Balboa Park is the largest urban cultural park in the United States taking up over 1200 acres. That's a lot of land to cover. There's a lot to see and a lot to do. And there's a lot to see, that is hidden from the public view. Even a beautiful place like Balboa Park doesn't like to air its dirty laundry in public, but some things are worth a laugh or just seem to make us wonder how Balboa Park's secrets are so well kept.

It seems that every city has an Inspiration Point of some sort. It's usually a place with a beautiful setting that provides a stunning view. Parts of Inspiration Point in San Diego are neither inspirational nor beautiful. Enter the realm of the absurd. Just down the road from the Balboa Park Adminstration Building is what can be referred to as "Refrigerator Ridge," or the makeshift graveyard for retired refrigerators. It is an unofficial, if not illegal, dumping ground for folks with no conscience. If you are in need of old office chairs and desks, you can find some strewn along the adjacent service path. Nearby, in an unsecured location, is something else that baffles the mind and makes you wince. The original architectural elements from some of the historic buildings in Balboa Park were replaced years ago. Some of these pieces lay like forgotten coffins above the beathen dirt like you'd find in a New Orleans cemetery.

Just south of the Balboa Park Administration Building on the east side of Park Blvd. and down a few steps, you'll find an original tiled water fountain built under the auspices of the Navy when it occupied this corner of Balboa Park. As if time forgot it, this beautiful fountain is only appreciated by those few who know of its existence.

Morley Field is part of Balboa Park. Most folks don't know that it is named after John Morley, the Superintendent of Parks from 1911-1939. We certainly didn't know. Morley Field is known for serving as the sports complex for Balboa Park. It is east of Park Blvd. and provides recreational activities including: bocce courts, a velodrome, a baseball field, a disc golf course, a golf course, a fitness parcourse and a few other surprises.

Once upon a time, Balboa Park was covered in chaparral and coastal sage scrub. Back in 1868, when the park came into being, it was absent of the trees and vegetation we see today. The views all around Balboa Park were unobscured and it was prime property in San Diego. Now, nearly all the trees that fill the vast 1200 acres of Balboa Park are non-native. The Coast Redwood tree which can be found in various parts of the park struggle to stay alive. The San Diego climate just doesn't produce enough rain to keep these trees happy. Oddly, however, new Coast Redwood trees are planted when the older trees meet their demise. Go figure. San Diegans are optimists.

If you want to grasp what Balboa Park looked like before San Diego's forefathers and foremother, Kate Sessions, beautified this vast amount of land, you can. You can visit what what was known as the old Arizona Landfill which is still methane gas. It sits just east of, and above, Florida Canyon on a 139-acre site. From 1952-1974, the site was a dump, literally. Unfortunately, it sort of still looks like a dump looking for some love. If you take a drive to the velodrome, city nursery, archery range or other places at Morley Field, you'll wonder why the road is more suited for a 4-wheel drive, all-terrain vehicle. Strap on your seatbelt. You'll need it. One of the decades-long problems up there on the mesa, is the existence of the landfill. As the landfill shifts and undulates, so does the road, the fences, the baseball field and all that surrounds it. Despite this part of Morley Field standing out as an ugly-duckling, the rest of Morley Field is a swan bringing joy to many weekend warriors and everyday sports enthusiasts.

Morley Field is also home to a well-respected and acclaimed tennis complex. The Balboa Tennis Club is proud to welcome visitors and attract new members. The Club started in 1922 and has 25 hard courts and a stadium court. Day passes are only $5 and they serve up some grub at the Club's cafe. That's not a back-handed comment. We don't want to be faulted for not mentioning that the stadium court is named after Maureen Connolly or "Little Mo," who hailed from a nearby San Diego community, North Park, and went on to be the first woman to ever win a grand slam in tennis back in 1953. Tennis champion Michael Chang also played on the courts in Balboa Park. If you love tennis, you can set up a match by calling the Balboa Tennis Club/ Reservations/Information: (619) 295-9278

Down the road off of Florida Canyon at 26th Street and Pershing, is a special memorial. Residents of the area drive by willy-nilly with maybe just a passing appreciation for the otherwise ordinary grove of oak trees along the road and the few inconsequential wooden foot bridges. This outer boundary of Balboa Park is called Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. Sixty trees were planted in memory of the sixty men who were killed in a tragic boiler explosion aboard the USS Bennington, a gunboat. The men are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery and a sixty-foot obelisk marks the site at Fort Rosecrans.

On Pershing Drive across from the Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course is the Balboa Park Nursery. The four city gardeners who manage all of the City of San Diego parks use the city nursery to grow all the necessary plant materials for Balboa Park AND all the other parks in the City of San Diego's parks system. The city nursery was originally started by Kate Sessions. Unfortunately, it is closed to the public.

We've often talked of the odd signage and odd names in San Diego. We'll just mention one sign in Balboa Park that will make you scratch your head. The sign just on the north side of Morely Field just inside the parking lot has one lonely arrow pointing to the west for a variety of activities. The old sign still suggests that the casting pond is just to the right, but the casting pond hasn't existed since the 1970s. Originally, the fly-casting pond was part of the stocked Lily Pond in front of the Botanical Building in the center of Balboa Park. In 1949, it was moved to Morley Field. It shut down in the 1970s because of issues relating to those pesky landfill shifts that caused stability problems for the pond.

Places like Balboa Park have long histories and stories to tell. Underneath the polish and pristine patina, adjacent to the colorful gardens and manicured lawns, are the forgotten places that leave clues to Balboa Park's past and present leaving many unanswered questions. All the laughable imperfections converge with the cultural richness to create an urban treasure that serves as the heart of San Diego.