2018 San Diego – NCAA Tradition

San Diego, CA

March 2018

Day 0

John and Leo came in a day early and visited Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma

Met Leo’s good friends the Stones at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Liberty Station.

Day 1

Great views at Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial. Dave showed us to the car.

Petco Park was next for a ballpark tour.

Mission Beach was only a block from our Airbnb.

Memorable Event:

Day 2

The Games at the Viejas Arena on the San Diego State University Campus. Where did that Whaler’s fan come from?

Not the greatest venue, but they made up for it with an outdoor area that was open from the concourse.

Interesting Fact: The Viejas arena was built on top of the old Aztec Bowl and they left most of the concrete steps intact which you can see from parts of the outer concourse of the arena. The arena also does not have much for an indoor concourse, the concourse is outside the stadium and is outdoors.

Day 3

Leo giving the order aboard the USS Midway in San Diego Harbor. We all separated and then had trouble finding each other on a ship that is about 1000 feet long.

Had drinks at the Hotel Del Coronado and the weather turned cold.

Dinner at Liberty Station followed by a San Diego Gulls hockey game at the Sports Arena. Had a Whalers fans there too.

Day 4

LaJolla is so beautiful it deserves two pictures. Looks like Dave found wandering John here.

Late lunch (early Dinner) in Old Towne before the games.

Memorable Events

Notable Navigation
The highlight of the night on Day 1 was the navigational skills that the group brought for their walk to dinner in Mission Beach. Dave was sure that the #3 Mexican restaurant in San Diego was only a short walk from the house. However, instead of taking a right at the end of our street (1/2 mile from the restaurant), we took a left. After 10 minutes we were wondering how we were 1.2 miles away from the restaurant. So instead of turning around, we kept going. We ended up over a mile away from the house at a completely different restaurant called the Sandbar Sports Grill that was not highly rated, but at least it was open.

Fall of a #1, but not here
The biggest upset in NCAA history (UMBC beat the top #1 seed Virginia) was happening while we were at our games and they kept switching the screens to the game during halftime. The crowd was more interested in the UMBC game than the real game going on.

Conductor Chol
This was Dave Coleman’s first time being the driver for the trip. Somehow he ended up getting stuck at several light rail train crossings with the gates down. So, we now dedicate this as the official trip sound.

The Games

4 Wichita State	\|
	\|	*Marshall 81-75
13 Marshal	\|		\|
			\|	West Virginia 94-71
5 West Virginia	\|		\|
	\|	West Virginia 85-68
12 Murray State	\|

4 Auburn	\|
	\|	Auburn 62-58
13 Charleston	\|		\|
			\|	Clemson 84-53
5 Clemson	\|		\|
	\|	Clemson 79-68
12 New Mexico State	\|
				* upsets

* upsets Highest Final Seat:–