Beach Art, Blooms and Bricks

While walking along the beach one afternoon Mikey spotted what appeared to be a painting in the sand.
architecture

We found a few more

Each was very unique as the water washed over the rock or other item leaving the black colored sand to paint the picture.
These are especially for my gardening friend Mary. The one place that she wanted to be sure we went was the gardens at Balboa so Mary, here are some great blooms for you.
This is obviously not a flower but the above ground roots of this tree is very interesting.
A potted arrangement inside one of the gardens
And in the Botanical garden many colors and the smell....even I, with my none working sense of smell, could enjoy the fragrant flowers.
There are tons of paths to enjoy on the grounds of Balboa Park. One of them is the Old Cactus Garden. Not that the cactus are old (some are) but it is the original cactus garden of the park.
Once again in the botanical building
Many of the other gardens were not in bloom but we did find a few.

The reflecting pond at the entrance to the Botanical Building
Balboa also has interesting architectural structures.
Lots of arches

And steeples...I could go on and on as I took a boat load of pictures but I will spare you all.
The Hyatt Hotel is 40 stories high and according to Mikey and Jan on a windy day you can feel it sway when you are on the 40th floor. The 40th floor hosts a bar and small restaurant as well as great windows from which you can view the harbor
The Coronado bridge
And gorgeous sky scrapers
With interesting roof lines
Lots of windows
And just plain cool looking
And then there is the Midway museum. The 'museum' is an aircraft carrier that was used in WW11 as well as Viet Nam and it actually started dear Mr Bush's invasion in Iraq-it was a command ship. There was an admiral running the invasion from the ship and the captain of the ship was in charge of sending out the planes. The invasion of Iraq was all done from the Midway. The Midway was the last ship run by fuel oil and diesel. The remaining 11 carries are all nuclear powered. Needles to say both Mikey and David being ex Navy men certainly enjoyed the tour. In fact they spent three or four hours touring the Midway.
Jan and I walked around the park looking at the sights with our cameras in hand.
This was a great statue.


There is a tribute to Bob Hope that was kind of moving!
Here are the boys on the ship's flight deck
Our time here is coming to a close. This is fast becoming our favorite place, one that we will spend more time in next year. We hate to leave but are anxious to get home....I miss Julia terribly!