Weekend Escape: San Diego : Park Places : Taking time to explore Balboa Park’s eclectic mix of museums and the Old Globe

In the past, my trips to Balboa Park have been hurried and focused: to see a specific exhibit at the Museum of Photography or a play at the Old Globe Theatre. In and out with little time to dawdle--but time to imagine how nice it would be to do that.

So we did. My 16-year-old son Alex and I headed out on a Friday afternoon in early July to spend the entire weekend in the park seeing as much as possible (there are 11 museums plus other attractions).

I didn’t do too much research before we left--beyond buying tickets for the Old Globe and finding a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of the park. The Park Manor Suites, across the street from the west side of the park, is at the edge of the Hillcrest neighborhood and a block from a Balboa Park tram stop. This is an old-fashioned, seven-story brick hotel built in 1926 by the chief architect of the Balboa Park expositions. It has recently been renovated, giving it a split personality: European elegance meets Holiday Inn.

Our $79 suite was a bargain: a huge, airy corner room with two queen beds, full kitchen, dining room and dressing room. High ceilings and a ceiling fan kept it cool. Park Manor was a perfect choice for our itinerary, although we did not expect to be greeted on our arrival by a huge crush of TGIF revelers, mostly gay, attending Friday happy hour. (Hotel guests and visitors the rest of the weekend were pretty much your standard mix of singles, couples and families.)

Every trip I have taken to San Diego and/or Baja in the past 15 years has begun with a stop at Bazaar del Mundo in Old Town. It’s corny, kitschy, WASP-y and Mexican at the same time; I love the margaritas (new wrinkle: mango margaritas) and chips on the patio.

Last year, on one of those quick trips to the Old Globe, we had eaten dinner at Celadon, a Thai restaurant near the park and a short walk from Park Manor. Celadon’s broad rice noodles in brown sauce had been a great, slurpy success and we went back specifically for them.

On Saturday morning, we walked north through the Hillcrest area to breakfast, settling on the City Delicatessen and Bakery before heading back down to the tram stop for our first day of museum-going. The free Balboa Park Tram runs 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and makes a loop through the park and out onto Sixth Avenue.

One adult admission to 10 museums (the 11th, the Timken, is free) would have cost $44, but the $18 “Passport” is good for one week, one visit per museum. The clerk at the information counter discouraged me from buying one for Alex, saying that his admissions would only add up to a few dollars. So I didn’t, and wound up spending $17 for him (the last would have put him over the top at $19). I liked the Passport idea because otherwise I would have debated over whether to go into some of the museums that didn’t seem to be my cup of tea but turned out to be winners.

The Model Railroad Museum, for example. My interest in this field is close to nil but, Passport in hand, we checked it out and found the elaborate and huge train setups--and the old guys who sat there manning the controls--fascinating. In the middle of the museum is an intriguing work-in-progress: a construction of wood platforms and curves of Masonite--with train buffs busy laying track on them for a new exhibit.

On the other hand, I do have a long and deep interest in photography but found the current exhibit at the Museum of Photography--six contemporary French photographers--a bit of a snooze. We were in and out in six minutes tops. I suspected the Hall of Champions Sports Museum wouldn’t interest me; it didn’t (much of the space was devoted to local sports teams). I imagined that Museum of Man’s bead exhibit would be just a lot of pretty jewelry, but it offered a rich look at the daily life of Native Americans.

The Museum of San Diego History held my attention more than I expected--at least the part about the Panama Exposition of 1915-1916, held right there in Balboa Park. In fact, many of the fancy Spanish buildings that house the museums were built then. I couldn’t pull myself away from the vintage newsreels of the exposition. I hadn’t realized what a big deal it was: thousands of people pouring down the park’s central Prado.

The park has plenty of sidewalk vendors selling snacks but only one real restaurant. Make that semi-real. The Cafe del Rey Moro is closed for remodeling. The Sculpture Garden Cafe is not a bad substitute, even if the food is served from the gourmet version of a street cart. The nicest tables face a shady garden and there’s live music. After lunch, we went to the Museum of Art and the Timken. Alex was in and out of both lickety-split (my time: one hour). As per our agreement, the first one done went outside and waited patiently under a shady tree (the inventor of the Walkman made this possible).

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The Museum of Art’s permanent collection is delightful and eclectic, best summed up as minor works by major artists: several Georgia O’Keeffes and, in keeping with our you-never-know-what-will-catch-your-eye theme for the weekend, I spent 15 minutes with a Canaletto scene of Venice. The Timken is small and displays its landscapes and Russian icons with great care. We sat by the koi pond in front of the Botanical Building and planned the late afternoon. Six museums were enough for one day so we headed to the hotel through the park and after a brief rest, walked around Hillcrest. Alex had spotted a couple of used CD stores on our morning walk. There were several used bookstores on the same block, so we were both happy.

Seeing John Goodman as Falstaff in “Henry IV” at the park’s Old Globe on Saturday night was the highlight for both of us. (That show is now closed, but the season runs with other productions through Oct. 21.) Sunday morning was our only foray away from the park and in the car. Downtown, the grand old U.S. Grant Hotel seemed to beckon. Alex, a consummate skateboarder type, ironically loved the clubby Olde English ambience of the Grant Grill.

Alex liked Sunday’s museums better than I did. The automotive museum at the south end of the museum area did have some great old cars. (I needed a girl reference for all this guy stuff, so I kept visualizing Nancy Drew in the roadsters.) I wasn’t even going to bother with the Aerospace Museum, but Alex shamed me into it (“I went to the art museum”), and there were some good moments: the moon rock, the space suit. This is quite a classy museum, huge and packed with tons of stuff.

Before we left, we headed for the Spreckles Organ Pavilion, right in the center of the park, for a Sunday afternoon concert. This is the largest outdoor organ in the world and while, yes, it is amazing that all that sound is unamplified, it was organ music. Our time: 15 minutes. We headed for home.

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Budget for Two

Gas $11.89

Park Manor Suites, 2 nights 174.60

Drinks; dinner at Celadon 49.03

Breakfast, City Deli 14.79

Museum admissions 35.00

Lunch, Sculpture Garden Cafe 14.45

Old Globe tickets, snacks 84.80

Breakfast, Grant Grill 21.19

FINAL TAB $405.75

Park Manor Suites, 525 Spruce St., San Diego 92103; tel. (800) 874-2649. Balboa Park information, (619) 239-0512.