What should we do in San Diego over the 4th of July weekend?

If you're staying in the Gaslamp Quarter, you don't really need to bounce around much since there's so much to do there. I'm guessing it'll be packed next weekend, but great fun anyway. Walk up and down the streets in the Quarter. There are several cool cigar bars and a hookah bar called Fumari, if you're down for that sort of thing. There are plenty of restaurants and stuff; check the LobsterMitten thread for that stuff. You can walk down to the end and see the Convention Center which itself is wholly uninteresting, but provides for interesting views of the bay. If you want to jump around a bit, you should definitely go see the Hotel Coronado and Coronado Island in general; it's gorgeous and a great beach. SeaWorld is fun, and the San Diego Zoo is freaking sweet. I mean, they have PANDAS! Oh, and this will sound weird but if you pass by the Courtyard Marriot in the Gaslamp, step inside and look at the lobby. It's a former bank, turned into a hotel, and VERY cool. (The conference rooms are in the former safe deposit vaults; there's a room in a suite that has a welded open vault door for the bathroom door, with a separate door in its place.)

Small but very nice art museum, I think in Balboa Park, closeby the zoo et all. A nice collection in a nice setting.

Oh nice, I'm visiting a friend there the same weekend. Thanks for posting this thread! Don't know if you're into it like we are but we're going to the http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/startrek/index.html at the aerospace museum.

On the 4th of July you should go to Ocean Beach, buy a bottle of tequila, get a burrito, and sit on the beach to watch the fireworks. Or, better, if you've saved your easter candy, eat that while watching the fireworks and drinking tequila.

Just stay out of Pacific Beach. The place is a madhouse that weekend. Ocean Beach is a good suggestion though. :)

If you have a car, you might enjoy http://www.legoland.com/California.htm. It's just a short ride north of S.D. (be aware obtrusive sound automatically plays on their site).

When we were there we did one of the http://www.hornblowerholidays.com/sd/4th_of_july.htm. Wonderful meal and drinks and the view of the fireworks from the water was incredible.

Just a warning, alcohol is banned on San Diego beaches nowadays.

Things to do: I'd get out of the Gaslamp District, but I'm biased. (Third generation San Diegan, who foolishly moved away and is very jealous of your 4th of July fun.) As you cross the bridge into Coronado, there's a small park called Tidelands down at the bottom. Great place to watch fireworks from. Likely to be crowded and parking on Coronado is going to be a pain. Sorry. However, the ferry landing is an equally good place to watch from. I'd stay away from OB, PB and Imperial Beach, everyone else is going to be out, and if you're a tourist, enjoy the downtown areas. Balboa Park is great, there's the Zoo, Spanish Village, Fleet Space Theater (IMAX) the Houses of Hospitality, Aerospace Museum, dancestoblue is thinking of the http://www.timkenmuseum.org/1-history.html the http://www.serve.com/sosorgan/ will be doing a concert on Sunday afternoon.