San Diego’s Balboa Park is the largest cultural complex west of the Mississippi River. The park encompasses over 1,200 acres and is larger than San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (1,107 acres) and New York's Central Park (843 acres). Established in 1868, the park came into prominence with the arrival of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The park has everything for everyone from museums, theaters, animals, architecture, flora and sports facilities.
Recently the park has undergone a major renovation to prepare for the centennial celebration of the Panama-California Exposition that the park hosted in 1915 and 1916 to honor the completion of the Panama Canal. It was that exposition that put San Diego on the map (at the time the population of San Diego was only 40,000 as opposed to San Francisco’s 420,000) and established Balboa Park as a treasured landmark.
The park you see today almost did not happen. For the Panama-California Exposition in 1915 only four permanent structures were built while the rest were just merely facades, temporary structures built from hemp, staff plaster and horsehair, to be torn down after the exposition. Fortunately the city leaders were wise to heed the advice of former President Theodore Roosevelt when he stated: “It is so beautiful that I wish to make a plea: that you keep these buildings here permanently.”
I took this blue hour shot of the Plaza de Panama, which was the hub of the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and today still is hub of activity for the park. I think this photograph is a great way to “reflect” back on 100 years of Balboa Park’s beauty and culture.
Happy New Year my Flickr friends!
Happy Travels in 2015!
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In 1972 former San Diego mayor Peter Wilson gave the city the nickname “America’s Finest City.”
Quite a bold statement.
While parts of the country are buried under snow during winter, San Diego basks in warm temperatures in the mid-70’s.
A couple of years ago I took a job promotion that required me to move to the Arctic tundra known as Wisconsin. In the winter I was buried under a couple of inches of snow. Instead of sand between my toes, I had snow all over my boots.
I woke up cold, went to work cold, got my mail in the cold and went to sleep cold.
At night when I would shovel snow from my driveway, I would dream of returning to the Pacific Ocean. I envisioned the warm sun on my face and the sound of crashing waves.
Now that I am back in San Diego I never take a beautiful sunset at the beach for granted. I captured these surfers at Scripps Pier in La Jolla a couple of weeks ago. As you can see no snow shoveling required!
The upside of living in Wisconsin is that you get to experience the four seasons, but San Diego has only one season: sunshine!
San Diego is truly, “America’s Finest City!”
Happy Travels!
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Tags: La Jolla San Diego Sam Antonio Photography California Sunset Surfers Scripps Pier Reflections Vacation Night Beach Canon 5D Mark II Canon 17-40 f/4L Lens jolla san diego oceanscape coast pier sand pacific southern blue scripps sea scene water nature ocean Holiday Tourism Outdoors Surfing Lifestyle Motion Blur Colorful Sky shores pillars stars horizon twilight sun clouds reflection colorful surfer surf la torrey warm america shore north orange watersport people walk sunshine board silhouette health man sport usa active summer fitness pines healthy Surfers at Sunset Male Walking Man Made Structure California Beach
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San Diego is a world class travel destination, but there are many secrets to my city unknown to tourists. One secret is that the best time to visit San Diego is in the winter. Not only are the tourists crowds thinned out, but weather wise it is a great time to experience some amazing sunsets along our beaches. Our “winter” weather still averages about seventy degrees and because the absence of the marine layer, that plagues our beaches during the summer, we have clear skies that lead to some amazing sunsets.
One of those amazing sunsets I captured last week. For the past month I have been scouting around San Diego searching for new and unique compositions. For years I have been doing the proven circuit of beach locations to photograph the sunset. To shake things up I have been scouring the internet and putting some mileage on my walking shoes to discover some new vantage points. I finally made it out to these “secret swings” which have a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean. Just for my Flickr friends I have disclosed the location of where I took this shot (please reference the map), but please keep it among ourselves for otherwise we can’t keep it a secret.
And yes I did hop on the swings and relive my childhood memories!
Update (1/26/2015): I just spent this past weekend in Kona, Hawaii (life can be so hard) and I am now in Phoenix, Arizona visiting my sister. It is Superbowl week and the city is throwing some great events in preparation for the big game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks this coming Sunday. I’ll be catching up with your photostreams throughout the week. Thanks guys for all your wonderful comments and favs.
Happy Travels!
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Last month I spent a weekend in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. I left the paradise of San Diego, California for the paradise of the Hawaiian Islands. For all of you who are enduring the winter weather right now my sincere apologies.
I made this photograph as the sun was setting along Ali’i Drive along the coast of the beach town of Kailua-Kona. That building jutting out onto Kailua Bay is the Royal Kona Resort Hotel where I happen to be staying. From my lanai (Hawaiian word for patio or balcony) I scouted this location where I met this young lady. I asked her if she could strike a pose for me and so she put one hand on her face and put one leg over the other.
You got to make a photograph, not simply take it.
Thanks guys for all your views, comments and favs and for my Flickr friends in cold weather think warm thoughts!
Happy Travels!
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Scripps Pier in La Jolla is a popular place for surfers, researchers and photographers. This composition under the pier has been done countless times. While the composition may look the same, the wind, water and light never remains constant. This is just my humble take on this San Diego landmark.
The original Scripps Pier was built in 1915 and funded by Ellen Browning Scripps. The pier was a means for aquariums and the university labs to acquire clean seawater. A new pier was built in 1988 right next to the aging Scripps Pier, which was later removed.
The official name of the pier is The Scripps Institution of Oceanography Pier, operated by The Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a department of the University of California, San Diego. That’s a little wordy so we locals just called it Scripps Pier.
Happy Travels!
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