November 4, 2012

Diamond Jacks RV Ranch

Jamul, CA

(San Diego, Balboa Park, Coronado Island)

Wanting to make the most out of the only one day we planned on visiting the city I went on-line and found a site that listed 50 free things to do in San Diego.  I highlighted a few that sounded interesting.  We packed a picnic lunch and set off by 10 am (forgetting that the clocks were to be turned back one hour so it was really 9am) and took the half hour drive into San Diego.  I figured we would walk around Balboa Park for an hour or so and then continue on to the next thing on my list.  What I didn’t know was how huge the park was and how much it had to offer.  Balboa Park is the nicest park I have ever been to and I urge anyone planning a visit to it budget the entire day to explore the park.

The first thing we noticed, as we pulled into the free Village Place parking lot and were lucky enough to find a space immediately, was a large group of pink clad men and women sporting all kinds of things from ballerina tutu’s  to angel wings.  I thought we had stumbled upon a post Halloween party until it dawned on me that the group was part of the Susan G Komen race for the cure.

 

We walked around aimlessly until we came upon the Visitor’s Center where we picked up a map of the park and learned some basic information including that on Tuesdays and Sundays at 11am there is a free ranger-led walking tour.  It was 10:45 so we decided to hang out at the center and take the very informative tour.   

The park, named for the Spanish explorer Vasco de Balboa, hosted the 1915 Panama-California exposition.  Many of the original buildings in the style of Spanish Colonial Architecture were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. 

Balboa Park is a 1,200 acre urban cultural park that in addition to open spaces, gardens and walking paths, has natural vegetation greenbelts.  It contains the world-famous San Diego Zoo, several theaters, museums and cafes.  The park offers free transportation stopping at several locations near the many parking lots. 

During the day we saw a bride and groom being photographed several places in the park as well as models, dancers and other performers.

 

 

                                          

 

After the ranger-led tour we walked back to the car to retrieve our picnic cooler.  There was a park bench directly in front of the San Diego Natural History Museum that provided some shade from the intense heat of the sun.  We did some people watching as we ate our sandwiches and I remarked to Monte that it was wonderful to see so many people, especially families with small children, taking advantage of the park.  I looked at the park map I had received at the Visitor’s Center and circled the attractions that were free. 

After lunch we walked the short distance to the Spanish Village Art Center which contains a courtyard surrounded by working studios.  We strolled around looking at the various artists works while being entertained by a guitarist playing Spanish melodies.

 

From there we walked along Village Place taking in the aromas emanating from one of the outdoors cafes that, even though we had just eaten, we found mouth-watering.  We passed a place renting pedal generated carriages as well as a place renting Segways.  After stopping in at a tropical fish expo, where we voted for our favorite tank, we watched a group of highland dancers warming up for a performance. 

We strolled through the Botanical Building built in 1915 that is one of the world’s largest wood lath structures.  It contains over 2,100 permanent tropical plants along with seasonal plant and floral displays. 

We made our way past the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, where year-round concerts on the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ are held on Sundays.  We would have liked to stay and listen to the concert, that was scheduled to start at 2pm, but there are no seats in shade and the sun was just too intense for the concert to be enjoyable.  We continued on to the House of Pacific Relations, an area in the park consisting of 20 cottages, representing 31 nations’ exhibits.  The cottages are only open on Sundays.  Each cottage offered a sampling of food and exhibits of its history, traditions and culture.  

 There are special events scheduled a few times during the year and we just happened to be visiting on the HPR Sampler day that offered a show that included performers clad in and dancing to their native songs.  In the China cottage I had my name written in symbols.  It looked pretty but I couldn’t imagine having to draw all those symbols every time I had to sign my name.

By the time we were ready to move on to the next exhibit, my feet were starting to bark so we looked on the map for the closest tram stop and were relieved that it was a short walk away. 

 We only had to wait a few minutes for the next tram which took us to the Timken Museum of Art, considered one of the great small museums in the world.  It houses a collection of European Old Master paintings, Russian Icons and American Paintings.  There is no admission charged, although donations are accepted.  We had to leave our water bottles with the guard near the entrance as all liquids are prohibited in the museum. 

We didn’t go into any of museums that charge an admission price because it was getting late and we felt we would not have had enough time to really explore them.  If we ever go back to Balboa Park we will purchase a day pass that entitles one to enter every museum.  Some of the museums we would have liked to visit included the Museum of Photographic Arts, the Ruben H Fleet Science Center, the San Diego Air & Space Museum, the San Diego Automotive Museum, the San Diego Museum of Man and the San Diego Natural History Museum. 

 

We ended up spending 6 hours just at Balboa Park and had only touched the surface of what the park has to offer.   Only having less than three hours of daylight left and definitely wanting to go to the port before departing the city, we headed to Seaport Village located near Embarcadero Marina Park.  We couldn’t find an empty parking space so Monte dropped me off so I could take some pictures of the Ocean while he circled the parking lot hoping a spot would become available.  He didn’t have to wait long. 

With a gentle breeze providing some relief from the heat, we took a walk along the water enjoying the spectacular view of the marina containing some enormous yachts and watched people flying colorful kites of varying sizes and shapes.  We strolled through some of the shops at Seaport Village and watched the street performers. 

 

One of the must-see attractions recommended by the lady at Balboa Park Visitor’s Center was the beach on Coronado Island.  We only had a half hour of daylight left when we departed Seaport Village and went over the bridge connecting Coronado Island (technically not an island but a peninsula) with the mainland.  Luckily we found a place to park along Ocean Blvd just in time to watch the magnificent sunset from the beach. 

 

It was only a half hour drive back home and by 6:30 we were sitting down to leftovers already reminiscing about the awesome adventures we had today once again reinforcing how lucky we are to be living this lifestyle.