Trip to Holiday Bowl.

Been to the Holiday bowl 3 times, last time in 2007…it’s a lot of fun.

Overview: The Holiday has dropped in stature and features two 7-5 teams. Some have mentioned the bad blood from 2004 “Whine-Gate” and Texas getting the Rose Bowl nod over Cal, but the animosity is pretty one sided if Cal is even still really all that upset about it. The game itself is on a Wednesday night right between Christmas and New Years. As far as timing goes, this is basically bowl purgatory because it doesn’t work well for those who have to work that week as the days you’d need to take off aren’t the automatic vacation days. All that to say that I don’t see a ton of demand for this game and figure attendance will be light…mostly students on break, retired alumni and locals who like college football. I don’t think Cal has a big history of traveling well either.

Hotel: Not sure what your budget is, but you can probably find something that works near the Gas Lamp District. Most of the places you’ll want to hang at the night before and after the game are in this area including the parade festivities if you’re in to that kind of thing. It’s also about 5 minutes from San Diego’s airport and it’s right by the water. There are some very nice hotels, but some business traveler and economy based ones in the area as well.

Restaurants/Bars: Again, The Gas Lamp. This is where most fans will be the night before the game though I’d imagine it won’t be too crazy given that it’s a Tuesday night. So you may want to look up where the Texas Exes will be. But those parties are typically cash bar and cater to an older clientele. There’s a place called Old Towne as well that can be fun to pregame at the afternoon before the game. Lots of Tex Mex places and Margarita joints.

Transportation: I’d rec getting the rental car simply because you may want to do some site seeing (La Jolla, Tiajuana, etc.) and Qualcomm Stadium is a bit of a hike though you can absolutely get their via the public train and I’ve done that before. There’s a stop right in the Gas Lamp and that train makes stops at Qualcomm as well as the Old Towne entertainment district mentioned above.

Stadium: It’s basically just like every other NFL stadium…big monstrosity surrounded by a concrete jungle. It’s located about a 20 to 30 minute drive (depending on traffic) east or Northeast of downtown/Gas Lamp district. It’s fairly isolated from what I remember. But it can be fun to get a tailgate together and go hang out in the parking lot. Lots of space to spread out and not really any restrictions unless there’s a burn ban. There may be some vendors in the parking lots selling food and bev, but I’d encourage you to bring in everything you need. The weather will be nice and the game will likely start around 5pm Pacific time.

Tickets: Honestly, I’d rec waiting til the day of the game to scalp. I’m not a fan of bowl ticketing. The sponsors get the tickets between the 20’s and the schools’ allotments tend to be in the corners. My hunch is that you will be able to get very good tickets for around face value the day of the game and that the tickets you could secure right now through the schools or through the Bowl won’t even be worth anywhere near face value the day of the game. Again, the date of the game and the overall interest level do not signal a sell out or even close to one. And I know a lot of people buy tickets for bowl games with every intention of going and then look to dump them right before it.

Bottom line, this will be a bowl travelers’ market. You should have the leverage when it comes to where you stay, where you dine, tickets, etc. So you can take your time and do what works for you.

Have fun.

Thanks for all of the input 54b. I will be hanging out in the Gaslamp Dist. Ill be arriving on Mon and leaving on Thurs. And I will be staying at the HI on the Bay. I just hope I can find some Horns fans out and about. This is alot different than a lil college town. Haha! Well if anyone else reading this is making the trip, put your plans up! The more the merrier.

…driving in to SD around 2pm on the day of the game, i fly into LA in the morning.