Balboa Park, a must do if you are in San Diego!!!

February 5th, 2016

We were supposed to go on a family "cruise" on Ryan's ship but it got cancelled at the last minute due to a malfunction.  They still had a family day in port but we decided not to go as we have seen around the ship with Ryan.  Instead we spent the day at Balboa Park.  We bought weekly tickets that got us into 17 museums.  It covered the ones that we were most interested in, so off we went.

The architecture and landscaping is awesome.  There is so much to see here that you could easily just go and walk or ride the tram and not spend anything.  Even parking is free!! Take a picnic and enjoy.

We only did a small portion of it.  Here is a MAP of attractions and parking etc.  I have tried to put the # or letter of the location by each place that I talk about.

I have decided to write a blog for each museum/attraction that we went into as there are so many pictures it's impossible to get them in one place. Here are the links for those blogs:
1. San Diego Natural History Museum BLOG #16 on map - Interesting
2. San Diego Model Railroad Museum BLOG #14 - Amazing
3. Japanese Friendship Garden BLOG #G  - Beautiful
4. San Diego Air & Space Museum BLOG #22 - Ok

We returned to the park on February 9th, 2016 BLOG  and visited the following places there.
5. San Diego Automotive Museum BLOG #24 - Good
6. San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum BLOG #32 - Disappointing
7. Veterans Museum and Memorial Center BLOG #39 - Excellent
8. Reuben H. Fleet Science Center BLOG #11 - Average
9. Botanical Building BLOG #17 - Pretty

We got there about 10am and parked in the parking opposite #20 (United Nations Building).  We walked up to i (Visitor Center) as we wanted to get our 7 day pass for the museums.  You can pay individually for the museums, some are free, or get a one day or 7 day pass.  There are also Annual passes and they have Free Tuesdays for locals to get in select ones each Tuesday.

The San Diego Museum of Art #11 was the first building we saw on our way to the Visitor Center.  Look at the ornate entrance.  (Didn't go in here this trip)

We sat and formulated a plan for seeing the museums we wanted to go to.  We planned to come back at least one other day and then off we went in the direction of #16 the San Diego Natural History Museum.

The tower by the Mingei International Museum #14 (Didn't go in here this trip)

Walking along El Prado to the Natural History Museum

Bryan taking pictures

Sue taking pictures

We passed the (9)Lily Pond with the (17)Botanical Building at the rear.

The ornate buildings and covered walkways along El Prado.

Living Statue

Outside the Natural History Museum

We went into the Natural History Museum. (See separate blog)

From inside the Natural History Museum and as we came out the back entrance we saw this huge tree.

Moreton Bay Fig tree #C

We saw a squirrel playing in the tree but didn't get a picture.

Casa Del Prado Theater #9

Our next stop was the Model Railroad Museum. (See separate blog)

After we finished looking around the railroad museum we were getting hungry.  We walked down toward the Japanese Friendship Garden as that was going to be our next stop.

Spreckels Organ Pavilion #15

The free trolley bus that will take you around the park and stops at designated stops. 

We stopped to eat at the food place by the entrance to the Japanese Garden.  There were tables outside and we relaxed and rested for a while.  We would probably bring our own lunch if we come again although the food wasn't bad.

After lunch we went into the Japanese Friendship Garden #G. (See separate blog)

After the garden we were both getting a little tired but decided to walk down to the Air & Space Museum #22.  We walked past the car park where we were parked and thought about going home but decided against it.  I told Bryan that I would probably find a seat in the Aviation museum and let him walk around, which he was ok with. (See separate blog)

When we came out of the museum we decided to get the trolley back to the car park as it was uphill although not really very far.  We got on the trolley and it proceeded to go in the opposite direction so we had a lovely tour of the park before ending up at the Visitor Center when the driver told us he was finishing for the day and we could get off and wait for his replacement if we wanted.  We told him we were only going to the next stop and he said he would just take us there.  When we said we were in the car park across from the stop he just dropped us off right by the car park.  Guess we must have looked tired but it was very nice of him and we said thank you very much and gave him a tip.

We drove home and fortunately the traffic wasn't too bad.  We had a lovely but exhausting day and we have to work tomorrow!!!  Hope we can both walk.

We will try and come back next Tuesday February 9th, so watch out for another blog on that.