2025 Cherry Blossom Season at The Japanese Friendship Garden San Diego

 

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For Updates and Event news check out https://www.niwa.org/ 

The Japanese Friendship Garden is open 7 days a week 10am to 4pm/6pm seasonally

Photos from first weekend in March 2025 

 

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Balboa Botanical Building

 

The Botanical Building inside Balboa Park was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. The exposition was meant to bring attention and interest to San Diego as the first United States port of call for ships traveling north after passing westward through th canal. The botanical building is one of four structures that remained permanent after the exposition. 

The building is 250 long, 75 feet wide and 60 feet tall. It is one the largest lath structures remaining in the world. Since its opening, it has served as a living museum, housing a diverse collection of plants from around the globe. 

The Botanical Building reopened in December of 2024 after a 3 year long restoration and renovation. It will take many years and decades for the plant life to grow and mature to the stature it had prior to the 2021 closing. It is open daily from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The NAT, San Diego's Natural History Museum in Balboa Park

 

 

The San Diego Natural History Museum, often fondly referred to as "The NAT" by locals, is one the most popular sights in Balboa Park. The Nat has a vast growing collection of over 8 million specimens that catalogs the evolution and diversity of Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula. The Nat has five floors,  each with its own unique focus. I recommend taking the elevator to the top floor and then using the staircase to make your way down back to the ground floor. 

There is so much to see and do at the Nat including a newly opened nature trail, a movie theater, and a living lab that you should at least set aside 2 hours when visiting. 

If you are a resident of San Diego or San Diego County you can get free entry as part of the Balboa Park Free Resident Day on the FIRST TUESDAY of the Month 

Visit The NATs website for currents Exibitions, Events, Pricing and Hours at https://www.sdnhm.org/

San Diego Air & Space Museum Balboa Park

 

 

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is open daily 10am to 4:30pm 

 website: https://sandiegoairandspace.org  

For current pricing and exhibitions checkout their website. If you already have been to the Balboa Park Museum check out their secondary location at Gillespie Field in El Cajon for more aircraft and artifacts. 

The original museum opened up to the public in 1963 but a fire in 1978 caused the loss of the entire collection. The museum would reopen two years later in 1980 in its current home in the former Ford building in the southwest corner of Balboa Park. 

Plan on about 1hr to 2 hrs to enjoy the museum.