator which went straight to the bar.  Lucky for us we were staying there and were able to get in without worrying about lines.  We hung out up there for a good hour or so until the DJ/music stopped.  Some interesting choices of music, at one point the DJ was playing Bell Biv Devoe.  Either way, it was a lot of fun.

[singlepic id=480 w=320 h=240 float=right]Earlier today – after getting Starbucks – we started the trek back to Marina Del Rey, but first we decided to have lunch in La Jolla.  This was my first time in La Jolla too.  Very nice views at the cove.  We didn’t stay long though as we were both pretty beat from the night before.  Luckily the trip back didn’t have as much traffic and only took about 2 and a half hours.

Check out more pictures from the weekend in the photo album here.