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Welcome to Super Bowl XXXVII
in San Diego!
San Diego is well
suited for a Super-scale party.
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Super
Bowl XXXIX Party Guide
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Super
Bowl XXXIX Host City: Jacksonville
When it comes to hosting a big-time party,
San Diego sparkles as much as its brilliant blue sky.
San Diego is a Super Bowl veteran, having hosted the Big Game in 1988
and 1998. It has excellent facilities for such an event: A restaurant-and-bar-packed
downtown, a sensational shoreline, excellent weather and, for those
so inclined, a foreign country a half-hour away where all types of Super
Bowl bets can be placed.
This Southern California coastal city – located two hours from
Los Angeles and just 30 minutes from Baja, Mexico – is a gem
of a location. In addition to the popular Gaslamp Quarter downtown which
will be the centerpiece of nighttime activity, it boasts the surf-crazed
community of Pacific Beach, exclusive LaJolla, incredible Coronado and
enough scenic vistas to fill up the largest digital camera memory card.
While it's one of the country's largest cities, it maintains a small-town
mentality, giving it a Mayberry-esque mystique.
PubClub.com's Super Bowl guide highlights the main public events, tips
on the best parties, a look at the bars, where to go on Super Sunday
for those without a ticket to the game and provides links to its San
Diego City Guide with restaurants, bars, nightclubs and detailed information
on Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar and Mexico.
Public Events
• All Week – The NFL Experience. Pro football's
interactive theme park has a variety of football-related games and activities,
food and beverages and autograph sessions, etc. In the hub of activity
at Embarcadero Marina Park South. $15. Part of the Super Hub,
the central gathering place for all NFL-sanctioned and city-generated
activities. The entrance to the Super Hub is free, though some events
charge fees.
• Friday, Jan. 24-Sunday, Jan. 27 – Sponsor
exhibit pavilions with food, beverage, entertainment, and interactive
activities. 6 p.m.-midnight Friday, noon-midnight Saturday, 11 a.m.-6
p.m. Super Bowl Sunday. This is the only place where alcohol beverages
are available outside of the bars.
• Saturday, Jan. 25 – Fireworks Spectacular,
9:15 p.m (free). The largest Fireworks show ever in San Diego. Viewing
locations at Harbor Island, Shelter Island, and Embarcadero Park North,
and Coronado Landing.
• Saturday, Jan. 25 – Cheer Jam, a qualifier
for the "King of the Bleachers" Cheerleading competition. It is one
of the biggest in San Diego and there will be teams from all over the
state. There are divisions for just about any Cheer/Dance/Pom team that
wants to participate. SDSU, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. $6.
Gaslamp Quarter
Dance clubs in the
Gaslamp Quarter will be en fuego during the weekend.
This downtown area of San Diego is filled with restaurants, bars and
clubs. It's the heartbeat of the social action. Most of the clubs –
even the ones not quite so popular on normal weekends – will be
packed. Cover charges ranging from $10-30 will be commonplace and moving
from one to the other will be difficult. The tops clubs are On Broadway,
the Bitter End and Ole' Madrid. Tanta Sutra, by the
Convention Center, is the newest of the clubs. The lines will be massive,
so be there by 10. Henry's Pub is more casual, younger and has
one of the cheapest covers. After 11, some of the restaurants turn into
mini-clubs. La Strada and Chive are two of the best.
For some elbow room, the bars and pubs offer good alternatives. No
trip to San Diego is complete without a visit to The Star Bar,
a dive if ever there was one. Tivoli, the Blarney Stone Pub
and Hennessey's are some other strong choices. As these places
are mostly off the beaten path – Tivoli is 6th and Island, for
example – it should take less than 10 minutes to get inside and
don't expect a cover charge. Dublin's, which is on one of the
main walking streets, will be swarming with pubbers.
•
Click
Here for our complete guide to the Gaslamp Quarter
Private Sponsor Parties
Much of any Super Bowl's action is focused around VIP and sponsor parties.
Invitations are scarce and are largely reserved for corporate executives
whose companies invest in being partners of the product. While they
feature big-name entertainment and guests, catered food and open bars,
it's not worth worrying about for those who don't have an invitation.
