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Travel  Tours
While at ISTE 2012, tour around the great city of San Diego!
Many of the tours listed below provide a behind-the-scenes look at some of the area’s most visited sites. Read the tour descriptions to find something that piques your interest!
Then register for tours via our registration page. If you’ve already registered for the conference, you can still add a tour! Tours are available Saturday through Wednesday and depart from the transportation loading zone at the convention center. Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour departs.
Tour Cancellation Policy: Tour registration deadline is May 25, 2012. Tour cancellations must be made by May 25, 2012 to receive a refund. Note: Refunds are contingent upon ticket resale and are not guaranteed. If a tour is cancelled (by ISTE), your money will be refunded in full after the conference.
Tours by Day/Date
Saturday, June 23
City Tour—San Diego Old & New
9:30 am–2:30 pm
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Drive through the Historic Gaslamp District to the B-Street Pier, for a one-hour harbor excursion along beautiful San Diego Bay. You’ll pass the Maritime Museum and the majestic Star of India on your way to Seaport Village and the Convention Center.
Next stop is Balboa Park, one of America's largest municipal parks and second largest collection of museums outside of Washington D.C. Balboa Park is also home to the world famous San Diego Zoo.
Then on to Old Town State Historic Park, where San Diego began. Old Town recreates life in the Spanish and early American periods. Historic buildings, shops, and restaurants illustrate the vast changes that have taken place in this city since it was first settled in 1769.
Cost: $52/person
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Jewels by the Sea
10:15 am–4:15 pm
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The Birch Aquarium at Scripps is your first stop. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this beautiful facility presents undersea creatures in realistic habitats and interactive museum exhibits featuring the latest research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
In “the Village” of La Jolla, you will lunch at the Crab Catcher, set high on a cliff overlooking a spectacular ocean view. Choose from crab cakes, Cobb salad, or crispy Asian chicken salad, with key lime pie for dessert.
After lunch, explore boutiques, galleries, and studios, or enjoy beachcombing on your own at the famous La Jolla Cove. All are set against a stunning backdrop, often compared to the French Riviera for its aesthetic appeal.
Cost: $95.00/person
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Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
7:00 pm
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Enjoy a beautiful evening in San Diego at Petco Park as ISTE CEO Don Knezek throws out the first pitch at the Padres vs Mariners game! Purchase your tickets through your online registration and pick them up before 4 pm on Saturday, June 23, at the conference registration area.
Cost: $11.00/person
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Sunday, June 24
Jewels by the Sea
10:15 am–4:15 pm
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The Birch Aquarium at Scripps is your first stop. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this beautiful facility presents undersea creatures in realistic habitats and interactive museum exhibits featuring the latest research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
In “the Village” of La Jolla, you will lunch at the Crab Catcher, set high on a cliff overlooking a spectacular ocean view. Choose from crab cakes, Cobb salad, or crispy Asian chicken salad, with key lime pie for dessert.
After lunch, explore boutiques, galleries, and studios, or enjoy beachcombing on your own at the famous La Jolla Cove. All are set against a stunning backdrop, often compared to the French Riviera for its aesthetic appeal.
Cost: $95.00/person
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Glorious Gardens in Balboa Park
12:30–5:00 pm
| In 1868 San Diego set aside a 1,400-acre tract of pueblo lots, today known as Balboa Park. This horticultural wonder in downtown was recently recognized as the best urban park in the Americas (including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America).
Kate O. Sessions is called “the mother of Balboa Park” because of her exotic plant introductions. In 1892, Sessions asked for 30 acres to establish a private nursery, pledging to plant 100 trees in the park each year for 10 years. You will enjoy a two hour guided tour of San Diego’s finest gardens, known for vibrant colors, ornate fountains, and tropical aromas. Also included is a passport to four museums in the park.
Cost: $82.00/person
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Cozy Up with Creatures at the San Diego Zoo
12:45–6 pm
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Experience a personal encounter with some of the world’s most captivating creatures! Guided by a zoo expert, your private tour will cover approximately 70% of the 150+ acres dedicated to the Zoological Society, and you’ll see in action the zoo’s dedication to the conservation of endangered species and habitats.
You’ll have the unique opportunity to go “off-exhibit” with your guide, visiting two areas of the park not open to the general public. Learn about the unique behaviors and care practices of the animals that draw so many to the zoo each year.
Guests can further explore the zoo at their own speed – or jump into the Skyfari Aerial Tram and zoom high above the zoo. Don’t miss the Elephant Odyssey, a cutting edge exhibit featuring mixed species, innovative animal enrichments, and even a replica of a tar-pit excavation site!
