Talk: San Diego Obsessions

This season, don’t miss a single pitch thrown at Petco Park. Game days can be a bit hectic, so find the best travel method for you, whether it involves car, trolley, ferry, bicycle, or some combination thereof. Arrive early and you’ll be in your seat—with a hot dog and beer—when the first pitch crosses home plate.

(Here’s a wealth of general information about accessing Petco Park, for further inquiry.)

By Car

If traveling by car, God help you. Game day parking is limited, generally costing $21 to $40, unless you’re bringing hiking boots and trekking poles. For this reason, pre-purchasing parking is a good idea. Find specific lot locations and prices here and information on parking for disabled guests here.

Rideshare services like Lyft and Uber are a good method, but be prepared to walk a few blocks or more—hoofing it may be quicker than sitting in a traffic jam.

By Trolley

Conveniently, all three trolley lines swing by the park, with beefed-up service following night games—you can’t beat that for $2.50. Petco is best accessed by three stations: 12th and Imperial Transit Center, the Park and Market Station (at 12^th and Market Streets), and the Gaslamp Quarter Station (at Fifth Avenue and Harbor Drive).

Park-and-ride is a good option—there are 5,000 parking spots at SDCCU Stadium (except of major event days) and Hazard Center.

By Coaster

Avoid I-5 traffic on the Coaster with regional roundtrip day passes ($15 for adults or $7.50 for kids) that grant free trolley connections to Petco. To get back home, Northbound trains leave Santa Fe Depot one hour after the end of the game or fireworks, but no later than midnight.

For Padres fans in Orange County and L.A. (bless your hearts, children) ride the Pacific Surfliner to Santa Fe Depot, just a 25-minute walk or quick trolley ride on the southbound Green Line to the park.

By Bus

An abundance of bus routes pass by Petco, including Routes 12 and 901, which pull up practically on home plate. Routes 4, 12, 901, and 929 arrive at the nearby 12th and Imperial Transit Center. Routes 3 and 5 put riders within easy strolling distance of park entrances.

By Ferry

If you live on Coronado Island, start your mainland leg of the journey at 5th Ave. Landing. But you already knew that.

Bicycling

Cyclists can lock their trusty steeds on public racks on these corners: Park Boulevard and Tony Gywnn Drive; Park Boulevard and 10th Avenue; J Street at 8th and 9th Avenues; near the 7th Avenue Gaslamp Entry Gate.

Look for bike share stations and wayward share-bikes scattered about downtown to pedal to Petco.

By FRED

AKA the Free Ride Everywhere Downtown Shuttle. All that’s required is waving one down during their operating hours. View the schedule here.

How To Get to Petco Park (Sanely, and On Time)

Photo courtesy of MTS

A seat inside Petco Park is a great place to watch the Padres March 29 season opener—but it’s far from the only place. San Diegans have a long list of spots to fan out on their home team, all while availing themselves of the craft beer that’s rightfully become world famous, and the homegrown cuisine that’s getting there. These places are among your best options for watching every game, and with one exception, you won’t need a ticket to do so.

Wonderland Ocean Pub

What could be more San Diego than watching a Padres game from a bar that’s closer to the beach than the pitcher’s mound is to home plate? Ocean Beach’s Wonderland is the place for that. Located on the second floor of a building literally across the street from the O.B. Pier, the pub’s huge windows retract fully, letting in the sea breeze, afternoon light, and quintessentially beachy tableau below. Did we mention their numerous TV screens, solid craft beer list, and menu?

The Rabbit Hole

Crawl into Normal Heights’ The Rabbit Hole for upscale bar food, ample screens tuned in to Padres games, and a “High Five Hoppy Hour,” featuring $5 select local drafts, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Try the Cajun-spiced prawns in garlic butter beer broth, and the Cubano sandwich with slow-roasted pork, Black Forest ham, and gruyere. During the 7th inning stretch, you can retreat to the back patio for a round of corn hole.

