Thursday, September 3, 2009

To San Diego And Back!

I'm back and it was an absolutely WONDERFUL trip! I'm back in time for the Hooked on Houses Blog Party. I'm hooked on San Diego, perfect weather, beautiful flowers and fantastic trees!

I really meant to do some posts ahead and have them automatically launch but I am not as organized as Struggler! There were too many last minute things to do. I had to leave the house tidy for hubby who was not coming on the trip. There was a detailed list of plants to water that I had to print and put on the refrigerator. And of course there were wardrobe decisions to be made. Then it all had to be squished into a carry on bag. (Who trusts the airlines to get your bag on the right plane when you have to change in Houston?)

Thank goodness my daughter (J) and her husband (T) knew all the rules about packing tiny amounts of liquids and what size plastic bag is required to hold those 3 ounce bottles. The morning of departure had us at the stores looking for plastic bags and trial sizes of toothpaste, etc. for me. The flights were the pits because in my opinion it is cruel to put humans into seats with that little space. You feel that the person in front of you is sitting in your lap!

I LOVED San Diego! Who wouldn't love a place with flowers like this everywhere? I wish bougainvillea would grow in Virginia!



It was so exciting to see my son, Kevin, onstage in three plays at the Lowell Davies Theatre in Balboa Park. J & T and I met some of his fellow actors/students who are earning their Masters Degrees in Fine Arts at the Old Globe/University of San Diego (as is Kevin). All three plays ("Twelfth Night", "Coriolanus" & "Cyrano De Bergerac") were well done and very entertaining. The actors were talented and the costumes were a treat to see. The proud mother says check out Kevin's website.


The weather was perfect with temperatures in the seventies every day and dipping into the sixties at night. And there was always a gentle breeze. We especially enjoyed seeing the different kinds of trees and flowers. Balboa Park was amazing! It is 1,200 acres of gardens, museums, restaurants, and fabulous architecture. We did enjoy one of the art museums and the Photograpy Museum which had a display of Ansel Adams photos. The San Diego Zoo is also in the park but I'll save that for another post.


This is one of the many gardens in Balboa Park and one of the arches leading into the garden. Notice the fantastic tree.
These trees are in the zoo. J, T & I together took nearly 1,000 pictures. Many of them are of trees, flowers and each other taking pictures!
The architecture in Balboa Park is Spanish and there are lots of arches. Do you love arches as much as I do!
This is the same garden as the second picture. The flowers are cosmos and lavender. With such lovely weather there were outdoor weddings in the Park on Sunday so two of the gardens were closed to the public. There seemed to be wedding groups everywhere having pictures taken. What a lovely backdrop!

11 comments:

Trish @TheOldPostRoad said...

Beautiful pictures! I obviously need to visit San Diego.

Thanks for the kind words on my blog, today!

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

I am so jealous!!! ;) You have some great photos, and it sounds like a wonderful trip. :) Thanks for the visit!

Cristin // Simplified Bee said...

I love SD too. Balboa Park is lovely isn't it? We still need to take our kids to their great zoo too.

xo,
cristin

DesignTies said...

I can see why you're hooked on San Diego -- so many pretty and interesting things to see :-) Like those trees -- the shot of the arch that looks like it has a tree growing out of it is so cool!!

Wow, that pink bougainvillea is awesome!! And check out that fab purple door behind it :-)

You know, even though I'm not a fan of yellow, I do like the combination of yellow & purple together. Not sure if I'd ever want to decorate a room in yellow & purple, though...

Kelly @ DesignTies

Alea Milham said...

I am glad you had a lovely trip.

San Diego is one of my favorite places. We usually visit a couple of times a year (we have family there). We are going in October for a quick trip and are trying to decide how many of our favorite sights we will be able to squeeze in between family get togethers.

Anonymous said...

Sound like you had a wonderful time. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who is intrigued by trees. Those are beauties.

Jane

PrimeTimeMom said...

We saw Coriolanus. The play was great and the cast was amazing. You must be so proud of your son.

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

I do love arches! And those trees are so cool. Thanks for joining my party today--hope you have a good weekend! :-)

ImagineCozy said...

I also love San Diego --- And it seems they always have those amazing pink flowers everywhere. I love the 80 degree weather!
Sounds like you had a great time.
-Angela

Pauline Wiles said...

I have not yet been to San Diego, but it's definitely on my list! I love your photos, especially of the architecture and that gorgeous bougainvillea....
And since I'm a big fan of yours, I will take a peek at Kevin's site too. :)

WickedThrifty said...

such gorgeous photographs-- particularly love the purple door with the pink flowers! and what a handsome son you have.