Rather than my usual train ride down to Comic Con, my sister offered to drive me down. After battling traffic on the 5, she dropped me off at the San Diego Marriott Marquis and Marina. I was pleased to see changes to the reception area of the hotel.
N8 | The Walking Dead adorned on my hotel elevator
I was given a city view room with an actual view of San Diego bay and Seaport Village. This would come in handy over the next couple of days. After meeting some of my roommates and settling in, I headed off to Seaport Village for lunch.
N8 | Perfect San Diego weather at Seaport Village
N8 | A giant Smurf stands next to Petco Park
After lunch I headed off to pick up my badge. This excursion was a nightmare. We walked from the hotel to the east side of Petco Park where the shuttles were. The 6 mile ride from downtown to Mission Valley took about an hour due to traffic. This was followed by a 2 hour line to pick up badges. It was during this time that my phone battery died. Luckily I managed to coordinate with my roommates with locations for the rest of the night.
The massive line at the Town and Country Convention Center
A few months ago, I heard about San Diego's secret speakeasy bars. I had made a reservation a week ago and was excited to visit this place. The ride back from Mission Valley was nerve racking because I didn't think I would make my reservation in time. I was actually 10 minutes late when I got there to find another roommate waiting for me. We headed inside the Neighborhood bar to look for the entrance. We walked inside towards the lady's room and pushed on the stack of kegs to find the entrance to The Noble Experiment.
The insides of this speakeasy was very cool. The ceiling was adorned with classic portraits and the wall behind me was covered entirely with skulls. There was also a screen with a deer. The drinks were interesting. I had an old fashioned with an absinthe twist which was nice. My second drink was dealer's choice and before I knew it I was drunk.
Afterwards we headed back to the hotel. I picked up my Proporta charger and headed back to the Gaslamp. I stopped by the Sega arcade and played a little bit of Shinobi and Space Channel 5. I intended to head back to the hotel but some girls gave me drink coupons, so I headed to Bub's and had a drink and some tots. By now it was getting late, so I headed back to the room for sleep.
Check out my full Comic Con photo set on flickr and stay tuned for my day 2 shenanigans.
