You got a badge. Yea! You missed out! Boo!

Ah, the emotional highs and lows of San Diego Comic Con. Pro tip: One of the best things about the Con is walking the streets around the convention. And you sure don’t need cash or an online queue to do that. Go grab a seat at a cafe in the Gaslamp and see how many Stormtroopers and Banes and costumed heroes you can count going by.

But also be aware of all the off-site attractions that are definitely Con-related, yet don’t require a badge – or sometimes, even the price of admission. For instance, the Black Heroes Matter Flash Mob or the Comic-Con Museum pop-up.

The Con trickles over to influence other great events too. The San Diego Symphony performs the scores to accompany the screenings of two sci-fi favorites, Galaxy Quest, and Back to the Future, on Friday and Saturday respectively. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m. at Copley Symphony Hall and tickets start at $26. Waterfront Park also gives a nod to the Con for the outdoor screening of Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

You can celebrate imaginary spacemen, but how about the real deal?

Fifty years ago on Saturday, Neil Armstrong took the famed “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” on the moon. The Fleet Science Center at Balboa Park marks the anniversary with the opening of the NASA-developed exhibit, “Sun, Earth, Universe,” and offers the chance to take a virtual reality look at the moon via “Apollo 11 and Beyond.” Admission costs $22.  Nearby, the San Diego Air & Space Museum will show the Smithsonian Channel’s “The Day We Walked on the Moon,” free with $20 admission.

Escondido also will pay tribute to the astronauts at the California Center for the Arts. Escondido Choral Arts will perform a world-premiere piece, “One Small Step,” in honor of the historic milestone, along with Hadyn’s “The Creation.” Admission is $24 with discounts for students.

Space too heady for you – you prefer more earthbound delights? Del Mar hosts the first weekend of the 2019 summer racing season, which features Reggae Fest with Ziggy Marley. Gates open at noon Saturday, with the first race set for 2 p.m. The concert zone opens at 6 p.m. 

If your family prefers football, the Holiday Bowl hosts its Youth Football Clinic at SDCCU Stadium. Former NFL players will be on hand to guide boys and girls ages 6-14 in a variety of drills – offense, defense, agility and tackling. Registration for the free event in Mission Valley opens at 8 a.m. Saturday.

But what about tennis, you say? After the thrilling wrap-up to Wimbledon, perhaps some local action will do.  Try San Diego Aviators World Team Tennis. The team plays its home openers this weekend against the Vegas Rollers and the Springfield Lasers. The action starts at Carlsbad’s Omni La Costa Resort and Spa at 7 p.m. Friday and continues at 5 p.m. Sunday.

– Staff reports

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