 |
United Airlines Flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Diego (SAN)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on United Airlines, which operates 6 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to San Diego (SAN), departing between 6:24am and 10:30pm, and 2 additional non-stop flights, departing between 5:33pm and 7:00pm on select days of the week. Usually a Canadair Regional Jet 700 or Embraer 120 Brasilia is flown for this route. The average travel time from Los Angeles, CA to San Diego, CA is 52 minutes.
During your San Diego vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Downtown
Opened in 1993, the downtown branch is the second location of the Museum of Contemporary Art (the original branch is in La Jolla). Two large and two smaller galleries present changing exhibitions of nationally and internationally distinguished contemporary artists; plan to spend about half an hour here. Lectures and tours for adults and children are also offered. The first Thursday evening of every month is "TNT" (Thursday Night Thing), with eclectic artist events and drawing the martini set. In 2005 MCA will take over the baggage building of the Santa Fe depot across the street, which will almost triple the exhibition space at this branch, making it the preeminent museum in downtown. Docent tours are available on request.
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
This beautiful facility is both an aquarium and a museum, operated as the interpretive arm of the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography. To make the most of the experience, be sure to pick up a visitor guide from the information booth just inside the entrance, and take time to read the text on each of the exhibits. The aquarium affords close-up views of the Pacific Northwest, the California coast, Mexico's Sea of Cortez, and the tropical seas, all presented in more than 60 marine-life tanks. The giant kelp forest is particularly impressive. Exotic highlights include the fanciful white anemones and the ethereal moon jellies, which look like elegant parachutes. The sea horse propagation program here has met with excellent results -- nine different species of sea horse are on display in one of the aquarium's best exhibits. The outdoor demonstration tide pool not only shows visitors marine coastal life but also offers an amazing view of Scripps Pier, La Jolla Shores Beach, the village of La Jolla, and the ocean. Free tide-pool talks are offered on weekends, which is also when the aquarium is most crowded, and off-site adventures are conducted year-round (call for more details). The museum section has numerous interpretive exhibits on current and historic research at the Scripps Institution, which was established in 1903 and became part of the University of California system in 1912. You'll learn what fog is and why salt melts snow; the number of supermarket products with ingredients that come from the sea (including toothpaste and ice cream) might surprise you; and you can feel what an earthquake is like and experience a simulator ride, Morphis. The bookstore is well stocked with textbooks, science books, educational toys, gifts, and T-shirts.
Old Town State Historic Park
Dedicated to re-creating the early life of the city from 1821 to 1872, this is where San Diego's Mexican heritage shines brightest. The community was briefly Mexico's informal capital of the California territory; the Stars and Stripes were finally raised over Old Town in 1846. Seven of the park's 20 structures are original, including homes made of adobe; the rest are reconstructed. The park's headquarters is at the Robinson-Rose House, 4002 Wallace St., where you can pick up a map and peruse a model of Old Town as it looked in 1872. Among the park's attractions are La Casa de Estudillo, which depicts the living conditions of a wealthy family in 1872; and Seeley Stables, named after A. L. Seeley, who ran the stagecoach and mail service in these parts from 1867 to 1871. The stables have two floors of wagons, carriages, stagecoaches, and other memorabilia, including washboards, slot machines, and hand-worked saddles. On Wednesdays and Saturdays, costumed park volunteers reenact life in the 1800s with cooking and crafts demonstrations, a working blacksmith, and parlor singing. Free 1-hour walking tours leave weekdays at 11am, and Saturday-Sunday at 2pm, from the Robinson-Rose House. Note that on weekdays throughout the school year, Old Town buzzes with fourth-graders.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
San Diego area, including:
Omni San Diego Hotel
San Diego's newest downtown property is noteworthy for the fourth-floor "skybridge" that connects it with Petco Park -- it's the only hotel in the U.S. directly linked to a major-league facility. Twelve rooms even have (limited) views of the field. There's also a signature suite decked out in baseball collector's items (trimmed in the Padres' orange and black color scheme), and the hotel's common areas are decorated with baseball memorabilia, such as Babe Ruth's 1932 contract with the Yankees and Joe DiMaggio's cleats from his 1941 streak. If you want to be in the heart of the baseball action, this is it. The rest of the year, this $124 million, 32-story high-rise competes for the business crowd, luring conventioneers with 20,000 square feet of meeting space and an up-to-the-minute business center. Rooms feature work desks, dual-line telephones, and 330-count Egyptian cotton sheets, while a sixth-floor rooftop terrace has a double-sided fireplace, an outdoor swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi.
The Bed & Breakfast Inn at La Jolla
A 1913 Cubist house designed by San Diego's first important architect, Irving Gill -- and occupied in the 1920s by John Philip Sousa and his family -- is the setting for this cultured and elegant B&B. Reconfigured as lodging, the house has lost none of its charm, and its appropriately unfrilly period furnishings add to the sense of history. The inn also features lovely enclosed gardens and a cozy library and sitting room. Sherry and fresh-cut flowers await in every room, some of which feature a fireplace or ocean view. Each room has a private bathroom, most of which are on the compact size. The furnishings are tasteful and cottage-style, with plenty of historic photos of La Jolla. Gourmet breakfast is served wherever you desire -- dining room, patio, sun deck, or in your room. Picnic baskets (extra charge) are available with a day's notice. The gardens surrounding the inn were originally planned by Kate Sessions, who went on to create much of the landscaping for Balboa Park.
Gaslamp Plaza Suites
You can't get closer to the center of the vibrant Gaslamp Quarter than this beautifully restored late Victorian. At 11 stories, it was San Diego's first skyscraper, built in 1913. Crafted (at great expense) of Australian gumwood, marble, brass, and exquisite etched glass, the splendid building originally housed San Diego Trust & Savings. Various other businesses (jewelers, lawyers, doctors, photographers) set up shop here until 1988, when the elegant structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and reopened as a boutique hotel.You'll be surprised at the timeless elegance, from the wide corridors to guest rooms furnished with European flair. Each bears the name of a writer (Emerson, Swift, Zola, Shelley, Fitzgerald, and so on). Most rooms are spacious and offer luxuries rare in this price range, like pillow-top mattresses and premium toiletries; microwaves and dinnerware; and impressive luxury bathrooms. Beware of the cheapest rooms on the back side -- they are uncomfortably small (although they do have regular-size bathrooms) and have no view. The higher floors boast splendid city and bay views, as do the rooftop patio and breakfast room. Despite the welcome addition of noise-muffling windows, don't be surprised to hear a hum from the street below, especially when the Quarter gets rockin' on the weekends.
|
|
|
