TOUCHDOWN IN SAN DIEGO; WHETHER YOU'RE THERE FOR THE SUPER BOWL OR JUST FOR REST AND RELAXATION, MAKE FUN YOUR GOAL IN SEASIDE CITY.

Byline: Susanne Hopkins Special to the Daily News

Trying to see San Diego in a day is rather like trying to eat an elephant in one bite: It's impossible.

But if you're headed there to the Super Bowl in January (25th) or just for a weekend anytime and have one day free in this sunny city by the sea, there are some fun ways to get an overview of the place. Among them:

Harbor cruise

With its 27 miles of shoreline, San Diego's harbor is considered by many to be one of the world's most beautiful. On a clear day, you can see parts of Mexico and Coronado Island (which isn't an island at all, but a peninsula). Of course, with an influx of tourists each day and a steady population of more than 1.1 million creating a broad swath of smog (referred to as ``haze'' by San Diegans), those clear days are becoming rarer. But this harbor, Southern California's only natural harbor, is still well worth seeing.

So, on a cool, slightly windy day, I booked a one-hour boat tour of San Diego Bay. With most of the other passengers, I disdained the padded chairs and stood on the covered upper deck of the yacht, Newport Hornblower, as we maneuvered among trawlers, sailboats and pleasure boats. Navy choppers from the U.S. Naval Air Station on Coronado Island whirred overhead and gulls made white crosses in the baby-blue sky. The hour whizzed by as our narrator, Jose Gurganis, pointed out a plethora of sights and unleashed a torrent of information, much of it related to the military, still one of San Diego's major employers.

In addition to the naval air station, there's the Southwest Marine Shipyard and NASSCO, the largest shipbuilder on the West Coast. We saw merchant marine ships and frigates.

Gurganis pointed to two docked ships. ``One of those could take out a small country,'' he said, noting that all the ships in the harbor are on active duty.

The harbor, he said, must be continually dredged to maintain the 42-foot depth needed to accommodate Navy ships.

He indicated the USS Coronado and the USS Constellation at rest in the harbor.``What an aircraft carrier is, is its own little city. It has its own hospital, its own dentist, its own library, its own gym, its own video arcade,'' said the former Navy man who spent a few years aboard such a ``little city.''

We picked up a few tidbits about Coronado Island, as well. Orville Redenbacher, the late bow-tied king of popcorn, lived here for 17 years, Gurganis said. And ritzy Coronado has decreed that no building be more than four stories tall (one can't see San Diego otherwise) and no house can look the same as another. No billboards are allowed, but pink flamingoes are. A small park next to the Le Meridien hotel is inhabited by the striking birds - who sometimes wander into the lobby, Gurganis said.

We headed back into port, where Gurganis pointed out the San Diego Maritime Museum, with its three ships: the Star of India, the Berkeley and the Medea, all of which are open to the public.

``See that restaurant over there off the port side? That's the Kansas City Bar, where they filmed that bar scene in `Top Gun,' '' Gurganis said, indicating a funky place on the Embarcadero across from the harbor.

Everything in San Diego, it seems, eventually comes back to the military.

Old Town Trolley Tours:

Where the harbor cruise left off, the Old Town Trolley Tours picked up, albeit at a much steeper fare ($20 for adults, vs. $12 for the harbor cruise). But you can get on and off this cheerful red vehicle that makes nine stops around downtown and even over the bridge in Coronado. Which means you can spend all day, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. doing the trolley thing. Or, you can just stay on the trolley through all the stops and soak up the atmosphere and the information, the latter presented in zingy style by the driver. That would cost you about an hour and a half in time. I elected to do the whole loop - and amassed enough trivia to create a San Diego Trivial Pursuit game. Among the data:

San Diego once had the largest fleet of tuna fishing boats in the world. Now, there are just a few left.

The city's Santa Fe Station, built in 1916-17, is the finest example of ``Southwest revival'' architecture in the country.

The Harbor Club, two downtown buildings that resemble Tootsie Rolls, are 7,000-square-foot condominiums with absolutely nothing inside - no kitchens, baths, bedrooms, etc., just a shell - that sell for about $2.1 million.

The most embarrassing feature of San Diego, according to most residents, the driver tells us, is apparently the vibrant blue fountain at Horton Plaza with its square pillar and sealife motif.

Alonzo Horton, for whom the plaza was named, came to San Francisco during the Gold Rush and relocated to San Diego when his health deteriorated. In 1868, he bought 1,000 prime acres of the town for 27-1/2 cents an acre.

