School’s Out For Summer…. A Visit to Balboa Park

My boys’ summer vacation officially began last Thursday!

For the first time since moving here, we checked out the free Museum Tuesdays at Balboa Park this last Tuesday.

Here is the schedule of museums each month:

First Tuesday
Reuben H. Fleet Science Center
Centro Cultural de la Raza
San Diego Model Railroad Museum
San Diego Natural History Museum (Not valid for Titanic exhibition or 3D films)

Second Tuesday
Museum of Photographic Arts
San Diego History Center
Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center

Third Tuesday
San Diego Art Institute
Mingei International Museum
San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Man
Japanese Friendship Garden

Fourth Tuesday
San Diego Air & Space Museum (Not valid for special exhibitions)
San Diego Automotive Museum (Last admission 3:45pm)
San Diego Hall of Champions
SELECT House of Pacific Relations International Cottages

In the event you plan on taking advantage of free Tuesday and haven’t been there before, here are some tips that I learned from this visit-

• Get there before by about 9:30 to get parking  - we arrived a little after 10 am (when the museums open) and we circled for about 30 minutes before we found parking.
• It was CRAZY busy at Reuben H Fleet Science Center with field trip groups as well as other taking advantage of the free day. I’m not sure if arriving early will help with smaller crowds, but next time we are going to try to get there before they open. We left around 12 and crowds were still coming in.
• Bring lunch – the selections are slim yet pricey so pack a lunch to enjoy a picnic on the grass or a meal by the fountain

Next week, we will be hitting the San Diego History Center and Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center. I plan on getting there early!

What are some of your favorite things to do during the summer?

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