any ideas what time the group expects to be back in downtown SAN on Friday afternoon/evening? i am looking at a flight that gets in around 6 as a possible option with a departure at 8:30pm on Saturday night.

Last year we arrived back downtown some time after 6pm, which worked out well for the 7pm tiki bar reservation.

i will try to come. there is a non-zero chance it will blow up in my face because we have a big work event the following week, so don't shame me if that happens.

later tonight or tomorrow i will book some flights. earliest i will get to SAN is 5:30 on Friday, but more than likely a bit later as I expect work to keep me tied down til 3-4pm... will head back north on Saturday late day at some point.

as of now will plan on staying at GH or ES for the one night but might change to something cheaper if rates drop in the interim.

It’s about time to book tiki bar reservations. Mothership takes reservations 21 days out and Realm of The 52 Remedies is 14 days out. Each has a hard cap of 6 for reservations unless we want to do “an event” which comes with stipulations for food and beverage minimums. Preliminarily, I’m eyeing 52 Remedies for Thursday night and Mothership for Friday night. Mothership is pretty easily reached from downtown by the number 2 bus, which will also take you to breweries we visited last year. 52 Remedies is quite a ways by bus so driving or ride hailing is probably preferable. I’ll put an interest list into the wiki and we’ll see how many we can gather.

In the event 52 Remedies is too far, we can also look at returning to False Idol.

I will show up Friday when I arrive if it’s not out in the middle of nowhere. The closer to downtown the better even if cost is a little higher.

Mothership is pretty close to downtown and easily reached by bus. What time do you plan to get in Friday? We also need to schedule around the Oceanside train trip so I’m thinking maybe 8PM for the Mothership reservation.

FWIW last year I landed SAN pretty late in the eveing (maybe 8 or 9pm) and went straight to the tiki bar from the airport, though the one we went to last year was downtown (<25 minutes from the airport by bus and foot).

-J.

Right now I have a 6:30pm arrival but if work runs late I’ll end up landing closer to 8pm. If work is under control I’ll switch to a 5:30pm arrival. I booked a WGA+ fare so that I can move flights around as needed provided there are open seats which there usually are.

I don’t mind Ubering from the airport provided it’s not way out into the county which it doesn’t look like is the case.

I live up North of SAN and will almost certainly be in town, so would be pleased to join. Living here, could offer to help, whether in ideas & advice, or another set of hands.
A few thoughts:
I'm pretty involved in the local brewing community (homebrew & professional), and some of the places you list are epic choices, others perhaps not-so-great. Open to suggesting if you like.
For transport, if you don't live here, we have very limited public transport. The bus system straight *sucks* here; strongly suggest carpooling/UBER.
You're likely not walking hours up and down Miramar either; not really a walkable area as such. Could do that for brew spots in Little Italy, maybe, and Gaslamp, but I can't see doing that.

I'm going to try to attend Fri-Sun, but I'm returning from Japan on Thursday so there's a chance I'll be too jet lagged to make the trip.

Cool, local expertise is always welcome :)

Speaking of which, reminder/callout for the locals esp. north coast:

The FT thing to do would be to fly directly to SAN from Japan :p but understand that that might not be practical...

Of course! Unfortunately, this is a $1,300 business class PDX-HND-PDX that I've been kiting forward through schedule changes and travel waivers since March 2020 so sadly I have no flexibility at all anymore ... unless there's a new schedule change haha

I'm afraid I'll be unable to make this one. I have family concerns that weekend that will keep me at home. Hope everyone has a great time.

In waiting to see if anyone else would be interested for tiki bars we’ve unfortunately missed the window for Mothership on Friday. However, Realm of the 52 Remedies is still available for Friday night after 8PM. It will be a bit farther from downtown. Would people be interested in switching? Mothership may still be an option for Thursday if sufficient people are in town then.

I'm interested in both. Arriving mid-afternoon Thursday.