For a couple of people that have lived together in the midwest for 40 years in the county's largest city of about 400, going to a large city like San Diego, California is quite an adventure! This is my third trip to San Diego and my husband's second. This is where our son and daughter-in-law live and work in as many years. We had eight full days which covered several returns to favorite places and a few new experiences. This year we flew out of the Springfield, Missouri airport instead of the Kansas City airport which shortened our driving time significantly and was worth the extra expense!
Sunday was our travel day which put us in San Diego early that evening to get settled in the beautiful Indigo Hotel after our son picked us up at the airport and showed us his new condo which he and our daughter-in-law had just moved into the day before. Soon after we were all settled in for the night to be rested for the next day which was Labor Day. Woke up to made some coffee and sit looking out the huge window in our room amazed at all the LABOR it took to make this view!
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| Hotel Indigo morning view looking west from our 11th floor room with a full wall window |
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| New home for our son and daughter-in-law located cater-cornered from The Indigo Hotel. |
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| Zoomed-in view from our hotel of the San Diego Bay a few blocks away. |
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| Beti, Jake, & Keith standing in front of amazing succulent wall |
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| Beti with favorite jacaranda tree which casts a "purple haze" all around especially when the blossoms fall |
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| Cora & Keith in the courtyard
Tuesday was the first of two days Keith and I had to ourselves as both Jake & Cora went to back to work. We would meet again for late suppers. We can always find things to do at Balboa Park. Last year we easily mastered the trolley system which was just a couple blocks from where we stayed. This year we were challenged somewhat as Keith used a knee-bike and walking cane due to foot issues. It was back to taxi-time which was easy but cost more. I had an easy time with taxis my first year when I traveled alone. We also don't need a smart-phone as one would need apps for Uber and it's not that much cheaper anyway. We were smart enough on our own!
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| First order of business at Balboa Park was eating before we spent the rest of the day walking! |
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| The Prado Restaurant had the best meal of the whole trip! |
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| Prado Paella fresh fish, mussels, shrimp, calamari, chicken, chorizo, lobster saffron broth |
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| Beti in Casa Del Prado Courtyard Patio |
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| Keith in The Casa Del Prado Courtyard Patio |
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| The Casa Del Prado Courtyard Patio |
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| The Casa Del Prado Courtyard Patio |
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The Casa Del Prado Courtyard Patio
Our favorite place in the whole park is The San Diego Museum of Art and we spent hours here including a tour where we learned a lot more than we would on our own. Below are several of my favorites!
      
Lovely walks through varandas make for a great choice in any weather! Access to most venues can be done through continuous pathways. Sometimes this is where musicians set up and play.
 Always enjoy sitting at the Plaza de Panama which is in the center of everything and has awesome plants to enjoy!  Plaza de Panama Fountain  Plaza de Panama view  Plaza de Panama view of California Tower at the Museum of Man
After a long day at Balboa Park on our first day on our own, we got back to The Hotel Indigo and enjoyed more time by ourselves as Jake worked very late and Cora had to stay overnight on ship. Lucky for us the hotel has an outdoor lounge on the 9th floor terrace wrapping around 9th Street and Island Avenue with a great view of Petco Park Stadium and all the lights around the East Village and Gaslamp District. We ended everyday of our trip here enjoying the nightlife from above when we weren't below walking around.
 Beti on the 9th floor Hotel Indigo outdoor lounge with Petco Park Stadium on the right (Home of the San Diego Padres Baseball Team). The lighted dome on the left is the library.    Late night snacks included hummus & pita with veggies & olives and a small pizza. A couple nights we had the best chocolate lava cake with salted caramel ice cream!
The next day started with a good breakfast at The Indigo Hotel. Most mornings we sat at the corner table at 9th and Island so we could see Jake's building as sometimes he joined us after walking the dogs. We had a variety of breakfast items during our stay which included Eggs Benedict, French Toast made with brioche, bacon & eggs with sourdough toast; all with fresh fruit and coffee. The best crispy rosemary potatoes seemed to be a signature side dish in the area as we knew from previous stays. Definitely included here as well!
So our second day at Balboa Park began with a morning walk around the Rose Garden. I took so many wonderful photos so I put them in this music video which also includes other plants around Balboa Park and The Botanical Gardens. Best viewed at full screen!
Lunch at The Prado was yummy Fish Tacos this day. Then we walked a long ways afterwards to the Automotive Museum. This was a new place for us both. We had the best time looking at all the old motorcycles, cars, and strange vehicles!
 1916 Harley  1926 Harley  1942 Harley   1969 Easy Rider "Captain America" Harley (good to see it didn't really crash & burn with Peter Fonda!)  Brings back memories of my chopper rides in the early 1970's (a minor crash and a little road burn!)   1977 Pontiac Firebird - all original interior  1977 Pontiac Firebird - all original exterior including paint  Evil Knieval's Stratocycle   1947 Indian   |
Beti at the top of the California Tower
The beautiful dome as viewed from the top of the California Tower
I called Keith from the top of the tower while he was below on the Plaza and we waved at each other!
After another full day at Balboa Park, we taxied back to The Indigo Hotel and took a nap. After awhile we awoke and went down a couple floors to the outdoor lounge on the 9th floor and ended the evening with a lava cake and sea salt caramel ice cream enjoying the city lights. The next day we were spending with our son who had the rest of the week off work. Cora would have Friday off also and we could all be together. Those days were pretty full so I will add another blog post which includes these Family Time days.
City at night as viewed from our picture window room on the 11th floor of The Indigo Hotel
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