Summer in San Diego: Balboa Park Part 1

Here is the first installment of my new series: Summer in San Diego. This series will take you all throughout San Diego (my hometown) and also gives me a chance to really appreciate my city as I share it with you all. 

First I take you to Balboa Park. This place will make any photographer drool. I went a little photo crazy because there is so much to see! For this reason, I'm breaking it into two parts.

Balboa Park is located next to the San Diego Zoo near downtown San Diego. It was built for the 1915  Panama-California Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. San Diego wanted to promote itself as the first American port the ships would come too after passing through the canal. The park was named after  Spanish-born Vasco Nunez de Balboa, who was the first European to spot the Pacific Ocean while on exploration in Panama. The architectual style is Spanish-Renaissance. 

The Spreckels Organ is still used today and is one of the largest outdoor pipe organs in the world. 

The Spanish Village Art Center is a very colorful area with art shops and sometimes other vendors set up tables outside with their artwork and jewelry. The whole courtyard is painted in beautiful bright colors (see top left picture). I think they also have art classes. The blue circle with a 10 on it was a stool at an art table. 

Here are some of the many arches and hallways throughout the park. I'm a sucker for arches! Makes you feel like your in a movie or something.

In addition to the beautiful architecture, there are many museums to visit. The Museum of Photographic Arts is the one I visited yesterday. There is also the Museum of Man, the Natural History Museum, Museum of Art, Museum of Automobiles, Air & Space Museum, the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and many more! If you ever visit San diego, Balboa Park should be on your list! It's one of my favorites!

Check back soon for Balboa Park, part 2. 

(Sources here & here).