Comic-Con has taken over parts of San Diego with restaurants, museums, and other groups getting in on the comic action. Downtown last week I was told that tickets for this year’s event were sold out 17 minutes after they went on sale. There was no possibility of us actually getting into the convention center, but I’m willing to take my chances in the crowd to see Spider-Man and all his hero friends. We are warned that hotels and parking near the event may be sold out.

Queen of Hearts and Fifth Element ‘Star Wars’ style

We decide to park at the Naval Hospital near Balboa Park; we can ride our bikes from there. The Museum of Photographic Arts is hosting film, art, booze, and the SD Body Art Playground that will be showing live body painting. We arrive 20 minutes before the doors open and get a chance to mingle with another photographer and watch his photo styles on some of the costumed girls that are helping to organize the event. He takes a great ground-level photo that makes me miss my camera with its live-view option, and I see many other camera gadgets that will be added to my wish-list.

Lichtenstein-ish Pop Art

… 30 minutes later

We are two of the first ten people in the room. As the night grows darker, the room will begin to fill with more people carrying iPhones and booze. There are interviews, dancing, a costume contest, a photo booth, and original art in other rooms of the museum. We are able to watch multiple artists transform two women from blank canvases to ones with make-up on their face, a wig in their hair, and paint on multiple limbs. We leave before the paintings are complete.

Whacky-Wavy-Inflatable-Arm-Flailing-Tube-Man

We ride our bikes down to the Gaslamp District in search of things to take pictures of, and though there might be plenty an opportunity, we don’t ride long. We make it two blocks from the convention center before deciding to turn around. We see some Comic-Con badges, but no one we recognize. There are lines, crowds, and traffic that make it difficult to navigate the streets or sidewalks with our bikes. The ride from Balboa Park was all downhill, but somehow Caleb finds us a route back to the car with a ride-able incline.