What fascinates me the most is that Balboa Park was built as a series of temporary structures during the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. And they are still standing today. The structures have been slowly replace with more permanent concrete additions. Regardless, the whole park was supposed to be temporary!

Inside the park are 17 museums, 19 gardens, the Old Globe Theatre and much more. There are two restaurants, my favorite being the Del Prado and there's an arboretum which is where this image was taken.

Many festivals are held here, a popular one is December Nights which is usually held in the 2nd weekend of December and is a huge event attracting thousand of San Diegans & tourists. The Earth Day festival is also held here.

Don't miss the Spanish Arts Village, a cool little village where you can watch artisans create their art in their shops, if you like, you can purchase. I like to watch the glass blowers, and many of them offer classes if you're in town long enough to try them out!

There's way to much here to describe in the 1500 characters allowed, you'll just have to check out the park for yourself when you come to San Diego. Start with the web link I provided so you can know if there are any festivals or special events going on while you are here!

We come here often to hone our photography skills, bird watch and just walk around looking at the interesting architecture.