April 21, 2015

Ah, Balboa Park



Here the magic of his notes echoing down the colonnades.

I love going to Balboa Park.  The core of the park buildings were constructed for the 1915 California Pacific Exposition in an ersatz Spanish/Beau Arts style.  Lively stuff.  Ornate.  This year the park is celebrating its centennial.  Many of the museums are changing the exhibits several times this year to reflect the history of the park.
  


In the beginning, none of the buildings were permanent.  Through the years there were tragedies…several of the historic structures and their contents burned.  Other buildings just wore out.  The newly replaced colonnades, mirror the décor on all the 1915 buildings.  Here in the background is the Botanical Building.  The Timkin museum shows us a bit of its modern façade behind one of the newly replaced colonnades.  Balboa Park offers us these layers of its history from every vantage point.



This structure is the rebuilt House of Hospitality.  In the courtyard is a delightful sculpture by Donal Hord.  Grandma and I would often sit here and have a small snack she would bring from home.  Today you can buy a cup of coffee or a snack.  You can also have lunch dinner on terraces overlooking the canyons below as grandma and I would do when she could afford it.  Always I had chicken salad. 

If you are ever in my town, stop by and see our 1,200 acre park in the center of our city.  We are awfully proud of it.




  • Himself:  Still with his cold, sneezing and blowing his nose.  Poor guy.  At work tho.
  • Herself:  Slept most of yesterday and didn’t sleep last night.  Still sound like a fog horn.
  • Reading:  One of JA Jance’s Beaumont mysteries.  I actually was able to read it.
  • Balance:  Trying for no naps today….LOL


  • 8 comments:

    1. What a beautiful place. You live in a great place Mage. Hope you both feel better soon.

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    2. Mage, some great pictures of this place. It looks very unusual to me. Be well soon!

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    3. So very proud. Hope you feel better soon, sweetie!

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    4. I visited there, but with those who were not intellectuals, so just saw the surface stuff and could not stay long. Maybe in the coming years...do you need more kleenex? I have half a dozen boxes here.

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    5. Balboa Park IS something of which to be very proud. I LOVE the Botanical Garden, and the rose and cacti gardens. Magnificent!

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    6. I love places like that. Stanford University is a favorite of mine due to those arched walkways. I could wander those halls for hours. Would love to see this place sometime.

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    7. It is a wonderful park. Richard and I had coffee and crumpets in the courtyard and he and his family and I visited many buildings and the grounds and ate a lovely meal or two. Wonderful place.

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    8. I'd love to visit this place and will some day.

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