Seaport Village

OK, so it's really just a shopping center dressed up as an 18th-century fishing village. But as the sun sets and the twinkling lights start glittering in the trees, it's rather fun to wander the cobblestoned paths of this village on the waterfront and drop in on shops whose wares range from the usual fudge and curios to clothing and crystal.

But the real drawing card for me was the carousel.

The Broadway Flying Horses - the fastest carousel in the world - weren't flying when I arrived. Exquisitely painted, the 40 horses and sprinkling of St. Bernard dogs created in 1890 stood at a standstill.

``How long before it goes around again?'' I asked a bored worker in a little red ticket booth.

He stifled a yawn. ``Just until the next person pays $1,'' he said.

``I'll pay a dollar.''I fished a greenback out of my wallet; he handed me a ticket in exchange.

And so it was that I, astride a shiny black steed with a flowing brown mane and tail - surely the most handsome of them all - had the 1890 carousel all to myself. To jaunty tunes, I spun around at the breathtaking speed of 11-1/2 miles an hour, an irrepressible grin on my face. Soon, drawn by the catchy music, a small flock of shoppers congregated to watch the carousel go 'round. They smiled and waved as I rode by. Then, a few of them went and bought tickets.

Point Loma

You can't escape the sea in San Diego - and why try, since it's so pretty and it is inextricably tied to the city's colorful history. In 1542, Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo dropped anchor in a harbor he pronounced as ``closed and very good.'' That was the beginning of what we now know as San Diego.

Today, on the southernmost point of Point Loma, which reaches like an arm off the main body of San Diego, Cabrillo National Monument stands tall in the shadow of what was the first lighthouse in San Diego. Administered by the National Park Service, this spot (which also includes a visitors center, a small museum and a theater where a film on the area is shown) gives you a sense of what the first explorers saw - and what early lighthouse keepers endured to keep the lights burning for those on the high seas.

It was blustery the day I made my way up the hill to the lighthouse and I welcomed the shelter of the structure built in 1855 and restored by the Park Service in the 1930s. A rectangular building of sandstone topped by the tower (which is only open on rare occasions), the lighthouse has been restored inside to the 1880s, when keeper Robert Israel lived here with his wife and four children. Visitors can see, through glass panels, rooms on the first two floors: the parlor, the kitchen, two bedrooms and supply closet.

The lighthouse closed in 1891 - because, at 422 feet above sea level, it was too tall to be seen through the frequent fog and low clouds. Another was built at a lower elevation on Point Loma.

Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala

San Diego's Spanish heritage is evident throughout the city, but perhaps no place is more revered than the mission, the first in California's string of 21 churches founded by Father Junipero Serra. It's not where he first placed it in 1769; in 1774, it was relocated from Presidio Hill six miles east to what is now Mission Valley, where there was fertile farmland and water was more plentiful.

Today, the mission sits on a hill overlooking a residential area. The buildings date to 1813; they were rebuilt between 1915 and 1931. A small on-site museum now tells the story of the restoration. On an early midweek morning, the mission was a serene place. I peered into what were the padres' quarters where the beams and adobe walls are still visible, peeked into the plain, but handsome church and studied the circa 1300 choir stalls and throne that came from Spain to be housed in a chapel built in 1977.

ON LOCATION

Super Bowl XXXII at QUALCOMM Stadium, Jack Murphy Field, is sold out (tickets were available in a random drawing which already has taken place). However, you may be able to find tickets through various ticket agencies or on the internet. Game time is about 3 p.m. Jan. 25. For information on hotel reservations, call [phone], the official San Diego Super Bowl Headquarters Center reservation service.

Super Fest XXXII, sponsored by the Super Bowl host committe, is a free celebration open to the public in the downtown Gaslamp District (on Fifth Avenue from Harbor Drive to Broadway) 6 p.m. to midnight Jan. 23 and from 10 a.m. to midnight Jan. 24. Entertainment, music and NFL stars will be featured.

Super Sail XXXII, presented by the Port of San Diego, is also free and will be Jan. 17 (time to be annouced) at Embarcadero Park. For more information, call [phone].

Got time for sightseeing? Call the San Diego Convention and Visitor's Bureau [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

PHOTO (1--Color) Hotel del Coronado is a landmark on Coronado Island.

(2--3--Color) San Diego's Spanish heritage is evident throughout the city - in Balboa Park, left, and in the mission, above.

BOX: ON LOCATION (see text)