The "average" fan and partygoer will have a much better time
at the public events and local bars.
It is possible to buy a way into the events. For example, the NFL
Alumni Player of the Year awards dinner, being held on Saturday
night, goes for $10,000 a table.
A better one to check out is the EcoBowl
2003, a star- and starlet-studded affair hosted by Tara
Reid, Shannon Elizabeth, Rosarito Dawson and professional baseball player
Gregg Zaun. It's Thursday night, 9-2 @ E Street Alley, a club in the
Gaslamp District. The event covers Hors dą oeuvres, drinks and excellent
jaw-dropping people gazing and mingling.
Hangin' With the Locals
While the tourists are getting gased up in the Gaslamp, locals will
be hangin' at the beach. Pacific Beach, that is.
This seaside community of surfers, laid-back Californians and young
professionals prefer to wear sandals to work instead of loafers. They
will be pretty much sticking to their basic routine on the weekend,
which means hangin' at the beach by day and in the bars by night.
Moondoggies and the Pacific Beach Bar & Grill are
the biggest and best at the beach, at least when it comes to a club-type
atmosphere (as much as one can have at the beach). People generally
bounce between the two, though there will be lines after 10:30. A couple
of local casual places are Cass Street Bar and Grill and Thruster's.
Late afternoons, it's Lahina Beach House, located right on the
beach across from "the Strand," a concrete path of runners,
rollerbladers and bicyclers. While there, run up Ingram Street a half-mile
or so to Rocky's for what we believe is the World Second-Best
Hamburger.
On Super Sunday, people will be catching waves and playing volleyball
pretty much right up until gametime. The aforementioned Moondoggies
and PB Bar & Grill will be the most active bar-watching spots.
If it's Thursday, head to the the courtyard at LaJolla Village Drive
where a trio of bars gets an exclusive after-work crowd. Tapango
is a trendy sushi bar and there is also Donavin's and Michael's
in the Hyatt. The young and very young at heart arrive after work in
California business attire and stay until they have closed their evening
deal or common sense tells them to regroup and try again the next night.
For the casual crowd and game-watchers, Sports City is a huge
sports bar on the west side of I-5.
•
Click
Here for our complete guides to Pacific Beach
•
La
Jolla, Del Mar and North County Guide
The Game
Qualcomm will
have on its game face.
(Photo: San Diego Visitor's & Convention Bureau)
Qualcomm Stadium is located Northeast of downtown in an area called
Mission Valley. The Trolley provides service from downtown. The hot
bar ticket beforehand is Bully's (off Hotel Circle Drive). A
prime rib restaurant, it packs in the crowds before Chargers' games.
Seau's, a sports bar owned by the Chargers' popular All-Pro,
is also a good call.
Want to go to the game? No problem. Getting IN the game, of course,
is another ballgame entirely.
Normally, we would encourage people without tickets to wander through
the parking lot to get a real feel for the game and socialize with the
tailgaters. But these days, things are not normal. We're hearing reports
that nobody without a ticket will be allowed to get off the trolley
or the bus and cars are being restricted (now, we understand taking
precautions, but having some PubClubbers
wander around with a few beverages in their hand does not jeopardize
national security). At any rate, we can no longer recommend heading
to the stadium. Instead, hit one of the aforementioned bars or stay
in the Gaslamp.
Kickoff is 3:25 p.m., local time.
The Teams – and the Fans
Our super-reliable source who has been very close to the Raiders for
a few years tell us that the team is much more disciplined under Bill
Callahan than it was under Jon Gruden. The players are very businesslike
and professional. There are a lot of veterans on the Raiders and when
they travel, they do so quiety and in suits and ties. Look for them
to display this all-business attitude all week and into the game.
The Raider fans may also be all-business during the week – many
are accountants, lawyers and in the financial industry – but they
turn Harley wild when they put on the silver and black. They have the
police and Charger fans on high alert during their annual regular-season
pillages to San Diego.
Bucs fans, on the other hand, will be going crazy because their team
has never made it this far. Used to being in a city near an ocean, they
will be in their element, though the lack of humidity and moderate evening
temperatures will have some shivering after sundown.
San Diego Virtual City Tour!
• Baja, Mexico/Tijuana!
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