Activities for a family passing through (San Diego: hotel, theater, construction)

[tjax1000]

I'll be in the area for a week for training and my wife and 14 mo old are coming along. We'll be staying near the harbor area. I won't have a lot of time, but we will at least have one free day to explore. I'll have a car for work at my disposal also.

Any suggestions on a good part of town to explore? We have thought about doing the zoo, but of course our 14 month old gets just as excited going to Costco as to the zoo or a theme park.

So, maybe we'd like to pick a family/walking friendly part of town to spend a good part of the day, just strolling around looking in the occasional shop or seeing the occasional sideshow attraction. Areas that have grassy parks nearby are a bonus since our boy loves to run around and have fun after sitting in his stroller for a while.

Anyway, I appreciate your ideas on how to spend the day. I hope there will also be a few things my wife and son can do near the hotel while I'm out for the day, but I also want them to feel safe and comfortable, whatever they do.

[cvlp]

If you only have one day to explore, I suggest either Old Town or Balboa Park.
Depends on where your hotel is, as far as your wife and child going out on their own.
There are trolleys, buses and cabs they can get around in if they will not have a car.

Seaport Village is also a nice area to explore, something that may be close to your hotel?

Enjoy your visit!

[tjax1000]

Thanks for the tips, I looked up Balboa Park. I had no idea it was so large, encompassing much more than just the zoo! Does anyone know if there is a playground in the park oriented toward toddler-types? Looks like there may be something in the sports complex area but it isn't on the map I downloaded.

I believe we are staying just to the west of the airport. It looks like the "fun" part of town might be to the southeast of the airport. But, hopefully the wife and kid can find something to do... would hate for them to be stuck in the hotel all day.

Thanks!

[luvSD]

Try Balboa Park. there's lots of gardens to walk in and smell the flowers. There's lots of water fountains to gaze at. If it is the week end,you might get street performers that play music, juggle or make twisty balloons. Your family can try the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater (http://www.san-diego-travels.com/puppet.html - broken link), the Reuben Fleet center has a section dedicated to kids under 5 years old (pretend shopping carts, pretend construction site etc). There's also a huge playground with swings and structures to climb on (along park Blvd). In addition to that, there's stuff there for adults too: Spanish Village has cultural crafts (pottery, stain glass windows etc) and a whole pile of museums.

Seaport Village is a nice place to walk around. It has small creeks, foot bridges, ducks and so forth that can entertain a small child. It's for pedestrians only, so you don't have to worry about cars, though, there's not a whole lot of green space. Specifically: there a carousel (fun fun), 2 or 3 toy stores, ice cream & fudge shop, and cookie store. On occasion they have street performers and horse drawn carriages for hire. Beside Seaport village is the San Diego harbor. You can walk along the harbor and that can be fun just to watch the sailboats etc.

For 14 month old, I don't recommend the New Children's Museum.