There’s a small herd of animals that circulate on the weekends not far from the entrance to the world famous San Diego Zoo, and not a single roar can be heard as they go round and round. They are European hand-carved animals on a 100-year-old carousel, a park fixture for the small fry, put to music with military marches. Surrounding the upper portion are brilliant painted murals. It’s one of the few in the world still offering the brass ring game for everyone taking a five-minute ride. In the summer, this historic ride operates daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays, Sundays and school holidays in the winter, Admission is $2. The Park Carousel is one of only a few built by Herschell-Spillman Co. of New York that is still operational. The factory started by carving and creating carousels in the old style and created some large park machines, generally elaborate menagerie carousels. They consist of 18 separate menagerie animals. Herschell Spillman menageries can also be found in Ocean City, Md., Golden Gate Park in San Francisco and Greenfield Village near Detroit. Balboa Park’s version has certainly been around. Originally built in 1910 for Los Angeles’ Luna Park, the carousel was moved to Coronado’s Tent City and various locations within Balboa Park before finally settling at its current location along Park Boulevard. Nearby, a miniature railroad offers a three-minute, seven-mile trip through four acres. The train is a model G16, now a rare antique with only 50 remaining. Darwin celebrates 200 The most in-depth exhibition ever mounted on Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection will continue its run at the Natural History Museum through February. The exhibition’s appearance coincides with the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On the Origin of Species,” and features the broadest collection ever assembled of specimens, artifacts and original manuscripts, Oceanic artwork Approximately 70 artworks that represent ancient oceanic traditions from Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia are featured at the San Diego Museum of Art. The works include a variety of three-dimensional objects: elaborate sculptures, jewelry, weapons and cooking tools. Motion Mania Discover what makes the world go round with new hands-on exhibits with Motion Mania at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. It deals with about every kind of motion from the kind that underlies the solar system to pendulum motions, turbulent motion and motion illusions. Push, pull, lift, stop, go, drop and bounce your way to discovering more about how the world works.
