Antiques Roadshow, etc. in San Diego

To start our day, we went downtown for a taping of the Antiques Roadshow.

It was at the Convention Center, which was a delight to visit. It's undergoing a renovation to be even bigger. And, architechurally, it's a stand-out. Beyond that, the best was the parking there. It is underground and a quick elevator trip right to the Center's front doors.

Quick Tips:

I would say that downtown is like a cross between San Francisco and South Beach. Some of the buildings reflect a 1920's architecture while others are older, bordering sometimes narrow, sometimes one-way streets.

Make sure you know where you're going and have studied your map before you head out. This is the best way to manage the weird traffic patterns of the roads which accommodate these buildings.

Best Way To Get Around:

Well, while I was being driven around by my friends, a bunch of locals who go out a lot and know the best way to get everywhere, for others, I did happen to see alot of taxis wherever we went.

After waiting in line for hours at the Antiques Roadshow, and then again at Filippi's in Little Italy, here we were again, standing in line, this time for ice cream - we had to laugh!

Anyway, that is how good this ice cream is. And they don't call it a Creamery for nothing. This is very rich, very creamy stuff.

They start with the basic stuff, your choice from flavors such as pistachio to double dark chocolate (what I got). Once you have that figured out, they dig it out and carry a frozen slab of it over to the mixing area where they will mix in whatever you want. Choices range from York Peppermint Patties to Butterscotch to Pecans to Walnuts (I got the last three).

Using two sharp-edged paddles, they beat, chop and mix everything until its this totally beautiful, wonderful, heavenly conglomeration of good stuff. Then they'll put it in a waffle cookie cup with hot fudge or whatever you want on it, like whipped cream (that's what I got).

I can honestly say it was out of this world, straight to the stars good. I would recommend, if you ever see one of these Moo Time Creamery places, definitely wait in line. Its worth the ecstacy.

Of all the restaurants we passed on our way through downtown San Diego, we went to the one that most defined our day - it had a line.

Antiques Roadshow was fun, even waiting in line, because we knew what waited for us and the feeling here, at Filippi's, was the same.

It was a Saturday night and, from what I understood, we were quite lucky the line only extended through the door. Usually, one would find themselves in a line going down the sidewalk.

Once inside, there was not a hostess immediately waiting to seat you. Oh no, they don't take names - you want in, you must wait. Wait while you wander through the front door, down the front aisle of the Italian market in front, through to the back where a dark carnivorous restaurant fills rooms upon rooms that never seem to end.

That wonderful "they make good sauce here" smell hits you as you round the turn from the market into that first set of backrooms - just as someone finally takes you to your table.

They have all the authentic Italian dishes here. The place has been here half a century, since 1950, and the menu hasn't changed much. You want pizza, plan on sausage and pepperoni - it doesn't seem they made Hawaiian pizza in the fifties i.e. there's no ham or pineapple on the menu.

They make their own sausage and its supposed to be good, but none of us got it. We got a pizza so I can warn you that it comes with double cheese, automatically. Also, we got the meatball ravioli and the cheese ravioli. The meat was good, but the cheese was the best I have had anywhere. I am not exaggerating either. It was like sweet tasting, just wonderful, really special.

This place is great. One of the best, if not the best Italian restaurant I've ever been in.

So Fun!

I found out about the taping for the Antiques Roadshow in San Diego through their website. I was thrilled because I tried to go to the taping when they were at the Convention Center in Los Angeles a few years ago, but they weren't letting anyone even close to the place when I arrived. The parking lot was filled to capacity. The show had sold out before the doors even opened at 9:00 am!

I noted the day the tickets would be going on sale for the San Diego taping (about month before). I live in Orange County, which is between Los Angeles and San Diego, so I was prepared to go the distance as before, only this time I was determined to get in!

While the tickets were free, the volume demanded that they be distributed through Ticketmaster. For the unfortunates who didn't go online to get their tickets, forget it. Trying to phone in got you only a busy signal. I was one of the few who tried going online and was rewarded with tickets - 4 max per household. Lucky me because the 6500 tickets for the show sold out within 20 minutes.

The convention center in San Diego was a perfect venue. The parking was underground, requiring only an elevator ride upstairs to the front door.

The road crew for the show had everything so organized. There was a cafe-type area where one could sit at tables and munch a snack from one of the kiosks while waiting for their spot in line to move forward. People would say to the person behind them in line, "I'm going to go have something to eat and sit down, would you mind?" And that was it, no problem.

Everyone was so thrilled and felt so lucky to be there. The atmosphere was one of nervous, happy excitement. Besides feeling so giddy, it was just the most provocative experience. There were so many odd and interesting items every time you turned and looked around.

And the taping area! All the appraisers one sees on TV were there! Just working the tables. They look just a little different in person. It was so fun seeing them up close.

The show has very few rules. You may wander freely going to whatever table you like, listening in on the appraisals of your buddies, or going over to where they are taping all the "finds of the day."

If the Antiques Roadshow comes near your town, I would say it is so worth it to find your way in. Good Luck!

Art, History, Science ... You name it and there is probably a museum for it in San Diego and it is probably in Balboa Park!

Yes, its a beautiful green, foresty park and within it are all these different museums. The area reflects the remnants of the World's Fair held here at the beginning of the century.

Instead of tearing down the ornate, deco buildings, after the Fair ended, the City just kept them in place. Now, and this is the only way I can explain it, the area looks like a huge cemetary with rolling green hills and patches of large, old trees with a small thin road meandering through it. And, along the road, every now and then, there appears a large, square art deco type building (yes, one could say a huge masoleum), each with a nice parking area around the front.

Each building is a different type of museum, Natural History, this, that, etc. There are several and each seems to be more popular than the last, given the cars out front. A drive through the Park is lots of fun even if you don't stop in at any of the museums. (How could you choose?)

When we were there on a Saturday, early evening, several of the museums seemed to be hosting parties. There were many there in tuxs and evening gowns, eagerly getting out of their cars, moving quickly, smiling, headed up stone stairs, between columns, to a building's entrance. And in such a rural, natural setting.

What a glorious way to spend a warm summer's evening.

What's it like? It's huge. A huge, old, wooden hotel.

There are many shops and restaurants that border the sandy boardwalk of this hotel. Moo Time Creamery, the ice cream place I mention in another entry for San Diego, is here. My point - you don't need to stay in the hotel to enjoy the shops and restaurants that are a part of it.

There are even more shops on the very bottom level of the hotel. They just finished remodeling that area to bring back hallways full of these little shops. Now, one can go down and shop just as tourists did over a hundred years ago.

Also, there is a cute little art gallery, trendy shops area next door to the hotel, kind of connected to it. A sidewalk winds its way through these storefronts and then around to the hotel.

If not staying at the hotel, just there to poke around and, maybe, get a bite to eat, you would park in this little shopping center's parking lot. Its free and was fairly uncrowded when we were there.