San Diego Recap

I'M BACK from San Diego and would like to share a summary of my trip. First of all, the overall purpose - the conference. From an academic standpoint, my two favorites were a session on the "Greenest City in Europe," Freiburg, Germany (read more about that here); and learning about the AltWheels Festival held in Boston, MA. From an entertainment standpoint, the last day luncheon speaker, Joan Embery, was hard to beat. If the name sounds familiar, you probably have seen her on The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. She brought a few animals with her and just was a very engaging speaker overall. She tied into transportation by talking about some of the challenges that are faced when transporting animals - from an elephant getting restless in a trailer during an L.A. traffic jam, to a Macaw parrot screeching bloody murder from the carry-on beneath the seat during take-off. She also showed some of her clips and bloopers from The Tonight Show, and the late great Johnny Carson. It was highly entertaining.

My down time was limited, but I did get some sight-seeing in while I was there. I arrived Tuesday evening and took a walk down to the bay, which was a pretty short walk away. I admired the ships that serve as museums, the cruiseliners, the sculptures, and ate at "Tony's Fishette."

Wednesday morning I walked to the downtown area, where my company has a local office. I met some of the people there, then continued walking through downtown, the famous Gaslamp Quarter (unfortunately didn't take any photos here), and along Harbor Drive until I made it back to the bay. It was there that I fell in love with a huge sculpture of a navy seaman kissing his girl goodbye...and the sun finally came out for awhile so I could see that famous blue San Diego sky. Wednesday evening after a reception at Balboa Park, I ate at a great restaurant in the Gaslamp Quarter.

Thursday - conference all day and scholarship fundraising dinner at night!
Friday after the great Joan Embery program, I caught the trolley to Old Town, which is a state park/historical site representing the birthplace of California, or the site of the first Spanish settlement in the state. There were many shops reflecting this influence. I did a little shopping and a lot of walking, then headed back to the hotel to catch my shuttle to the airport.

There are a ton of things to do in San Diego, and it would be a great city to go back and visit. I didn't really get to see a true sandy beach, but I'll save that for next time! Overall I had a wonderful time. You can check out my photos from the trip here.