Balboa Park and Cabrillo

Day 127 - San Diego, CA / Long Beach, CA - Overcast and 60ish:

What a day. We woke up early grabbed breakfast, packed up all our stuff, and headed back into Balboa Park. We decided to take the walking audio tour which we weren't too sure about but in the end it turned out to be good because I learned more than I expected. Rather than do it in paragraph I am going to list what I learned about the BEAUTIFUL Balboa Park.

- Balboa Park was constructed for two Worlds Fairs in 1915 and 1935
- In 1868 this land was set away for public use which is what allowed it to be used for fairs.
- It is the largest urban cultural park in the country
- Most of the building were designed to be temporary and only last for the length of the far. They've been working to reconstruct them as they naturally are falling apart.
- House of Hospitality: The lights that hang in the arcade walkways were originally made of cardboard by a Hollywood set designer. Keep in mind the budget and the fact that it was a temporary space!
- Casa de Balboa: (the building in the photo that has nude women) was originally supposed to be both men and women. However the men in charge of approving the design weren't too comfortable with that so they had to be all women. With limited time they couldn't redo the whole design so if you look you can see that some of the women have VERY manly bodies and faces.
- Casa de Balboa: Was the main expo building. All previous expo buildings at World's Fairs had been torn down. With WWI beginning the Navy couldn't let a good building go to waste and so it was turned in to barracks.
- Casa de Balboa: Now holds the world's largest operating railroad museum with 1.25 miles of tracks.
- Zoro Garden: This used to be a nudist garden. People would buy a ticket and get to look through a whole to see what were actually actors and actresses going about their "normal" lives. It now is a butterfly garden.
- The fountain in Balboa is the highest in all of San Diego.
- The rose garden in Balboa is one of the world's largest with over 2,500 bushes. Due to the constant weather they actually have to induce dormant season by trimming all the leaves off the bushes in January to allow the roses to rest.
- The large tree and centerpiece of the park is the Morton Bay Fig tree which is 120 feet wide by 80 feet tall and was brought here from Queensland, Australia.
- The origin of the zoo: Dr. Wegaforth was walking the hills of the area surrounding the World's Fair sight. He saw many animals that were left behind after the 1915 World's Fair. He gathered these animals and thought they would be a good nucleus for a zoo. Boy was he right!
- Casa De Prado: Was considered to be the most beautiful building of the 1915 World's Fair.
- The Lily Pond in front of the Botanical Building was meant for reflecting and placed for beauty. Eventually it was used to teach Navy men to swim. They figured if they couldn't swim in 4ft of water they shouldn't be in the Navy.
- The Botanical Building has over 5 miles of red wood slats on it!
- The Old Globe Theater: Was modeled after Shakespeare's Globe in London and each summer they hold a Shakespeare Festival bringing some of the best actors and actresses from across the country.
- The Old Globe Theater: There is a traditional theater, a theater in the round, and an outdoor theater. Here they mount some of the plays that later appear on Broadway. One of the biggest shows to mount here was The Full Monty which is still a HUGE hit on Broadway in NYC!
- The California Building & Tower were two of the structures that were built to last. The tower has become one of the most recognized features of the park and San Diego.
- The Cabrillo bridge was designed to be the GRAND entrance to the 1915 World's Fair. It now serves as the entrance to downtown San Diego.
- Kate Sessions is known as the mother of Balboa Park. She was a passionate horticulturalist who is credited with much of the beauty in the park.
- Movie News: Much of the home for Citizen Kane was actually shot and can still be found in Balboa Park.
- The park has set of international houses. There are 31 different nations represented and every Sunday they offer cultural lessons. From people in Kilts at Scotland to Irish Stew in Ireland there is a lot to learn.
- The United Nations building in the park is one of the few dedicated U.N. Buildings in the country.
- San Diego's Air and Space Museum is built in the shape of a gear in a Ford car. Inside the building there is a fountain shaped as a V and and 8. This is because originally this was the Ford building at the World's Fair.
- Balboa Park is home to one of the world's largest pipe organs. It has 4,500 pipes ranging from six inches to thirty-two feet. The constant climate in San Diego is one of the few places in the world that allows for this because the temperature doesn't change enough to require retuning.
- The Japanese Friendship Garden in the park is in a very immature state. It is a project that will take decades to develop as the gardens take a long time to mature.
- Yokohama, Japan is the sister city of San Diego.
- The garden was placed in a spot where the winds that blow on it are actually coming from directly the ocean across the city. In essence they are coming from Japan!

After we left Balboa we headed out to Cabrillo National Historic Sight. It is on this sight that San Diego and the nation honor the first European man, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, to land on the West Coast of the United States. The park offers many stories and exhibits describing 16th century exploration. The park has the most spectacular view of San Diego. Unfortunately the gray sky didn't really allow us to photograph this view in it's best light but from here you can see ALL of San Diego and beyond. In this view they also have a large monument to Cabrillo that almost looks like he is protecting the harbor.

Speaking of the harbor, the park is also home to the Old Point Loma Lighthouse which stood watch over San Diego Bay for 36 years. The lighthouse was first lit on November 15, 1855. It was initially thought to be a great location 422 feet above sea level however fog and low clouds often obscured the light. In the clear sky it could be seen from three miles away. Unfortunately because of it's flaw it was extinguished on March 23, 1891 and a new lighthouse was built closer to the water at the tip of the island.

Today the lighthouse serves as a museum to lighthouses, lighthouse keepers, and how the families lived during past. We were able to go into the lighthouse and see the living quarters. To say they are small would be an understatement. We couldn't go all the way up to the light but we were able to get close. The assistant keeper's house next to the lighthouse offered a look into how a lighthouse works, the science behind how the light works, and we got to see the original light that was atop the lighthouse. These lighthouses are far more scientific and technical than you might imagine! Today of course they are operated by electronics but the lighthouse keepers in old days worked long hours with little pay and lots of lonely hours being so far separated from the city.

After exploring the lighthouses we walked around the grounds for a bit before hoping in the car to drive down to the tide pools. Alas it was high tide so the tide pools weren't really visible. We did get to look at the amazing rocks and coastline. Seeing the layers of rock was a unique sight and really allowed you to see how the coast has been formed.

From here we hit the road to head for Long Beach. We took the Pacific Coast highway passing through Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach before arriving at our hotel. Ben was pleased when we arrived to find FREE BEER and WINE along with BIG PRETZELS and CHIPS and SALSA in the lobby. Seeing that we were quick to change and hit the gym so we could grab the free stuff before it was gone. After the run we made a DELICIOUS dinner of steak and mashed potatoes. Now we are hanging in the room. I am writing here and watching the Bachelor Wedding. Ben is watching Top Gear on his computer because he HATES reality television shows like this! Oh well!

Tomorrow we will explore Long Beach before moving to Manhattan Beach!!