I’d like to say our flight was smooth sailing but… first of all they keep changing Jon’s seat. We were sitting together when we booked our flights (although I had to book my through work) but when we checked in Jon was not next to me anymore so he changed his. On our way to the airport his boarding pass was updated – no longer by me. Once at the airport we talked to a real live Delta ticketing agent. Now he’s next to me! Sitting by the gate, waiting for our plane to arrive, he gets another notification that his boarding pass and seat assignment have changed. What is going on! Went back to talk with the same ticketing agent, she decides to move me this time. We ended up having a room to ourselves in Comfort + Although our plane was delayed leaving by 30 minutes and we sat on the tarmac for another 20 minutes once we landed it, we arrived at ~1:45.
We decided to stay at one of the conference hotels for our entire trip. It’s a short walk to the convention center. We can see Petco Park from our hotel. We even would’ve been able to watch the game from the rooftop bar had the Padres made it to the World Series. Plus it’s in the Gaslamp District, which is where all the cool bars and restaurant are located. The only negative… $55/night to park a car. So we decided to travel like we do in Europe and rely on our feet, public transportion and Uber.
After we checked into our hotel, we ubered to Old Towne for the Dia de los Muertos festival. Has anyone seen the movie Coco? It was very similar to that. They blocked off the streets, there were vendors, live music and a beer garden. Many places had altars honoring departed family and friends. Although each one is different, they each have traditional elements. Always pictures of the departed, always candles and skulls which are symbolic and always multi-tiered. But the one I liked the most… they always had a bottle of the departed’s favorite booze.
After dinner we headed to the Gaslamp District. It was crazy! Packed with people – our Uber driver told us it always packed on the weekends. Again they block off the streets and let people roam. Tonight was a zombie crawl. So many costumes… Old Town was a family friendly event. I would not bring my kids to the Gaslamp District – lots of “sexy” costumes. We grabbed a table outside the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop and did some serious people watching.
Halfway Round the Planet, Part 2 