Working Class

Diner-meets-sports bar is the vibe at this new North Park watering hole and kitchen with giant Jenga and other games on the patio. Early game time? No problem—they open at 9 a.m. for breakfast, serving eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and the like. The rest of the day you can fuel your fandom with burritos, burgers, a must-try Salisbury steak, and local craft beers aplenty.

Social Tap

You’d have to be inside Petco Park to get any closer to the action than this ballpark-adjacent sports bar equipped with more than three dozen TVs up to 110-inches placed around the bar and its three patios, one of which overlooks the field. The full menu sports salads, poke, truffle fries, braised short rib tacos, and more.

Petco Park Tailgaiting

Although loud music playing and games with balls and other projectiles—like the glorious pre-game pastime of corn hole—are verboten at the park, tailgaiting is very much an option. Stake out your spot, bust open your cooler, and create your own customized fun way of enjoying baseball season.

5 Best Places to Watch the Padres Season Opener

Petco Park is just one of many excellent places around town to catch the game.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Name: Abby DeSpain

Age: 10

Role: Jane Banks

Favorite snack? Probably… pretzels and M & M’s.

Must-have gadget? My iPod so I can listen to music.

What’s kind of music do you listen to? I just like just the Broadway soundtracks. I listen to those a lot.

Favorite Broadway musical? That is a hard one. I really like Wicked.

Do you have a favorite scene in Mary Poppins? I really like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” because that is the funnest number I get to do. It’s fast, and it’s just a lot of fun.

Do you do anything special to get ready before each show? Well… I like to be really early for the show. I like to have everything on, my wig on, my makeup on, so 10 minutes before the show, I am totally ready, so I have lots of time to chill.

How do you unwind afterward? After I get all my costumes off, and my wig off, and go say hi to my mom and everyone else that is there… it’s usually a pretty late night, and by the time I’m home, I’m usually half asleep. So I just get in bed, and after a few minutes, I’m out.

What do you want to be when you grow up? That’s a tricky question. There’s a lot of things I want to be when I grow up. An actress is definitely one of them. But I also really love to write, and want to be an author. And another thing I want to be is a marine biologist. I really love animals. And I love the water.

Secret to success? I would say to start at the beginning and follow your instincts. Always work hard. Do your best. And you’ll get there if you work hard. And it has to be fun!

A Spoonful of Sugar

Nate Carman and Abby DeSpain in Mary Poppins (photos by Ken Jacques) 

Name: Nate Carman

Age: 10

Role: Michael Banks

Favorite snack? I’d have to say I love nachos.

Must-have gadget? I’d have to say my iPad because I can read books on it and play games on it. I like Floppy Bird. (laughs)

What’s the coolest part about being in the show? It’s so cool hanging out with all the other people, and I think it’s really fun to go up the chimney. That’s kind of a new experience. I’ve never done that before. It’s a really cool thing, they have this elevator inside, but it’s not really an elevator. It’s a weight system, like a seesaw with pulleys.

Were you scared the first time you tried it? I was pretty scared, because if you’re standing in the wrong place, you could hit your head on one of the bars. But afterwards it got pretty fun.

Do you have a favorite moment in the show? My favorite moments is when Mr. Banks produces the kite, and then I run over to him and hug him. I just like it cause it’s kind of a heartwarming scene.

Do you do anything special to get ready before each show? Um. Not really. Sometimes I just play with friends or sit at home and rest.

How do you unwind afterward? I go home, sit on the couch, and sometimes my mom makes me popcorn.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Um… I think want to be an electrical engineer.

Do you know what an electrical engineer does? Yeah, they help fix problems in circuitry, like if a wire is out of place, they go and fix it on the circuit board and make sure everything’s running smoothly.

Secret to success?  I don’t really know. I mean, what I like to do in rehearsal is I don’t just work on the things I’m doing right, I work on the things I’m doing wrong, and then, I like to look back at the things I’m doing right and put it all together.

Disney’s Mary Poppins runs through August 2 at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. For tickets, visit moonlightstage.com.

A Spoonful of Sugar

Name: Abby DeSpain

Age: 10

Role: Jane Banks

Favorite snack? Probably… pretzels and M & M’s.

