Our first son stays in San Diego, California, as my husband and I visit him and his family often, we have seen the charming city during our visits and love it. San Diego is a city on the Pacific coast of California and is known for its beaches, parks and warm climate, in early 1970s it was coined America's finest city a name which it still carries.
It is an attractive choice for retirees because of its year-round warm climate, accessible healthcare and a wide array of living options though it is more costly than many other cities in US.
My dear hubby was very much tempted to stay back in San Diego but I solemnly reminded him that it is quite difficult to obtain a green card in US at this stage of our lives and also that we had our second son residing in India.
The city has approximately 200 deep canyons and hills separating its mesas, it is quite surprising to see huge communities and shops bustling with activity and then suddenly hilly areas which are completely isolated as San Diegans from the beginning have been building their homes and businesses on the mesas, leaving the canyons and hills relatively free, thereby creating a very green un- touched look.
Our sightseeing trips were short ones as our son was busy with his job ,however he took time out to show us the city and some of its interesting neighborhood.
Our visit to Balboa Park was on a holiday, we found that it was a big cultural oasis with 17 museums, lush green gardens and lakes and extended for huge 1,200 acres.
It was in 1868 that 1,400 acres of a scrub-filled area was kept aside for a park which was a historical moment and a daring step as San Diego was home to only 2,300 residents then, obviously its leaders had the excellent vision and desire to create an iconic park that would serve its citizens and its visitors for years to come.
In 1870, the state legislature passed a law stating that the lands would be held in trust for a park forever.
In 1892, local horticulturist and botanist Kate Sessions leased 36 acres for a nursery which was opened to the public and she donated different varieties of native and exotic plants to the city every year for its beautification, she is known as "the mother of Balboa Park”.
In 1910 the park was named after the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the first European to cross Central America and see the Pacific Ocean.
As we went around, we saw that the buildings were beautiful and many had the Spanish Colonial-revival style, apparently the park’s highly ornamental style was the first of its kind in the United States.
In 1935 additional structures and landscaping were added to the park, like the Old Globe Theatre, International Cottages, and Spanish Village, which are still in use today.
As it was a warm day and a holiday, Balboa Park was teeming with tourists, there were parades going on, marriage photo shoots taking place, there was no single idle moment, we were totally immersed in the festivities going on around us ,in fact it was with great difficulty that we dragged away our grandson who refused to budge from that place.
It was a delight to see the San Diego Zoo which was very near the park with our bubbly grandson, it is a large one 100 acres in size ,it had a wide variety of animals ranging from the common ones to polar bears, koalas and African penguins, the nonprofit San Diego Zoo is home to more than 12,000 rare and endangered animals.
We especially enjoyed the guided, double-decker bus tour which gave us a good overview of the animals and the zoo's conservation efforts, there was a Basecamp which included a two-story, butterfly-filled greenhouse, there were plenty of play areas created from natural resources naturally very enticing to the kids who were playing with gay abandon ,our grandson wanted to adopt a baby monkey and get it home to play ,we told him that one monkey at home was enough for us to handle, LOL !
We then visited the San Diego Model Railroad Museum located on the lower level of the Casa de Balboa Building on the Prado in Balboa Park. It is a model railroad exhibit, extending for 27,000 sq. ft, it is the largest indoor exhibit in North America and one of the largest in the world.
Model railroading in Balboa Park began in 1935 and San Diego Model Railroad Museum opened in 1982 with a mission to "preserve the heritage of railroading through a series of miniature representations of California railroads, research and preserve the history of model railroading, and educate the public in the many different aspects of railroading."
The museum is home to some of the largest layouts with a freelance representation of a route from San Diego to Sacramento and Pacific Desert Lines with San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway line from San Diego Union Station eastward through Carrizo Gorge to the desert floor at El Centro.
Tehachapi Pass is a two-level layout representing the joint Southern Pacific / Santa Fe railroad from Bakersfield to Mojave, California, of the 1950s, including the Tehachapi Loop. The model is unique for its size and geographic fidelity.
The model railroads were built and are maintained by four local railroad clubs, which exhibit their respective displays as nonprofit organizations.
This gallery features operating toy trains of "Lionel type", a collection of rare Lionel and American Flyer cars from the 1920s to the 1950s, and modern toy trains with an interactive kid’s layout where children of all ages can push a button to run a train, I could see that the kids were overjoyed to do the running of the train.
Every little detail was looked into and adults and children alike enjoyed the museum, I also liked a very old vintage model of a telephone.
The museum has a specialized library related to both model railroading and real railroads with a collection of books, magazines, VHS tapes, blueprints and other materials for research, unfortunately we could not go through it due to lack of time.
Our next visit another day was to the 823 feet tall Mt Soledad known for its spectacular views of San Diego County.
Mount Soledad is a prominent landmark in the city of San Diego. The mountaintop is the site of the Mount Soledad Cross, the subject of a 25-year controversy over the involvement of religion in government land which concluded in 2016 as the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association bought the half-acre of land under the cross from the Department of Defense for $1.4 million, thus putting an end to all the controversies.
The 360-degree views from the top of Mt. Soledad were spectacular as it was luckily a clear day and we could see all the way down to the Coast, on South side we could see Mexico, on North to Oceanside and Looking East was the Sprawling San Diego area. To the west was the vast Pacific, I fell deeply in love with the ocean, its myriad colors and shades, its waves and its seemingly calm surface.
There were plaques honoring veterans who have served the country. Regardless of service or of religion Veterans are honored here. The plaques even had a picture of the member being honored, it was heart wrenching to see among them young faces too who had fought for the country and lost their lives at an young age.
There were several radio and television transmitters located on the summit. Commercial aircraft approaching San Diego from the direction of Los Angeles often use Mount Soledad as their point to start the downwind leg of their approach to San Diego International Airport.
Mount Soledad is the location of the last home lived in by Dr. Seuss the famous cartoonist. His widow, Audrey Geisel, resided atop Mount Soledad in a lavish home, which includes an observation tower referred to as the Seuss house by the locals, until her death in 2018.
As we were driving uphill which was indeed quite steep, we saw many cyclists coming laboriously up the slopes and we admired their fitness and zeal, some people could be seen trekking down the trails. There are numerous routes ranging from the relatively gradual, 3.5-mile climb up Soledad Mountain Road on the southern slopes to the very steep and short, 1.25-mile Hidden Valley Road to Via Capri route on the north side.
We came back home with our bodies energized by the fresh pure air and hearts overcast by the sacrifices done by the veterans.
