On a clear spring day, Balboa Park seems to stretch forever.
Guardian
It doesn’t go on forever, of course. The park comprises about 1,200 acres in the heart of San Diego, just north of downtown. In fact, it’s about the same size as UCSD’s main campus.
What gives the park that never-ending feel is the sheer breadth and diversity of what lies within it and the history behind it.
The park was created and named City Park in 1868, and its landscaping was begun by renowned horticulturist Kate O. Sessions at the end of the 19th century. The park was renamed in honor of explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa at the beginning of the 20th century and was subsequently filled with Spanish architecture.
Guardian
The area first earned national notice when it hosted 1915’s Panama-California Exposition, which celebrated the completion of the Panama Canal and displayed the latest technological advances of the time, including a car that could burn rubber at a screeching 65 mph.
Balboa Park is now known for — among other things — the self-proclaimed “”world famous”” San Diego Zoo, and its 800 species of animals and 6,500 species of plants.
There are also 14 museums in the park, and there aren’t just oil paintings on display here. Besides the San Diego Museum of Art, there is the Museum of Photographic Arts; the Reuben H. Fleet Science Theatre, which opened the country’s first OMNIMAX theater in 1978 and has since replaced OMNIMAX with the newer IMAX technology; the San Diego Hall of Champions, which highlights achievements of locally and nationally known athletes from America’s finest city; the San Diego Model Railroad Museum; the Veteran’s Memorial Center Museum; and the Timken Museum of Art, which is always free.
Balboa Park’s faunal offerings range from the arid, with a desert garden and a cactus plot, to the tropical in Palm Canyon, and the Mediterranean Alcazar Garden. And the gardens say nothing of the sheer beauty of the manicured lawns and sloping canyons throughout the park, as well as the park’s 15,000 trees.
Cultural attractions include the Old Globe Theatre complex, which boasts multiple stages that show dozens of plays each year; the Centro Cultural de la Raza, which showcases Chicano, Mexican and Native American art and history; the WorldBeat Center, which sponsors reggae and African music festivals among its cultural programming; and the House of Pacific Relations, which hosts representatives of different Pacific nations.
Hungry visitors have much to choose from. The swanky Prado Restaurant is the latest in restaurateur-magnates David and Lesley Cohn’s group of contemporary eateries around the city. The Tea Pavilion in the park’s Japanese Friendship Garden serves sushi, tea and soups. And, of course, there are cafes serving coffee and snacks, as well as street vendors selling hot dogs and ice cream.
The entertainers scattered along El Prado, the “”main drag”” of Balboa Park’s museum district, are an unofficial but long-established attraction at the park. Street musicians, clowns, mimes, tarot readers and more line the Prado leading to the huge Park Street fountain. While some demand a “”donation”” for their services, they all contribute to the carnival-like atmosphere just by being there.
Navigating all this can be tricky. Though parking lots are spread around the park, they are often full on bright, warm days, when tourists and San Diegans alike flock to the park. A free park tram runs daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. every eight to 10 minutes. Riding that open-windowed, old-fashioned, trolley-styled tram is an attraction in itself.
From UCSD, Balboa Park can be reached by taking Interstate 5 south and exiting at 10th Avenue, turning left on A Street, and left again on Park Boulevard.
For more information check out Balboa Park’s Web site at http://www.balboapark.org or call (619) 239-0512.
