CMS Software and Computing Week 2009 at UCSD

Accomodations

For accomodations, we suggest two options:

• The Sheraton La Jolla offers a rate of $159. Participants in the meeting can make a reservation via this link or by calling toll free (866) 500-0335. The Sheraton is 15min walk away from the conference meeting rooms, and 5min walk away from Pete's coffee shop, and a host of other stores.
• The Clarion Del Mar inn has agreed to offer 22 garden rooms with a Queen size bed for $69 and 11-15 ocean view rooms with a King size bed for $99. Reservations can be made by calling (858) 755-9765 and mentioning the title of the meeting. The Del Mar Inn is 15min drive along the beautiful San Diego Coastline. There is a bus service along that route. Is this true?

Directions

UCSD has an excellent online map with search capabilities. The meeting rooms we will be using are in "Mayer Hall" and the "Natural Sciences Building".

The closest B parking lot to both is P103. See below for more on parking.

From Airport to UCSD

Ask the rental agency people to point you towards I-5 north, and take a map to be save. You take the Gilman Drive/UCSD exit from I-5. Then follow Gilman Drive up to the UCSD Entrance. There is a little booth there where you can pick up a UCSD map as well as a day permit from a machine.

From Airport to Sheraton

The Sheraton has an airport shuttle. Please call them to find out the details. Is this correct?

From Airport to Del Mar Inn

Del Mar Inn does not have an airport shuttle. If you don't want to rent a car, then take Cloud9 shuttle service to the Del Mar Inn. There is a booth outside the Airport across the street with an attendant in a blue jacket who will call a shuttle for you.

From Del Mar Inn to Parking on Campus

Follow 101 South to "Torrey Pines Rd". Take a right onto Torrey Pines Rd. If you get to I-5 then you went too far. From Torrey Pines Rd, take a left onto Revelle College Drive. The parking lot P102 is to your immediate left. P103 is just north of P102. From these parking lots it's a few inutes walk to either of the two buildings.

From Sheraton to UCSD

Walk straight west from the hotel. You will want to cross the La Jolla Village Drive via the pedestrian Bridge just west of Rock Bottom. Continue west towards the Gilman Drive Visitor Information Center. BTW, you can get areal views for any online map. Walk past the Visitor Center on Gilman Drive, crossing Osler Lane. There is a pedestrian overpass across Gilman soon thereafter. Cross it and Mayer Hall is due west of you.

Parking on Campus

Day permits can be purchased for $6 in a variety of places, including machines located at the Gilman Entrance to UCSD, as well as the B-lot at Revelle. A mape of all machines can be found here. Exact change is required, but Visa, MasterCard? , and American Express are accepted. The permits allow you to park in a space marked with a B or an S. Very strict enforcement of parking regulations is the norm at UCSD. Writing tickets seems like a significant revenue stream for the University.

For people staying at the Sheraton, there's no reason to drive. You can walk to UCSD. For people at the Del Mar Inn, there's the option of taking the shuttle or bus to UCSD, or find somebody to give you a ride. Not clear if they have pick-up as well.

Meeting rooms on Campus

The meeting rooms are NSB 1205, in the ground floor of the "Natural Sciences Building" and Mayer Hall 5301, 5623, and 5681 on the 5th floor of the Mayer Hall Addition. The room for the DORP meeting is 5681. The main Mayer Hall building is under renovation/construction. Stay away from the mess.

Coffee Shops

This being Southern California, there are a number of outdoor Coffee shops on campus. All of them have pretty decent coffee, as well as scones, croissants, etc. The closest ones from Mayer Hall are the Grove and the coffe cart at the south east end of Mandeville Center.

Places for Lunch on Campus

There is a petty decent Thai Restaurant just North-West Corner of the Grove Caffe. Apart from that, there is the main Food Court in Price Center, and the coffee shops and Grove have sandwiches etc., and then there's of course Porter's Pub with food of the liquid kind, as well as some bar food. The pub is open for lunch, and in the evenings.

Relaxing with Ocean View

The Natural Science Building has west facing balconies, several of which have Ocean views. If I recall correctly, any floor above the 3rd has Ocean View. Our conference room is on the ground floor.

There is also several beaches that are walking distance from campus. However, it's a very steep walk. UCSD is separated from the Ocean by a cliff that's roughly 50-100m or so. There's a Gliderport near the North-West corner of Campus, about a 20-30min walk from the Natural Science Building. It has spectacular Ocean views, and a steep path down to a nudist beach. At low tide, once can walk all the way to the Scripts Pier from there. As you walk along the shore, you can watch surfers pretty much all year round, and might spot dolphins, pelicans, and seals, if you are lucky. Another, more urban outing is La Jolla Cove, where you are guaranteed to encounter pelicans and seals at the "children's beach" area.

Workshop Dinner - Transportation

There will be a workshop dinner on Wednesday evening. Transportation details can be found here.

Other Dinners

For all dinners other than wednesday, you are on your own. San Diego is a metropolitan area of ~ 3 Millions people. Accordingly, there are near infinite possibilities. Below, we are suggesting a few areas to explore.

La Jolla Cove

Prospect Street in La Jolla is the heart of restaurant life in San Diego. It's a bit of a resort atmosphere. A favorite for watching the sunset is the roof terrace of "George's on the Cove". If you go there, try their signature soup.

Del Mar

The area near 101 and 15th Street in Del Mar (a few blocks walk from the Del Mar Inn) has many interesting restaurants. Some of them are a bit pricey. Personal favorite is Jake's at the beach. Try the tornedos if you go there.

Downtown

The downtown of San Diego for nightlife is referred to as the "gaslamp district" near Horton Plaza on 4th-6th street. You can find lot's of nightclubs, restaurants, life Music, etc. within a few blocks. Parking is expensive, but easy in Horton Plaza.

Hillcrest

Another area with lot's of restaurants within walking distance of each other. My personal favorite here is "Khyber Pass", an Afghan restaurant. Their appetizers are wonderful.

Ocean Beach area

This is the grundgy part of town. Cheaper than the other places mentioned. My favorites here are Hoodads (best burgers in SD) and South Beach Bar & Grill (best fish tacos).

-- FkW - 2009/01/27