[jcanavas]

Ah yeah, San Diego is a blast. Check out Ocean Beach, some great little restaurants and burger joints. must see is the sunset on sunset cliffs blvd. Spectacular, and your wife will love it. La Joya is very nice too, gotta check it out. When in the LA area (I hate LA honestly) but Malibu, actually out 15 minutes outside of Malibu has this awesome fried seafood joint on the county line called Neptune's Net that has great shrimp and crab cakes. Awesome view of the ocean and has a cameo in the first Fast and Furious movie after racing that ferrari. Lots to do if you have a car. No car, you may be limited. Sounds like a blast though, have fun!

[azhollow]

Long time Pasres fan, first game 1972 - moved to AZ in 1981 - dont get back enough. Only real thing to know about Petco - the food is bad, even by ballpark standards. Randy Jones BBQ stand in center good, pricey, there are so many places west of the stadium you better off eating - than walking to game. The pregame atmosphere downtown is based on who in town - so getting in to eat not hard.
Becareful with seats on the first base side - the sun can be a nightmare as it sets. I think it worse in summer, but if u got a choice take the third base side to be safe.
Take a trip to the main gift shop in the western metals building in left field - there a small outdoor spot you can stand against the left field fence - its a neat view you dont see in new parks - has a bit of a throwback feel.
Hope you enjoy San Diego.

[fulltritty]

I went to Petco back in 2009 when I was in San Diego for a conference. It was a really nice stadium and the gas lamp district has lots of nice restaurants. My conference was at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, so it was only about a 15 minute walk to the park.I had a seat behind home plate for dirt cheap compared to our East Coast ball parks.

[krykslr]

I did a two-week consulting program for them through my college a couple summers ago. The park is incredibly nice, and I think you'll enjoy it.

I'd venture over to Old Town if you had a chance, lots of great restaurants and stuff that way, but Gaslamp is really nice too and is right around the park.

Center City Sports Cards is a nice shop, but is organized TERRIBLY....I had a good experience and the guy is really helpful at finding things you're looking for, but it's a mess inside.

[jacobystealshome]

Have a safe trip

appreciate it.

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PETCO Park is next to the "Gaslamp district" where you have great restaurants. It depends what kind of food you like to have that evening after the game.

i did see that there is a Tilted Kilt nearby. Now to convince my wife (or just not tell her)

Upperdeck is in Carlsbad ~20 minutes north of San Diego. You can ask for a tour...not sure they still do this.

ironically, my day in vegas during the trip is work related - im doing an appraisal for an upper deck diamond club member (whose vault is probably better than upper deck's. it's bigger than my house)

Good Luck...San Diego Padres fans are pretty cool. They are much more educated compared to the LA Dodgers Fans. You can wear any gear at PETCO...no one will bother you.

Im breaking out my red sox dave roberts uni :p

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...is it weird that I thought you were talking about going to a PETCO store?

absolutely. but it's alright. youre a red wings fan, so you get a pass

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Ah yeah, San Diego is a blast. Check out Ocean Beach, some great little restaurants and burger joints. must see is the sunset on sunset cliffs blvd. Spectacular, and your wife will love it. La Joya is very nice too, gotta check it out. When in the LA area (I hate LA honestly) but Malibu, actually out 15 minutes outside of Malibu has this awesome fried seafood joint on the county line called Neptune's Net that has great shrimp and crab cakes. Awesome view of the ocean and has a cameo in the first Fast and Furious movie after racing that ferrari. Lots to do if you have a car. No car, you may be limited. Sounds like a blast though, have fun!

ill have a car, but my day in LA is going to be insane for food. my friend is a chef who knows all the top chefs in la, so im getting the best of the best, all gratis. looking forward to going to roy choi's place (actually, probably his food truck)

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Becareful with seats on the first base side - the sun can be a nightmare as it sets. I think it worse in summer, but if u got a choice take the third base side to be safe.

now see, for an irish guy, thats valuable info. sunburn is God's way of telling the Irish to go back in the pub

[swjrp10]

absolutely. but it's alright. youre a red wings fan, so you get a pass

YEY me! lol hope you have fun!

[jacobystealshome]

YEY me! lol hope you have fun!

and hey, if the wings can win game 6 at the joe...i will be in so-cal on sunday for game 7. maybe i can bring them some good luck (2-2 in game 7s when i show up)

[uvaspina]

Not a local, but I spent a week there a few years ago and went to 3 games. One game, I sat in left field near the wall (under the porch area). Another game, i sat in the upper deck behind home plate. The other game, I moved all around. To me, all things considered, I liked sitting in the left field seat the best. The location was very convenient for moving around if you have to (bathrooms, concessions, etc), provides a neat view of the game (albeit somewhat far away from home plate), and the tickets were fairly priced. If you go to a weekend game, I'd definitely recommend getting there early and going to BP. It'll give you a chance to walk around, enjoy the place, and probably catch a ball or two.

I've been to about 10 parks and Petco ranks just behind PNC (for modern parks at least). If anyone cares, I'd rank my favorites as follows:
1. Tiger Stadium (sentimental reasons mostly)
2. Wrigley
4. PNC
5. Petco
6. Old Busch (atmosphere)
7. Comerica
8. Jacobs Field (at the time)- tied
8. Miller Park- tied
10. Great American Ballpark* (I'm a Reds fan and considered it the Great American Disappointment; mostly because of too-high expectations).
11. New Comiskey
12. Cinergy Field (at the time)

*to put my disappointment in context, in college, I had my screensaver set to a real-time (or semi-real-time) video stream of the Great American Ballpark's construction. I was very excited to see it open and though it looked sweet at the time. Finally, last year I made it to a game (three, in fact). I was shocked how spartan the stadium was. Whitewashed interior corridors and all. I was, however, impressed with the fans and the atmosphere. Still, the ballpark itself was surprisingly boring, although the sight lines were great. And to be fair, that's what matters most to me (as a baseball fan). The area surrounding the Great American Ballpark isn't terribly impressive either, at least from an out-of-towner's perspective. By comparison, Detroit has a whole lot more going on in the surrounding neighborhood (as does Cleveland, another downtrodden rust belt town).