Balboa Park: For San Diego's Soul Mates

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  The post-honeymoon marathon of obligations often spurs a creative conundrum for San Diego's hitched population when it comes to that very distant idea of San Diego dating. Pick up the dry-cleaning, take the minivan for an oil change, pack Sammy's pb&j, and on and on. Somewhere along the way, courtly love has been undeniably replaced by the repulsive "R" word: Responsibility. Baby, it's not only cold outside.

    Whether it's been six months or ten years, if your in-sync steam is freezing over, it's time to reheat the marital oven. Luckily, it’s only 350 degrees to Balboa Park—that day-long jigsaw puzzle of parental perks.

    However, a merry-go-round ride through Balboa Park's endless museum strip could leave you (and your feet) craving the comforting ease of the dry-cleaners. Instead, collaborate with your mate and choose just three destinations. Recommended trio: The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA), San Diego Art Institute and San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum. This combo will stimulate your intellect, rouse your creativity and animate your die-hard passion for local legends. It’s an all-around cultural escapade and a perfect bonding experience for any couple.  

    The Museum of Photographic Arts houses more than 4,000 works, capturing the complex and varied history of global photography. MOPA's collection is strong in modern and contemporary work, emphasizing the medium's aesthetic innovations, specifically photojournalism and social documentary.

    The San Diego Art Institute grants benevolent visibility to local artists, ranging in skill and age from amateur youths to should-be-pro adults. SDAI's 10,000-square-foot gallery lends perusing patrons plenty of versatile space to gaze admiringly from afar or cozy up to create your own exhibition—inhibitions are checked at the door!

    Listen up, Mona Lisa: The San Diego Hall of Champions Sports Museum is the chance to thank that beloved touchdown connoisseur. This manly joint is decked to the brim with San Diego multi-sport memorabilia. It’s certain to galvanize a woman’s aesthetically-inept other half without, any further masculine abrasion. Three levels cumulate in a media center where visitors can call play-by-play for Tony Gwynn, or land a kickflip with skateboard legend Tony Hawk. The Sports Museum proves the minds behind Balboa Park’s museum maze thought of everything.

    When you’re finished, The Prado at Balboa Park is the ideal upscale food-court oasis to replenish yourselves. Executive chef Jeff Thurston, dubbed Chef of the Year for 2005, arrays truly imaginative gourmet cuisine. The Prado's unique décor—a blend of historical artifacts, vital colors and whimsical accents inspired by museum collections—is spicier than the calamari’s Korean soy bean chili sauce.

    Role-playing may or may not revitalize your after-hours activities with award-winning histrionics. Unsure? Leave the drama for the stage. Take your special someone to the internationally acclaimed Old Globe Theatre . This multi-staged historic venue produces 15 plays and musicals annually from Shakespeare to Sondheim. No matter what genre graces its stages, the Globe never disappoints. Note: Leave the French maid attire at home.

    Museums, dinner and a play, oh my! Balboa Park is the quintessential San Diego destination for the happily hitched to revamp their honeymoon fever.