The next morning, Kelsea had to work VERY early, so when she left for work I went to a coffee shop called Rebecca's, across the street from the Whistle Stop from the night before, on Kelsea's recommendation. I spent a couple hours there, nursing my "Vietnamese" coffee and banana/chocolate chip muffin while catching up on e-mail and watching the Daily Show / Colbert Report. It's an incredibly cute little place, sort of like Viento Y Agua in Long Beach, with a little stage for performances, a grand piano in the corner, plenty of comfy couches and tables, bookshelves, and a creative menu.
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin, Vietnamese Latte, and the Daily Show. Mornings don't really get much better.
Rebecca's stage.
Rebecca's coffee house.
The cement outside Rebecca's.
I then set out on my first mission of the day: Balboa Park. Kelsea lives about a block away from the north east corner, so I decided to walk to the museums. It's a HUGE park, and the ground isn't exactly level. In essence, in order to get to the Natural History Museum, I had to hike up and down really steep grades. It was quite the workout, and I got VERY burned on top of the previous day's burns, but it was well worth it.
It was Resident's Day in Balboa Park, meaning residents of San Diego get in for free. Unapplicable to myself, except that it meant museums were BUSY and SWARMING with kids. I sat on the steps of the Natural History Museum before it opened, and when it did open waited a half an hour for the line to disappear. It was a pleasant hour, sitting in the shade in this beautiful park reading Harry Potter (yes, I am rereading the series and brought book #1 with me).
It was Resident's Day in Balboa Park, meaning residents of San Diego get in for free. Unapplicable to myself, except that it meant museums were BUSY and SWARMING with kids. I sat on the steps of the Natural History Museum before it opened, and when it did open waited a half an hour for the line to disappear. It was a pleasant hour, sitting in the shade in this beautiful park reading Harry Potter (yes, I am rereading the series and brought book #1 with me).
Balboa Park - around 9:30 a.m., if that gives you an idea of how hot it was that day.
Natural History Museum.
When I finally did make it inside the museum, I went straight downstairs to the new gemstone exhibit. Since it was included with full priced admission (aka me), but was an extra charge for the free SD resident admission, it was quiet and un-crowded. I saw some really amazing things down there - I don't even want to imagine what the price tags on some of these items were.
Polished boulder with opal embedded inside.
This bejeweled, enameled egg holds a miniature replica of the beloved carousel in Balboa Park. Each hand-carved animal depicts one of the actual 56 that revolve on the real carousel. The egg took 10 years to create – and yes, it really plays music. Diamond, ruby, gold, platinum, silver, enamel, mother-of-pearl, glass, stainless steel, wood.
“Red Wonder” cross - Oren Seren, 2008
Master diamond cutter Oren Seren collected and cut each of the 11 red diamonds in this cross. It wasn’t easy: no diamond is more rare than a red diamond. Very few have ever been found. Most come from Australia’s Argyle Mine, which might produce one or two a year.
Pectoral medallion with jaguar and raptor – Pre-Columbian Panama, circa 800-1500 A.D., gold.
and
“The Grand Barbarian’s Trapeze” brooch – William Harper, 1998; Gold, tourmaline, topaz, chalcedony, garnet, opal, pearl, enamel.
“The Grand Barbarian’s Trapeze” brooch – William Harper, 1998; Gold, tourmaline, topaz, chalcedony, garnet, opal, pearl, enamel.
"The Two Angels" intarsia box - Nicolai Medvedev, circa 2005. Set with a gemstone micromosaic of "The Madonna and Child" by Vicart, Moscow. Lapis lazuli, California gold in quartz, malachite, turquoise, dinosaur bone, copper ore, sugilite, opal, wood.
Gold and silver as they are naturally found.
"Peacock Feather Mask" lorgnette - Howard & Co., circa 1890; diamond, platinum, and gold.
Carved elephants by Faberge, circa 1890; lapis lazuli, diamond, enameled gold. (Lapis Lazuli is a brilliant blue stone only found in Afghanistan, and became my favorite mineral after I took ancient art history).
Emeralds of all shapes, sizes and colors (my birthstone).
After I had seen everything downstairs, I went straight to the top floor - it was an art gallery, therefore ignored by the throngs of families with children. The exhibition was art inspired by nature, and the works were being sold to benefit the museum.
Top couple floors of the Natural History Museum.
Because the rest of the museum was swarmed with kids, I decided that was all of that museum I could take, and left to explore Balboa Park a bit more. I stopped by the botanical building and looked at all the beautiful plants in bloom, in the cool shade and mist.
I then was about to take the long hike back to Kelsea's when I happened to pass the Timken Museum, and also noticed the big "FREE ADMISSION" signs, and decided to take a little look. It was the greatest museum ever! Well, that may be a bit of an overstatement. But, it was definitely my favorite part of the park that day. It's a perfect size to manage without experiencing museum overload - about 6 small rooms. It's a collection of paintings, for the most part, from Roman Orthodox Church panels to Italian impressionist paintings. It was amazing, and I highly suggest it as a little side stop for anyone visiting Balboa Park.
One of the small rooms, this one containing Russian Orthodox art from the 18th century.
After the long, hot, difficult walk back to Kelsea's (I got burns on my burns, and had been on my feet all day for two days straight without being in the greatest shape), I went to find a place my brother told me about he used to frequent when he attended UCSD, on a quest for a Chili Riena. It was delicious, as promised :)
Then, the entire reason I went on this trip: I went in to the studio with Kelsea to lay down some saxophone tracks on her album. I'll post a picture here, but for full information on that, here is the link to the entry on my music blog: Tasha's Music Blog
After a great 3-hour recording session, we went to Hale Holistic in downtown San Diego for a candlelit restorative yoga class, accompanied by none other than Kelsea on the harp! After the exhaustion my body experienced over the two days, it felt amazing. And Kelsea's harp playing was beautiful.
After saying good-bye to Kelsea, I made one last stop before driving back to Long Beach: I went to La Jolla to catch up with my high school friend and school music-mate, Daniel. It was great to get coffee (we went to The Living Room) and catch up on each others' lives. I left San Diego around midnight, got home just fine, and woke up nice and early for work the next morning for Pajama Day.
All in all, an amazing, restorative, much-needed trip.
Daniel and I at The Living Room in La Jolla, CA.
