Journeys›Photograph

San Diego Saturday of Football and Balboa Park

·San Diego, California, United States·#california#San Diego#football#balboa-park#japanese-garden
Three smiling people, two women and a bearded man in a baseball cap, take a selfie at an indoor event.

Two halves to this one. First, SDSU football at Snapdragon Stadium — the three of us in the stands while the Aztecs lined up against Colorado State, black and red on one side, green and gold on the other. Plenty of empty gray seats around us, but the sections that showed up were loud enough.

Then Balboa Park. We started in the Japanese Friendship Garden, following the stream past a stone lantern and koi drifting in the shallows, orange smudges under clear water. A black pine below the waterfall had been trained sideways over the rocks so long its trunk leans like it grew that way on purpose. Farther down, a seated bronze figure against a stone wall, hand raised, bamboo behind it.

From there we walked the arcades along El Prado to the Botanical Building — built for the 1915–16 Panama-California Exposition and still one of the largest lath structures anywhere, with more than 2,100 plants inside: cycads, ferns, orchids, palms. The Lily Pond in front goes back to the same complex. Construction fencing ran along one edge of the pond, so everyone funneled down the other side toward the entrance.

American football players in white/gold and black/red uniforms face each other on a green field with spectators in the stands.A stone lantern stands beside a rocky stream with lush green and reddish-leaved plants in a sunny garden.A Japanese garden with a stream, rocks, manicured plants, a distant bridge, and red koi fish in the foreground.Lush green trees and shrubs cover a rocky hillside with a small waterfall under a clear blue sky.A crowned bronze statue of a seated figure holding a lotus, backed by a stone wall and green foliage.An ornate, light-colored building with a prominent tower and arches is framed by tall palm trees against a bright blue sky.An ornate, light-colored building with intricate carvings and a balcony, framed by a tall palm tree against a clear blue sky.A large domed building with a slatted roof is reflected in a pond, with people and palm trees.

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