Tag / Manchester Grand Hyatt

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Travelling The 50 States – California

Over my 47 years, I’ve done my fair share of travelling across these United States.  I thought it would be an interesting experiment go look back at those trips to each of the 31 states I have visited (62% isn’t bad, is it?) and see if, and when, I may be returning.  Working in alphabetical order, we start today with the 31st state to be added to the Union: California.

State: California
Joined the Union: 1850
Visits: 11

With eleven visits between 1998 and 2019, the Golden State is the state I have visited the most, outside of those I have lived in and/or attended college.

My first visit was in 1998 to attend Comic Con International in San Diego.  I went early, spending the entire week and enjoying some pre-Con time checking out the sights, including the San Diego Zoo.

I returned the following year for Labor Day weekend, but this time up to the San Francisco Bay area, to visit my old friend Scott, who had moved out there after graduating to work at AMD.  What I remember from that trip is my first Giants/Phillies tilt at the former Candlestick Park, my first trip to the toilet that at the time was called Network Associates Coliseum, and a car trip over the Golden Gate Bridge.

I returned to San Diego for Comic Con in 2000 and 2003.  I don’t remember much of the 2000 trip, but the 2003 trip included my one visit to the former Jack Murphy Stadium to see the Padres face the Diamondbacks.  At the Con, I managed to see many of the stars (or, at least, bit players) from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, and Tru Calling.

With the Cubs coming off their first division title since 1989 and a new stadium opening in San Diego, my friend Pete and I planned a trip for the Cubs mid-May road trip.  We attended all three games at PETCO Park, which the Cubs swept, while also taking in the local sights and the ambience of the Elephant and Castle bar in our hotel. Continue reading →

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Vacation Recap: San Diego

SanDiegoThe long-awaited trip to San Diego got off to a rocky start when illness struck 2 days before I was supposed to leave.  So, I was a bit shaky when the car arrived to take me to the airport at 3:30 on a Wednesday morning.  For some reason, a 6 AM flight didn’t seem like a ridiculous idea back in January when I booked it.  So, feeling a little queasy, I boarded the plane heading to Denver.  Which also seemed like a good idea back on the cold January day.

After landing in Denver, the connecting flight to San Diego was close enough that I got off one plane and got right on the other.  Another quick 2 1/2 hour jaunt and we landed in beautiful San Diego around 10 AM.  A quick bus ride later and we arrived at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.  While we checked in to the hotel and got all of our conference information, our luggage was supposed to be delivered to our rooms.  So imagine my surprise when later that morning, I got a call from someone in the other tower of the hotel saying my luggage had made it to her room.  Not a huge deal, but issue #1 of the trip.

After getting the luggage situation worked out, I ventured out to reacquaint myself with the city.  It had been almost 10 years since my last visit, so I tried to retrace some of the steps from my previous visits.  First was a walk past the convention center, where I had attended a comic con or 3.  Next stop was PETCO Park, which is just up the street from the convention center.  When I first found out the dates of this trip, the first thing I checked was the Padres schedule.  Unfortunately, a game wasn’t in the cards this time, but I did get a look in to the stadium thanks to their open center field concourse.  From there, I headed off to Horton Plaza, looking to try and grab something for lunch.  This is where I ran into a little trouble because, for the life of me, I couldn’t find it.  I eventually had to resort to looking it up on my phone to see how to get there.  I guess 10 years really is a long time.

Wednesday night was the big gala event on the USS Midway.  Due to the chilly (for southern California) weather, we were moved from the flight deck down below, but still had access to roam the retired aircraft carrier.  Both before and after dinner, groups of the winners were called up to shake hands and get their picture taken with Suren and their AVP.  It was a nice way to wind down the first day in San Diego.

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