Balboa Park San Diego. - Day 2 - March 12th & 13th

Day 2 Balboa Park:

Tuesday morning, it's extremely cloudy and it even sprinkled overnight as the ground is wet. Today we decided to stay home and go for a hot tub instead. The sun should be out tomorrow, so Ray can get better pictures. We noticed the pictures yesterday were a little "grey" lol.

Wednesday we were out the door about 9:15 for our 15 minute drive downtown to Balboa Park. Today's objective is to finish off a corner of the park we started on Monday. Today we did 4 museums and 1 garden. 

We were a little early and had to wait about 10 minutes or so before the Model Railway Museum opened, so we wandered across the street for a few pictures. Lots of great architecture everywhere you look.

" Railroads in a variety of scales make for kid-friendly hub of trains, trestles, and tracks in the lower level of the Casa de Balboa building."

These pictures don't do the train sets justice. They have plexiglass in front of everything so you get reflections or poor colour.

Santa Fe Depot in Winslow Arizona. We have been there. :)

In the same building on the main floor is the San Diego History Centre where we watched a movie about how Balboa Park came to be. 

"Celebrating over 90 yestrs of preserving, promoting, and revealing San Diego's rich history."

After this museum we've "paid" for our Explorer Pass.

We walked past the Visitor's Centre to the next Museum, Mingei International Museum.

"Immerse yourself in folk art, craft and design. "

 C

A Chihuly chandelier in the stairwell between floors.

Looks like a patchwork quilt made from wood. Pretty cool.

South American Head Pieces

Outside the Mingei Museum is the Alcazar Garden. 

"Orginally created for the 1915 Panama-Californa Exposition. The garden's ornate tilework recreates the Moorish mosaics int he gardens of Alcazar Castle in Seville, Spain."

Lots of artists painting in the garden today.

A sailboat as a wind vane.

Further down El Prado Road is the Museum of Us with the huge tower.

"Is a place for the diverse stories that define us, all of us. Enjoy immersive exhibits about the human experience."

Outside the Museum of Us

Time for lunch. We went back across the Plaza de Panama to the El Prado Restuarant. Great food and a great view from the patio. Ray ordered Mahi Mahi tacos and I the Chicken Chowder soup and a Beef Sushi Roll. Delicious.

Time to head back to the car. On the way to our parking spot, we came across the Spanish Village Art Centre so we decided to walk through that first. You can watch artists at work here and walk through studios representing over 250 artists. Gorgeous stuff. I really enjoyed the blown glass and paintings.

Just on the way out I noticed these topiary, so Ray had to get a picture. :)

Okay now time to head home after 8000 steps. It's 2:30 when we got back home and the wind came up and the clouds are back, so we sat inside for the rest of the afternoon. I did make a pecan bar dessert for Ray and a loaf of bread.