I recently visited San Diego for the Annual Meeting of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). This was my second time visiting California, and I was super excited to be in a warm city for a bit. When I signed up for the conference, I hoped that I would also be able to interview for psychiatry residency at UCSD while I was there. However, things didn’t work out that way, so I just participated in the conference and did some site seeing while I was there. I wrote about my experiences at the conference in this reflection post. But I also wanted to write about my impressions of San Diego as a city.
I was only in San Diego for two and a half days, but there are a few key points about the city that truly stood out to me: 1) There is a noticeable population of homeless persons in downtown San Diego. 2) The downtown area seemed very dry to me compared to other cities I’ve visited. 3) Balboa Park is an awesome public space. 4) The coastal parts of San Diego are absolutely stunning.
1) HOMELESSNESS
Having lived in cities like Cambridge, MA and Philadelphia, PA, I’ve unfortunately experienced living in areas with high populations of people without homes. Nonetheless, I was shaken to see the number of homeless people throughout the streets of downtown San Diego. My heart was saddened to see children and their families living on the street. I’ve heard that homelessness is even worse in Los Angeles, but I haven’t been to those parts of LA to experience that.
2) DRY DOWNTOWN
The downtown area of San Diego was DRY AS THE SAHARA. Y’all. When I tell you, I was SO CONFUSED! I stayed at the Pendry Hotel, which was also near to the baseball field in San Diego, but the restaurants and bars were pretty empty given that I was there for Friday and Saturday nights. I didn’t go out because I’m living that granny life these days, but it definitely struck me how dead the city was compared to Philly.
On another note, the emptiness of the San Diego streets ended up causing me to be the most scared I’ve been in a WHILE. On my walk from the hotel to the Greyhound station (I took a bus to LA), I was startled by how long the 0.6 mile walk felt. I’d opted to walk instead of taking an Uber because the bus stop was so close, and I’m mad cheap. However, in hindsight, I would NEVER recommend that to a friend. Even though it was just 5pm, it was super dark out and there were not many streetlights to guide my way. More than that, I was the only person out on the streets other than some folks I saw who I presumed to be selling and/or using drugs. I could not have been more excited to arrive at a bus station than I felt that day.
3) BALBOA PARK
I visited Balboa Park with my conference roommate and new friend, Louisa. It was refreshing to see such a beautiful space that was free and open to the public. We took time to stroll through the area, soaking in the architecture and landscaping at the park. Many others were there as well, either exercising, doing photo shoots or just hanging out.
4) BEAUTIFUL EMBARCADERO MARINA
I love walking around to explore cities, and I made my way to the Embarcadero Park which was near to my hotel. The marina was absolutely gorgeous and I just sat on some benches to soak up the sun and relax. I had such a great time just enjoying the peaceful afternoon that I forgot to take pictures!
5) MISSION BEACH
On my first trip to SD, I had some of the best tacos of my ENTIRE LIFE at Oscar’s Mexican Seafood, so I knew I wanted to replicate that experience on this trip. Even though those tacos are a pretty penny (like, really…why am I paying $5+ for a taco), I had them twice. I got the tacos once at the downtown location and once at the Mission Beach location.
On this trip, I met up with an “Instagram friend” who is now a real-life friend! We walked along the boardwalk and the shore at Mission Beach after feasting on the delicious tacos and some horchata. The beach is definitely my happy place, so I’m extremely grateful anytime I get to spend time near the water. This day was slightly chillier than I would have liked, but given the snow situation on the East Coast, I definitely was not complaining.
I’m really glad to have had the chance to revisit San Diego. I’m even happier that it lived up to my expectations. The weather was great. The food was wonderful. I learned a lot. And I made new friends. That’s a huge success in my book!
Peace and blessings,
Atasha Jordan, MD (to be)
