Boba Fet, Baseball, and Burgers-We visit Petco Park

We departed Balboa Park and set out for our next park adventure, Petco Park.  As we were unfamiliar with downtown San Diego, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to find Petco Park, and decent parking, before things got super crowded.

It turned out to be incredibly easy, so we found ourselves with a couple of hours to kill. One of the best things about Petco Park's location, is its proximity to all the happening stuff in downtown San Diego.

We got the obligatory tourist picture of the Gas Lamp District sign. I waved longingly at the convention center, whispering that maybe I would visit it someday for Comic Con.

While we were driving to the baseball field, an interesting building caught my eye.  We ventured in the direction of the building, and as though angels were shining lights from the heavens, I discovered that it was a library.  

A dazzling, modern library. It was so impressive on the outside, I just had to take a peek on the inside.

We just so happened to stumble upon the library's Star Wars Day.  Things appeared to be wrapping up by the time we got there, but it looked like it was a pretty fun time.

After riding the funky, artsy elevator, we enjoyed the view from the library's balcony.

The upper floor also had a shiny new rare books building.  Since I'm not one to pass up a chance to ogle old literature, we spent some time roaming around.

They had some interesting stuff on display, including a collection of teeny-tiny books. It's not quite as cool as Philadelphia's rare books department where you ascend the secret elevator and emerge into a scene that could be from Warehouse 13, but if you are a bibliophile, be sure to stop by the rare books department in San Diego.

When the time seemed right, we meandered back to Petco Park.

We love visiting other ballparks whenever we get the chance.  I wore Padres colors to the game because 1) I like to be respectful, and 2) I like how it makes me feel like some sort of undercover baseball agent.  It's like having a big secret.

La, la, la, just two regular Padres fans here, not Phillies fans at all, nope, not us....

It was free long- sleeved hoodie t-shirt night, and it got chilly so we were happy to have them.

Petco Park is an airy, lovely park.  It's got a part hipster, part hippie, with a slight air of sophistication vibe.

 I especially enjoyed all of the living greenery,

Instead of standing room seats, you could get seats on the grassy hill

and how they renovated/blended some of the old existing buildings into the ball park.

Inside the Western Metal Supply Co. building 

Before our trip, I read a lot of hype about an ice cream place in San Diego called The Baked Bear.  The Baked Bear is known for their cookie ice cream sandwiches. I felt it my duty as an ice cream enthusiast to try one.

I got the Peanut Butter Fudge ice cream between fresh baked Snicker-doodles.

The cookies were soft, chewy, and yummy, but I must admit that the actual ice cream was just okay.  It was a bit bland.

I'm always fascinated with the culture of other ball parks. What songs do they play? What do they chant? The Simba Cam, where people were encouraged to hoist babies in the air like Rafiki made us smile.

The Padres played The Nationals, and not very well.  Baseball wise it was a terrible showing for the San Diego team, but it was still fun.

While we were sitting in our seats, a gust of wind blew a dollar into my lap. Everyone around us had a good laugh, and agreed that the dollar bill now belonged to me.

I took my dollar, and a few others to Hodad's.

Hodad's is considered one of the best burger places in San Diego.  There are two locations in the city that have extensive menus, but the ball park location keeps things simple. You can get a hamburger, or a cheeseburger, and fries.  The line was long, and the wait after ordering may have been even longer, but we didn't mind.  It was fun people watching and soaking in a new environment.

We ordered a cheeseburger and fries.

I understand why Hodad's gets acclaim.  It was a delicious burger. Definitely on the list of best trip burgers.

Freshly made and cooked to order, the meat had that crumbly texture that good burgers often have.  I'm not one for a lot of burger fixins', especially tomatoes, but somehow on this burger it all worked well together.  The fries were tasty too, but dense wedge fries tend to fill you up fast, so we weren't able to finish all of them. I thought Hodad's was well worth the wait.  If I'm ever in San Diego again, I'd love to visit one of the sit down locations.

We had such a great time at the baseball game at Petco Park.  Our only small complaint about the park as compared to others we've been to is that the view of the field is often obstructed.  We tend to like to stretch our legs and wander around when we are at games. At Citizen's Bank Park you could be anywhere in the park and have a view of the field, but at Petco Park walls often blocked the field in the concourse areas. Not a big deal though.

Between Balboa Park, the library, and Petco Park, it was an excellent first full day in San Diego, and one we will never forget.

Lunch at Prado-Balboa Park

Gawking at architecture and stopping to smell the roses really works up an appetite. 