Must-have gadget? My iPod so I can listen to music.

What’s kind of music do you listen to? I just like just the Broadway soundtracks. I listen to those a lot.

Favorite Broadway musical? That is a hard one. I really like Wicked.

Do you have a favorite scene in Mary Poppins? I really like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” because that is the funnest number I get to do. It’s fast, and it’s just a lot of fun.

Do you do anything special to get ready before each show? Well… I like to be really early for the show. I like to have everything on, my wig on, my makeup on, so 10 minutes before the show, I am totally ready, so I have lots of time to chill.

How do you unwind afterward? After I get all my costumes off, and my wig off, and go say hi to my mom and everyone else that is there… it’s usually a pretty late night, and by the time I’m home, I’m usually half asleep. So I just get in bed, and after a few minutes, I’m out.

What do you want to be when you grow up? That’s a tricky question. There’s a lot of things I want to be when I grow up. An actress is definitely one of them. But I also really love to write, and want to be an author. And another thing I want to be is a marine biologist. I really love animals. And I love the water.

Secret to success? I would say to start at the beginning and follow your instincts. Always work hard. Do your best. And you’ll get there if you work hard. And it has to be fun!

A Spoonful of Sugar

Nate Carman and Abby DeSpain in Mary Poppins (photos by Ken Jacques) 

Name: Nate Carman

Age: 10

Role: Michael Banks

Favorite snack? I’d have to say I love nachos.

Must-have gadget? I’d have to say my iPad because I can read books on it and play games on it. I like Floppy Bird. (laughs)

What’s the coolest part about being in the show? It’s so cool hanging out with all the other people, and I think it’s really fun to go up the chimney. That’s kind of a new experience. I’ve never done that before. It’s a really cool thing, they have this elevator inside, but it’s not really an elevator. It’s a weight system, like a seesaw with pulleys.

Were you scared the first time you tried it? I was pretty scared, because if you’re standing in the wrong place, you could hit your head on one of the bars. But afterwards it got pretty fun.

Do you have a favorite moment in the show? My favorite moments is when Mr. Banks produces the kite, and then I run over to him and hug him. I just like it cause it’s kind of a heartwarming scene.

Do you do anything special to get ready before each show? Um. Not really. Sometimes I just play with friends or sit at home and rest.

How do you unwind afterward? I go home, sit on the couch, and sometimes my mom makes me popcorn.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Um… I think want to be an electrical engineer.

Do you know what an electrical engineer does? Yeah, they help fix problems in circuitry, like if a wire is out of place, they go and fix it on the circuit board and make sure everything’s running smoothly.

Secret to success?  I don’t really know. I mean, what I like to do in rehearsal is I don’t just work on the things I’m doing right, I work on the things I’m doing wrong, and then, I like to look back at the things I’m doing right and put it all together.

Disney’s Mary Poppins runs through August 2 at Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. For tickets, visit moonlightstage.com.

‘Othello’ Enchants at The Old Globe

Jim Cox

From the first puff of smoke from Iago’s cigarette, which opens the play, to the entrance of the valiant Othello, the audience is swept away to the world of a classic Shakespearian tragedy. The play is performed in The Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, an open-air space in the likes of which Othello would have first been seen by audiences in the early 17th century.

Blair Underwood stars as Othello, a Christian Moor and Venetian general, who has just won the heart of the young, fair Desdemona, played by Kristen Connolly. Emmy Award winner Richard Thomas intrigues as Iago, who narrates the audience through his plot to unhinge Othello.

‘Othello’ Enchants at The Old Globe

Jim Cox

Honest Iago, to which he is referred, is truly honest with the audience members as he elaborates his scheme to them each step of the way. Though the words are by Shakespeare, the play just as much belongs to Iago, who uses the characters as pawns to do his own will as he “pours pestilence” into the Moor’s ear.

Othello is directed by The Old Globe’s Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, who is recognized as a Shakespeare scholar and has directed almost half the plays from Shakespeare’s 37-play repertoire.

This traditional production of Othello can be seen at The Old Globe through July 27. For more information and tickets, visit theoldglobe.com.