Tag: Balboa Park San Diego CA

Let me count the visits

Balboa Park in San Diego has something for everyone. Frankly, we did our best to sample a little of everything. In three days we visited no less than ten museums and gardens. Because time was short, we didn’t go to the San Diego Zoo, which warrants a day of its own.

TheNAT, San Diego Natural History Museum, allowed us to get up and close and personal…safely.

There were “rat rods” and painstakingly restored vintage rides at the San Diego Automotive Museum.

In the San Diego Air and Space Museum we saw the Apollo 9 command module, above, and the Spirit of Saint Louis, its the cockpit lacking a front windshield which effectively left Charles Lindberg sightless when taking off and landing.

And we were able to hear the glorious Spreckles organ played. Plus we paid visits to the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Museum of Photographic Arts, and San Diego History Center. It’s an amazing place, deserving more than a few days but we gave it our all, stumbling out a little cross-eyed and fatigued. Next week I’ll show you where we went to chill out.

I’ll drink to that

Everywhere we went in San Diego’s Balboa Park provided beautiful views of the Spanish Renaissance architecture from the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. Its preservation is a testament to the city. San Francisco also hosted a Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Sadly, very little remains there today except the Palace of Fine Arts.

One of the ten museums and gardens we visited at Balboa Park was the San Diego Museum of Man. And the first exhibit we saw drew me right in: Beer!

Beer has quenched human thirst for a long time in civilizations around the world. This ceramic beer bottle is Egyptian, from 1375-1350 B.C. Other exhibits showed growlers from the Incas and beer’s links to Chinese nutrition … even the antibiotic properties of ancient beers.

Naturally, the exhibit gave us ideas. After we left we went to a nearby restaurant and sampled local craft beers. On the left is an IPA called “Pupil,” with tropical notes of guava and mango. The stout on the right, “Apocalypse Pony,” boasted coffee and vanilla bean. Both were delicious and I learned to be a diligent Pupil with my IPA. I discovered that it was entirely too much to consume on an empty stomach. And no, I wasn’t driving.

Blankets and horses

The weather was chilly and often grey as we visited Balboa Park in San Diego, CA. But the intricate relief in many building faces was deeply etched and still stood out.

After we left San Diego and reflected on our visit, we agreed that the Mingei International Museum was a standout. We were drawn by the exhibit “Weaving a Path – Navajo Women and the Feminine Ethos.” The display showed more than 30 traditionally woven rugs, blankets, and wearing blankets, beautifully displayed and nicely interpreted.

This carousel horse was also a real eye catcher and was created on site at the museum in 1995.

A fiberglass horse model was covered in beeswax and each bead was placed onto the model using needles. It was created by a traditional Mexican Huichol artist, Rosendo Carrillo de la Rosa, and his family.

The detail is amazing and the piece is gorgeous.

Balboa orchid mania

Balboa Park in San Diego, Ca is a fabulous place to wander and take in a 100+ year-old vision of the world. As the site of the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition it’s filled with architectural beauty at every turn and a great place to walk.

The Botanical Building was built in 1915 and is one of the world’s largest wood lath structures. I wasn’t sure what to expect inside.

Immediately inside the doors we were greeted with a display of orchids that made my heart go pitter-pat.

We were in for a treat. Inside the building was a big, lush display of cymbidium orchids and we couldn’t have timed our visit better. They were at their vibrant peak.

Two big groupings massed dozens of plants.

The building contains more than 2,000 permanent tropical plants but, for me, this visit was all about orchids and they were a knockout.

Decisions, decisions

Balboa Park in San Diego, CA was originally purchased as acreage for a large community park. As the Panama Canal neared completion community leaders saw an opportunity to promote San Diego as the U.S. west coast’s first seaport destination. In 1915 the Panama-California Exposition showcased Balboa Park with its Spanish Renaissance style buildings. Its popularity extended the Exposition through 1916 and twenty years later it was the site of the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition.

Today the park boasts a combination of museums, gardens, performing arts venues, and attractions such as the San Diego Zoo. For tourists like us the biggest challenge was to decide what to see and where to go in our short visit. The San Diego Model Railroad Museum, above, made it onto the list.

The museum had sprawling scale models with amazing attention to detail. Volunteers kept the trains running, maintained the dioramas, and worked to make it a great place to visit.

Let’s get away

I’ll be the first to admit that Washington winters get long for me. I know I’m a wimp but by February I need a change of scene. Since I’m a planner by temperament anyway, I start planning getaways around the time days start getting short. That beach hut in Fiji may not be in the stars, but a more realistic trip to Southern California took shape recently.

A very brief excursion to Balboa Park in San Diego during a business trip years ago left me hungry for a chance to see more. I felt I’d walked onto a movie set of a location I couldn’t quite put my finger on. My indelible memory was of a place made of eye candy.

I’ll show you more of Balboa Park over the coming days, then take you to another part of Southern California. After a long winter, aren’t you ready for a little travel too?