Located mere minutes from downtown San Diego this 1200 acre park is a mix of museums, gardens, theatres, appealing architecture and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. The oldest museum in the park is the San Diego Natural History Museum founded in 1874. And the park is home to the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ. Arguably the center of the park is along ‘museum corridor’ a walk way passing by the most prominent of the museums and one of the most picturesque scenes in all of the park, the Lily Pond with the Botanical Building forming the backdrop.
Even if one never enters any of the buildings, simply a walk through the park is a relaxing and worthwhile experience. The park is beautiful anytime of the year, but especially so on an early spring day drenched in warm sunshine with plenty of flowers and trees in bloom.
With origins originally dating back to 1835, it was founded as park in 1868 (extremely old for a California public park), it is one of the oldest is the country. Two major expositions brought additional development including Panama-California Exposition in 1915/1916 and the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935/1936. Select buildings that were meant to be temporary structures ultimately were remodeled and became permanent.
And not to be missed is the most popular zoo in the United States – the San Diego Zoo. Located on nearly 100 acres it is well-known for both its open air (no cages), home of a successful Panda breeding program and housing the most koalas outside of Australia. Visitors can explore the zoo on foot, by guided tour bus or in a gondola on the Skyfari.
For more information visit, www.balboapark.org and www.sandiegozoo.org
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