Bruno Mars, hot dog and pothead in Balboa Park!

WHAT? Bruno Mars, and a human hot dog, and a pothead in Balboa Park? Not to mention two witches, a cat, and a pair of elves?

Don’t believe me?

Take a look at the above photograph!

I spotted that cat, hot dog and pothead at the Museum of Us!

Could it be Halloween is coming?

Then I spotted a witch and Bruno Mars in the Balboa Park Visitor Center!

Plus a second witch!

Okay, who are these folks in the next photo? I spotted them at the Haunted Trail in the southwest corner of the park.

Are the following people pretending to be in a rock band?

No, they are actual musicians. They were rehearsing today at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for this evening’s Bark at the Moon concert.

Learn more about the Ozzy Osbourne tribute concert here.

Next up, I see a bear has invaded the Balboa Park Senior Lounge!

And look! Two friendly elves are at the front counter of the Fleet Science Center!

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Remnants of 1915 Panama-California Exposition in California Quadrangle.

I discovered these amazing remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park yesterday during a visit to the Cannibals exhibition at the Museum of Us.

A friendly museum employee explained that the south side of the California Quadrangle served as an art gallery during the Panama-California Exposition. He believes that these ornamental touches inside the long, narrow gallery all date from 1915.

If you can provide more information about these discoveries, please leave a comment.

You can find a beautiful sculpted work at the west end of the gallery. It’s mounted above a door that leads into the California Quadrangle’s chapel, which remains separate from the museum gallery. The imagery appears to include explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo’s galleon San Salvador.

A balcony inside the gallery, which is closed to the public, features four cherubic figures which seem to represent artistic creation…

At the east end of the gallery you’ll find this amazing (now waterless) fountain. It’s near steps that ascend to the closed balcony. Beautiful tiles frame it.

APIΣTON MEN ‘ΥΔΩP in Greek translates “Water is best.”

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History returns to Balboa Park’s Municipal Gymnasium!

History is being made today in Balboa Park at the Municipal Gymnasium! A large cold cast bronze panel (in two halves) is being installed above the building’s entrance.

The ornamental panel reproduces a long lost temporary panel that was created for the building in 1935 when it served as the Palace of Electricity and Varied Industries for the California Pacific International Exposition.

You can learn more about this historic project undertaken by the Balboa Park Committee of 100 and see an old photo of the original panel by visiting this past blog post and this past blog post.

Here’s the first half of the panel going up by crane!

UPDATE!

Later in the day, the second half of the panel arrived! I learned together the two halves weigh about 2 and a half tons!

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Autumn color appears near Lake Hodges.

It’s late October. Trees near the San Dieguito River and Lake Hodges are showing a little Autumn color.

The leaves of willows and cottonwoods have begun to turn yellow.

I took these photographs today as I walked down the Coast to Crest Trail from the Sunset Drive Staging Area in Escondido. I headed south, turned west under Interstate 15, and turned around when I reached the long pedestrian bridge that is visible from the freeway.

It was a perfect day for a leisurely outdoor stroll in San Diego’s North County!

Demolition of downtown’s historic California Theatre.

I noticed today that the demolition of downtown San Diego’s historic California Theatre building is underway. A crew was cleaning out the interior of the long vacant building.

It’s hard to believe the once-elegant 1927 building has stood neglected (directly next to the Civic Center) since 1990.

The California Theatre in its heyday was called the “Cathedral of the Motion Picture.” Its beautiful old marquee and exterior decoration have mostly vanished. Graffiti and broken windows have been an eye sore for years.

The Prebys Foundation purchased the property in July and are having the condemned structure removed. Hopefully this leads to a revitalization of downtown’s C Street corridor.

In 2013 I took photos of the large Caliente advertising mural on the building’s west side. That was before it became defaced. See those past photographs here.

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Setting up Pilgrim Altars in Balboa Park!

The San Diego Museum of Art is setting up an installation in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama for Día de los Muertos. The installation is called Altares Peregrinos, which means Pilgrim Altars.

Artist Betsabeé Romero is leading the project. You might recall she created that artistic soccer goal in the same spot back during the World Cup.

Día de los Muertos will be celebrated at these Pilgrim Altars on Sunday, November 1, 2026, from 11 am to 4 pm. The altars will remain on display through November 8th.

Learn more about the free, family friendly event by clicking here!

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Old Globe’s holiday “Grinch Tree” goes up!

Christmas and the Holiday Season must be nearing! In Balboa Park, the Old Globe’s outdoor “Grinch Tree” is going up today!

The ceremonial lighting of the Grinch Tree is a San Diego tradition that I’ve managed to miss over many years. Perhaps this year I’ll make it…

Today’s photographs:

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Completed murals on Imperial Avenue under Interstate 15!

A month and a half ago I headed down Imperial Avenue to the Interstate 15 underpass to observe the painting of many large murals. I returned today. They’re all completed!

To see the painting in progress, and to learn more about this project, visit my previous blog post by clicking here.

Here are today’s photographs. As you can see, the common theme is music…

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Janal Pixán Altar at House of Mexico!

I learned something yesterday during my visit to the House of Mexico cottage in Balboa Park. There were two very different Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) altars (ofrendas) erected inside the cottage. One was called the Janal Pixán Altar. It’s what you see in these photographs.

Janal Pixán in the Maya language means “food for the souls.” Janal Pixán is the Mayan version of Day of the Dead.

Janal Pixán altars are popular this time of year in the Yucatán, where the Maya civilization flourished. These distinctive altars blend pre‑Hispanic Maya beliefs with Spanish‑influenced Catholic customs. Food, as you can see, is a major component. They are distinct from the altars in other Mexican regions.

Here’s a great article if you’d like to learn more.

I learned this type of altar often contains fruits and sweets like chocolate, mucbipollo o pib (a large corn tamal filled with chicken and pork, with achiote spice, tomato and espelón beans, cooked underground), and traditional kidney-shaped Campeche bread, which is called pan de riñón.

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Drawings of abbeys, barns and churches at Timken Museum of Art.

I really like this new exhibition at the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park. It’s titled Abbeys, Barns, and Churches: Drawings of Medieval Architecture by Ernest Born.

Ernest Born was a notable California architect who did much of his work in San Francisco. He spent his later years living in San Diego.

In ink, chalk, pastel, and pencil, Ernest Born sketched impressive Romanesque and Gothic style Medieval buildings that he observed in Europe during several trips abroad in the 1920s. Over twenty pieces are on display. They’re on loan from the University of San Diego.

Visitors to the Timken can clearly see Born’s passion for this architecture and his artistry in producing these sketches. Some of this very detailed work was done in collaboration with architectural historian Walter Horn.

Gazing at these fine works, I felt ready to step into unusually grand structures built in places far from San Diego long ago.

The Timken Museum of Art is always free to the public. I encourage lovers of history, art or architecture to pay a visit before this exhibition ends on February 28, 2027.

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