Okay it depends on what you want to do and how old you are.
It you want a bar club scene, we have the Gaslamp Quarter downtown and Pacific Beach (more for college aged and more layed back than Down town).
If you want sights there are plenty. Going out to Point Loma would give you great views of downtown San Diego while also seeing Cabrillo National Monument and maybe checking out some tide pools. As mentioned above Rosecrans National Cemetry is next to the monument so you can visit some of our fallen soldiers. Also Harbor Island (across the street from the airport)and Coronado Island will give you great views of downtown.
If you want to go out to Coronado I'd suggest taking a ferry across the bay instead of taking the bridge.
Also downtown we have the USS Midway aircraft carrier musuem, might be worth checking out.
An interesting look out to give you great views of San Diego at large and La Jolla would be to go to Mount Soledad in La Jolla.
Since you are going to be in town during the 4th, Fireworks are normally launched at local High Schools, Sea World, and in San Diego Bay. Watching them down at the bay is impressive since they reflect off the water.
You could also go to the
Summer Pops
The beaches are going to be packed this weekend no matter where you go since it is the weekend of the 4th though my personal favorites are La Jolla Shores and Torrey Pines State Beach.
We've been in the middle of a heat wave the past couple of days so when making your choices on what attractions to go to keep this in mind. With that said go to the San Diego Zoo instead of the San Diego Wild Animal Park if you want to see animals because there will be about a 20F difference in temperature.
If you are a big Top Gun fan you may want to drive up I15 near Miramar MCAS which use to be Miramar NAS or Fightertown USA which was the center piece of the movie.
Out of the local attractions Balboa park is a must. not only does it have the San Diego Zoo it also has many musuems and such. It is great just to walk around and take in the scenery.
Seaworld is fun for the Shamu shows and Dolphin shows though it can get a little pricey. Legoland is another option but remember its geared for little kids where as Seaworld is more all ages.
If you want to see wildlife La Jolla would be a great place to see it. In downtown La Jolla there is a little Cove called 'the children's pool' and a colony of harbor seals has taken residence there. Its fun to go see them.
San Diego is home to the first Spanish Mission in California,
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala. May want to check that out if you are in to old buildings.
You're going to get hungry and San Diego has great Mexican food and seafood. A lot of the hole in the taco shops are good though if this is your vacation you probably don't want to do that. I suggest going to
Casa de Pico in Grossmont Center (Take I-8 east from downtown). Awesome food and I'd recommend it to anyone. Old Town no longer has the Mexican food that they use too though
Casa Guadalajara is awesome too.
Good seafood can be found downtown or out on Coronado. My personal 'fast' seafood favorite is Anthony's on Harbor Drive by the Old tall ship Star of India (worth seeing).
The county fair is still going on until the 4th up at the Del Mar race track. Might be fun to do though maybe not while on vacation.
If you feel like you really want to go to Mexico I suggest going past Tijuana to Puerto Nuevo (about an hour south once you cross) for Lobster. Though if you have a rental car you may not be able to get it across the border. So it might be better to get a taxi. If you do drive down there besides the possible 3 hour wait to get across customs/border patrol might give you a hard time for not having you Passport.
If you have any more questions about San Diego or need ideas for things to do while here, let me know.
Oh yeah if you want to go to LA it will probably be a 2 1/2-3 hour drive. Anahiem is closer and has Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Mideval Times.