Cost: $157.00/person; meal vouchers offered for additional fee.
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Take Me Out to the Ballgame!
1:00 pm
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America's favorite pastime is happening right across the street from ISTE 2012! Get your tickets for a Sunday afternoon in the Southern California sun at the ballpark. Purchase your tickets through your online registration and pick them up before 11 am on Sunday, June 24, at the conference registration area.
Cost: $11.00/person
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Monday, June 25
Live the Adventure, Honor the Legend
9:30 am–12:30 pm
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Become part of the crew of the longest-serving U.S. Navy aircraft carrier of the 20th century, the USS Midway! Three football fields long with 2,000 rooms, it was the largest ship in the world for a decade. A floating city at sea, it was solid steel with a crew of 4,500 young men whose average age was 19.
Your tour will be led by Scott McGaugh, author of Midway Magic and Midway Memories. Scott will share Midway sailors’ deeply personal stories from the uncertain days following WWII, through Operation Desert Storm when the USS Midway led naval flight ops.
Each tour is based on the interests of the group, and can include the galleys that served 13,500 meals a day, and the catapult command center that shot 30-ton aircraft into the air.
Cost: $88.00/person
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Ocean Kayaking Adventure
9:00 am–1 pm
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Kayak touring is one of the fastest growing sports today. Evolving from ancient Eskimo design, modern kayaks have changed very little. State-of-the-art materials allow us to paddle light, beautiful kayaks silently and comfortably through many conditions and any waterway. Kayaking opens the natural wonders of our environment for you.
Guests will have the opportunity to explore the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean in kayaks. Each person will be fitted with a life vest, paddle, and kayak. A personal guide will lead guests on an hour and a half tour through beautiful La Jolla caves.
Cost: $80.00/person
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Glorious Gardens in Balboa Park
12:30–5:00 pm
In 1868 San Diego set aside a 1,400-acre tract of pueblo lots, today known as Balboa Park. This horticultural wonder in downtown was recently recognized as the best urban park in the Americas (including the U.S., Canada, Mexico and South America).
Kate O. Sessions is called “the mother of Balboa Park” because of her exotic plant introductions. In 1892, Sessions asked for 30 acres to establish a private nursery, pledging to plant 100 trees in the park each year for 10 years.
You will enjoy a two hour guided tour of San Diego’s finest gardens, known for vibrant colors, ornate fountains, and tropical aromas. Also included is a passport to four museums in the park.
Cost: $82.00/person
Tuesday, June 26
San Diego Zoo Safari Park “Photo Caravan”
8:00 am–2 pm
Your chance for an African Safari…in San Diego! The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is an 1,800 acre wildlife preserve located in the San Pasqual Valley. This photo caravan allows guests the opportunity to go nose to nose with a rhinoceros, look a sky-high giraffe in the eye and on rare occasions, even see the birth of an animal! And you can capture it all on film.
Open-air trucks take guests inside the Wild Animal Park's preserve for breathtaking close-ups of gazelles, impalas, Cape buffalos, zebras, gnus, oryxes and ostriches. A special Wild Animal Park guide will accompany each photo caravan to narrate and identify wildlife and point out interesting animal habitats and natural behaviors.
After this one hour and 45 minute tour, guests will have plenty of free time to explore the park on their own.
Cost: $249/person
City Tour—San Diego Old & New
9:30 am–2:30 pm
Drive through the Historic Gaslamp District to the B-Street Pier, for a one-hour harbor excursion along beautiful San Diego Bay. You’ll pass the Maritime Museum and the majestic Star of India on your way to Seaport Village and the Convention Center.
Next stop is Balboa Park, one of America's largest municipal parks and second largest collection of museums outside of Washington D.C. Balboa Park is also home to the world famous San Diego Zoo.
Then on to Old Town State Historic Park, where San Diego began. Old Town recreates life in the Spanish and early American periods. Historic buildings, shops, and restaurants illustrate the vast changes that have taken place in this city since it was first settled in 1769.
Cost: $52/person
Wednesday, June 27
Ocean Kayaking Adventure
9:00 am–1 pm
Kayak touring is one of the fastest growing sports today. Evolving from ancient Eskimo design, modern kayaks have changed very little. State-of-the-art materials allow us to paddle light, beautiful kayaks silently and comfortably through many conditions and any waterway. Kayaking opens the natural wonders of our environment for you.
Guests will have the opportunity to explore the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean in kayaks. Each person will be fitted with a life vest, paddle, and kayak. A personal guide will lead guests on an hour and a half tour through beautiful La Jolla caves.
Cost: $80.00/person
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June 24–27, 2012 
