I had been in meetings all day and had finished dinner with my traveling colleagues. I suggested that rather than sit around in the hotel lobby or guest lounge, stare at each other, and make small talk, that we ought to go out and explore a bit of San Diego. My compadres all indicated that for one reason or another that they weren’t interested. One hesitated for a moment and said that he would like to go with me, but felt he had eaten too much for dinner.

I bid them adieu and left the hotel. It was about 7:00 in the evening and I decided to visit Balboa Park. I’ve been to the San Diego Zoo numerous times, but I’ve never really seen the rest of Balboa Park except for a quick drive around once many years ago.

The park was very busy on the evening that I visited. There was a free concert, a Shakespeare play, and numerous other activities taking place at the time. There was no place to park within Balboa Park itself so I parked a short distance away and walked in. It was a magnificent evening, so I didn’t mind the walk in the least.

I started off by walking across the Cabrillo Bridge toward the Museum of Man. This is perhaps the most recognized landmark within the park. It can be seen from some distance away. We fly over it on the way into San Diego and I always keep an eye out for it as we come in.

I paused to check out the arch in front of the museum.

The museum itself was closed but I looked at the statues around the entryway. I hope to one day be able to make it to Balboa Park when the Museum of Man is open so that I can go inside and check it out for myself.

I spied a passageway and followed it behind the musuem. I came upon the Globe Theater, which is a replica of its namesake in London where William Shakespeare put on many of his plays. The area around the Globe was very crowded as there was a performance set for that night.

Nearby there was an open air dining area where some sort of benefit dinner was being put on. I stopped and looked for a few minutes.

I continued my walk down El Prado, the main road through the park and came across the Visitor’s Center.

I didn’t go in. A lot of the buildings in the park were starting to shut down with the approach of evening.

I wandered back to Plaza de Balboa and spent time looking at the splendid fountain on the plaza there. It was fun to see all the people who were there and to watch them enjoy the fountain as well.

While at the fountain the sun began to sink below the horizon and it started to get dark. I headed back toward the car.

The architecture in the park was stunning to see as the sun transformed it into an amazing variety of profiles, silhouetted against the reddening sky.

The next morning one of my colleagues asked where I went and what I had done the night before. After I told him he said to me, “You know, I should have come with you.”