I had originally wanted to eat at Panama 66 when we visited Balboa Park, but it was closed for the day for a private event. We thought about eating at the Japanese Tea House, the scenery was charming, but we weren’t feeling noodles. By default, we meandered into Prado, and in the end we were happy that we did.

Our heads turned in every direction as we settled into our booth.  There was quirky, eye pleasing artistry everywhere we looked. The colorful ceiling, the strange antler stand that held blown glass frisbees, even the lights had an air of deliberate design.

We found ourselves overwhelmed by the menu. Everything sounded so good.

We were greeted by our genuinely friendly waiter who set dishes of hummus and flat-bread before us.

The hummus and flat-bread were so yummy we had to pace ourselves so we didn’t inhale it all in the first few minutes.

For my meal, I ordered the Marinated Skirt Steak Panini. Served on a garlic-shallot roll, it contained marinated skirt steak, fried tomatoes, horseradish cheese, field greens, and chimichurri sauce. It probably should have come with a breath mint, but it did come with homemade yucca chips.  

The chips were tasty, a little puffier and less greasy than potato chips.  As my side dish I got the chorizo-charro beans.  They were smoky, a tiny bit spicy, and oh so good.  I probably could have gobbled up two or three more bowls. 

Shannon got the Deliful sandwich. Roasted bison, pastrami, turkey, bacon, pickles, sprouts, tomatoes, whole grain mustard on malted brown bread. It was a lot of meat.

 Shannon said it was yummy. His sandwich came with french fries, and he agreed that the beans were delicious.

There is just something delightful about the first- full- day- in –a- new- place lunch, and the wonder of an entire week stretched out before you.  We took our time eating, no need to be in a hurry, no place we absolutely had to be.  We discussed our itinerary for the next few days and kept exclaiming things like,

“We’re in California!”

“We’re on our trip!”

“We’re eating lunch in Balboa Park!”

“We don’t have to go to work on Monday!”

Though the desserts were tempting, I had my sights set on a specific ice cream treat at the ballpark, so with fortified energy, we exited our booth, and continued our wander around Balboa Park.

If you ever find yourself in Balboa Park, give Prado a try.  It’s a lovely little escape inside a lovely escape. 

Balboa Park-San Diego

It is absolutely possible to visit San Diego and spend an entire week just at Balboa Park.

It is filled with a plethora of museums, gardens, walking paths, and theaters.

If you need to get off of your feet, there are plenty of places to relax with a cup of coffee or a cool drink.

The architecture is breathtaking.

It is an amazing, marvelous park.  Unfortunately we did not have a week to explore it, we had exactly one day (if you don't count the zoo which we did reserve a separate day for). 

Since the weather was being cooperative and lovely, we skipped the indoor activities and toured as many of the gardens and outdoor paths as we could.

Some of the trees were quite impressive.

I was the most excited about seeing the Botanical Building.

Built in 1925, the wooden structure, located at the end of a large reflecting pool, is a stunning sight to behold. It's one of those sights where you stop for a moment just to take it all in and say to yourself, I'm seeing this, for real, in person. A picture cannot do it justice.

Though it was not the largest botanical building/conservatory that I have seen, it was still fun, smelling flowers, touching herbs, gaping at the trees and rounded ceiling. 

The many varieties of orchids were especially pretty.

I'm not sure why, but we have a track record of running into hordes of sorority girls when we are on trips. At least Shannon didn't have to take any pictures this time around.

We did step into one small art museum since it was small, free (though they do ask for a donation), and boasted having a Vermeer on loan.  

We both appreciate Vermeer's art. His attention to detail and use of light, work together to create remarkable paintings.  If you've never seen the documentary Timothy's Vermeer, I highly recommend it, it's fascinating.

The painting was wonderful, and I'm glad we were lucky enough to see it in person. 

For most of the day we just wandered about, waiting to see what we would stumble upon.

We sat down and listened to a high school jazz band play a couple of tunes at the Organ Pavilion.

We were at the park on a Saturday, so there was a hearty amount of hustle and bustle.  There were several wedding parties walking about, getting artsy pictures taken.  There were also a few girls having quinceanera portraits done.

I loved watching them trying to traverse the paths in their giant fluffy dresses.

Before leaving, we checked out where the zoo was located, that way we would know exactly where it was when we returned at the end of the week. We discovered the Carousel, 

and the train.

The train driver looked so happy, I started wondering how one applies to be the train driver at Balboa Park. I think I could handle a job like that, and you get to wear a nifty conductor hat. 

We had a memorable day at Balboa Park.  Our only regret was that we didn't have more time to visit a few of the museums and climb the bell tower. It is an impressive city park and is a must see if you're planning a San Diego trip.