California Dreaming: Part 2
Seams Like a Story is taking a break from sewing to go on some summer adventures. My “California Dreaming” series features three posts from a recent trip to Southern California. Post one featured the Pacific Ocean. http://seamslikeastory.com/the-pacific-ocean/
The second post takes me to historic Balboa Park in San Diego.
Urban Oaisis
“If you go to San Diego, you must visit Balboa Park,” friends said. This iconic urban oasis hosted the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition. Both events left buildings that are now registered as historic landmarks. Here you will find walking paths, museums, theaters, restaurants and the San Diego Zoo.
A Witness to History
As we strolled around the beautiful park waiting for the Natural History Museum to open, we came across this Moreton Bay Fig tree. Planted in the formal gardens created for the 1915 Exposition, the tree has seen many changes to its surroundings as the park has developed. Its longevity is remarkable in light of the fast changing, throwaway world we live in. A fitting guardian to treasures in the beautiful Natural History Museum just steps away.
Digging into the past
With a former Biology teacher for a husband, a visit to the Natural History Museum is a must. Our first stop was the “old specimen” exhibit where curators periodically go through the archives and put together a collection of various shells, “stuffed” animals, and insect pin boards. These artifacts are still being used by scientists to monitor changes in species over time. Full disclosure: I’m not fond of dead animals and pin cushioned insects on display. I focused my attention on the labels attached to the specimens. The intricate detail on the age- worn tags was penned in tiny, precise lettering and included details such as genus, species, sex, location and date found, and the contributors name or initials. All evidence of the painstaking way earlier generations explored and catalogued the world.
The Beauty of Science
Tired of tromping through dead stuff, I wandered into the “Rare Book” display tucked away on the third floor of the Natural History Museum. Here I found beautiful botanical prints in the pages of massive texts, some of which were laboriously printed on primitive printing presses. Rare indeed. Artists drew the botanical specimens in exact detail, often hand-painting the color onto each page. It could take years to complete one book. Contrast that with today where, with a click, our words and images fly across the world with a shelf life of weeks, days, or moments. In these rare books, science and beauty are intertwined and preserved for generations.
After spending the morning at the museum, we gathered with our friends and enjoyed lunch at an outdoor cafe. There is no way to see all of Balboa Park in one day. We made plans to return. I can’t wait to see the zoo where the animals will be, you know, alive.
Threads of thought:
Zoo or Museum?
Where you you go first if you had a choice (and you weren’t married to a biology teacher)?
Have you ever been to Balboa Park? What was your favorite thing to see or do?
Wonderful! I love the history part! Who doesn’t love an old tree?
Balboa Park is one of those places that you could visit over and over and see something different every time. The fig tree was pretty impressive!
Debra, I’m glad to hear you spent time at Balboa Park and along the San Diego Coast. I lived in the area for a year and visited Ocean Beach almost every evening after work. You brought me back to those memories. Thank you!
I loved San Diego and the Ocean. How lucky you were to have been able to walk along the beach each evening. Thanks for visiting my blog and going on my California journey with me.