San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode II

The week before we left for San Diego I was on another work trip. This one lasted about a week and a half and I arrived home the day before we left for San Diego. It was hectic to say the least! Despite this, Michelle and I managed to get packed and off to the airport early on a Sunday morning. The flight was about 3 hours long and was occupied by a few other people traveling to the convention. The flight was fairly uneventful, though I did geek it up by watching Doctor Who episodes on the Space Channel. When the plane came in for its approach, I was pulled away from the TV and began watching the city through the window. The approach was interesting for it takes the plane straight over the city of San Diego. The airport is situated close to the ocean so the planes (I guess) tend to land through flying low over the downtown portion of the city. We could see Balboa Park (filled with museums and the city zoo) and a fair bit of the city’s layout. Once landed, we filed through what appeared to be a small airport and grabbed a cab to our hotel. Our driver was nice, which was a trait shared by many of those who lived and worked in San Diego.

Room keys with Comic Con theme!

Our cab ride took us along the San Diego coast. The ride cost about $10 as the airport is very close to the downtown area. The drive was scenic as it gave us a glimpse of the U.S.S. Midway and other boats permanently moored. The cab dropped us off at our hotel –The Sofia- and we were quite pleased. It was a historic building made of red bricks with a small French bistro that had patio seating stretching onto the sidewalk. We dragged our bags into the hotel noting a life-like bronze statue of a businessman holding a magazine that stood by the front door. The entry way was classically furnished and friendly faces bustled behind the front counter. Businessmen and fellow travelers sat in the lobby with their laptops open, and later we discovered that this was the only place in the hotel that had free wireless internet. We checked in and were given Comic Con styled room cards; we received one with Tom Welling who played Superman on Smallville and one with Morena Baccarin from the recent V TV show. We had our choice of rooms, which was unexpected, but welcomed! We chose the top floor (5^th). The room was incredibly tiny and had an east view, which didn’t show too much. The large windows looked out onto the downtown area, which from this angle showed only large uninteresting buildings and a Greyhound station below. The room itself was impeccably decorated in a modern style. The bathroom was memorable for it was small and had only a shower stall but without a door; only a sliding door separated the bathroom from the rest of the area. This resulted in large puddles of water spreading into the bathroom when taking a shower.