Qualcomm Stadium – San Diego
Game-day activities could include a trip to the zoo or even the Big Bay Balloon Parade. (Photo by Paul Spinelli/Getty Images)
• Photo gallery: A visual tour of our bowl-trip itinerary | Ultimate Bowl Trip homepage
PACIFIC LIFE HOLIDAY BOWL: ARIZONA STATE vs. TEXAS, DEC. 27, 8 p.m. ET
THE BASICS
• Stadium name: Qualcomm Stadium
• Address: 9449 Friars Road, San Diego, CA 92108
• Home team: San Diego Chargers, San Diego State Aztecs
• Capacity: 70,000
• Opened: 1967
• Surface: Grass
• Tickets: Purchase Holiday Bowl ducats from StubHub!
• Distance from downtown San Diego: The stadium is located 8 miles northeast of city center
• Driving distance to Emerald Bowl in San Francisco: 500 miles, 7 hours, 45 minutes
• Web sites: Bowl site | Stadium | Seating chart | Directions | Parking
• TV: ESPN
• Payout: $2.2 million
• City Guide: San Diego
BOWL EVENTS
• Big Bay Balloon Parade, Dec. 27, 1 p.m. ET, Harbor Drive in downtown San Diego.
This event is billed as "America's Largest Balloon Parade." Giant airborne characters are joined by high school and university marching bands, floats and drill teams. Also enjoy the finals of the Wiener Dog Nationals. For parade grandstand tickets, call 619-283-5808.
• The Konica Minolta EndZoner's Tailgate begins two hours before kickoff in the southwest corner of the stadium parking lot, on the practice field near section J-5. The party features a live band, contests, games, a raffle, hosted food and drinks. Tickets begin at $20.
FOOD & DRINK
Italian
Dussini Mediterranean Bistro
275 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
619-233-4323 | Web site
Dussini Mediterranean Bistro is an upscale and intimate restaurant with a distinctive menu. It sits in high style on the site of the former Old Spaghetti Factory in the city's Gaslamp Quarter.
American
Whiskey Girl
600 Fifth Ave.
San Diego, CA 92101
619-236-1616 | Web site
Enjoy delicious food while watching your favorite game on one of more than 20 plasma TVs. Or sit back and enjoy the live entertainment from house cover bands. Stick around for well-known DJ Marc Thrasher.
Sports bar
Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Co.
2245 Fenton Parkway, No. 108
San Diego, CA 92108
619-640-1072 | Web site
Oggi's Pizza & Brewing Company is a sports-themed family restaurant with a wide variety of menu items, full-service dining, numerous TVs and some of the best micro-brewed beer around. For you hotel dwellers and Web-savvy sports tourists, the facility also offers delivery and online ordering.
ATTRACTIONS
San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
619-234-3153 | Web site
Located in Balboa Park, just north of downtown, the zoo features more than 4,000 animals, emphasizing rare and exotic creatures, including giant pandas. Journey into the depths of the Monkey Trails and Forest Tales exhibits, swing by the Children's Zoo and spy the natural habitats.
USS Midway Museum
910 N. Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
619-544-9600 | Web site
Take a tour of the vessel that was commissioned in World War II and served as a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991. (No other carrier served as long.) Located downtown at Navy Pier, the Midway provides a dynamic and enriching experience, "from boiler to bridge."
