San Diego, CA - Balboa Park and Sunset Cliffs Natural Park

We visited Balboa Park earlier today and really enjoyed the time we spent there. The weather was mostly overcast and a bit chilly, but certainly better than yesterday's steady drizzle.

Balboa Park is the largest urban cultural park in the USA, encompassing 15 major museums, several performing arts venues, 1200 acres of landscaping and gardens, and the amazing San Diego Zoo. There is also a Visitors Center, cafes and restaurants dotted around the park, plenty of large parking lots, and a free tram service. What a great place to hang out and enjoy the day!

We parked over by the Veteran Museum & Memorial Center, in the Inspiration Point parking lot. Unless there is a special event at the Veteran Museum & Memorial Center, this parking area rarely gets full and so it's a good place to park. The free tram came along within a couple minutes and it took us to the Visitors Center, just off the Plaza de Panama.

Botanical Building

Armed with a map of Balboa Park and a few tips from the man in the Visitors Center, we spent the next couple hours walking around and enjoying the park. Our first stop was in the Botanical Building... lovely!  The Botanical Building was constructed for the 1915-16 Exposition and is home to more than 2,100 permanent plants, featuring collections of cycads, ferns, orchids, other tropical plants and palms. This building is one of the largest lath structures in the world and is a MUST DO for anyone visiting Balboa Park.

Small portion of the Plaza del Panama

After exploring the Botanical Building, we meandered over to the Spanish Village Arts area, with stops along the way to admire buildings and gardens. After browsing around in the Spanish Village Arts area, we made our way back through the Plaza del Panama (a lovely setting in of itself) towards the Museum of Man, over to the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and along the Japanese Friendship Garden.

By now, thunderclouds were rolling in and we decided to make our way back to the car before the sky opened up. We will return on Wednesday, when we visit the famed San Diego Zoo and, time permitting, the Museum of Photographic Arts.

Sunset Cliffs Natural Park

After leaving Balboa Park, we took a quick drive out to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. By the time we got there, it was still overcast but the big ominous rainclouds were gone. We parked the car and walked around for about 15 minutes. Despite being surrounded on three sides by a lovely residential area, we noticed the arrival of several sets of sketchy-looking people and decided it was a good time to head home. We left via the coast road and were pleased to see there is plenty of free parking along the roadway and several pull-out areas people can use to access the beach. It seems to me that Sad Diego values her coast line and encourages people to enjoy the beaches and views.

San Diego Bay and Coronado... in sunshine

By now the sun was back out and we made a bee-line for Cabrillo National Park so we could look at the views in the sunshine, rather than the grey day we had yesterday. We literally did a drive-through, getting out of the car only briefly to take some photos from the monument. Sunshine really does make a difference!

The weather is supposed to be cool but clear tomorrow, and we plan on visiting the USS Midway and maybe go over to Coronado for a while after touring the ship.