The Abbey on Fifth Avenue in Uptown San Diego was built as a church back in 1910. Today it’s a premier venue for weddings, concerts, meetings, parties and more. Constructed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, back in the day, neighboring structures in Balboa Park, built for the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition were graced with complimentary design motifs. Fortunately, more than a century later the Abbey, and the Balboa Park edifices, still stand as elegant reminders of a long vanished era in San Diego. I came to San Diego specifically to experience Hornblower Cruises and Events’ whale watching adventure, and it was by pure chance that I discovered the Abbey and its connection with the harbor cruise company. The Abbey serves as Hornblower’s base of operations for their shipboard culinary offerings. I stopped by the Abbey and discovered that this historically significant building, graced with dramatic stained-glass windows, is a super popular venue for parties, weddings, live concerts, meetings and more. And it has also played a starring role in numerous Hollywood movies and television shows.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE NPR PODCAST ALL ABOUT THE ABBEY
Join Correspondent, Tom Wilmer and associate producer, Molly Blaisdell for a visit with Jim Unger, Hornblower’s Vice President, and Rebecca Milkey, Director of Marketing as they talk about the Abbey, past and present.
You are invited to subscribe to the Lowell Thomas award-winning show, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer via: NPR.ORG Podcast Directory, NPR One (APP), Stitcher.com, Player.fm UK)–A featured “Best Travel Podcast”, podcasts.de (Germany), iTunes, and numerous other podcast channels around the world.
This Podcast is funded by Oahu based, Hawaiian Reforestation Initiative
Now you can enjoy my Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer in a new way. Download the free Otocast mobile app and let me take you on a guided tour of the places I visited in San Diego. With Otocast, you can browse through photos for each location, read interesting facts, and, if you are in the area, get directions to the exact places that I talk about in the episode. It’s the next best thing to accompanying me on a trip. Otocast is available for Apple and Android devices – just search for Otocast in the app store and join me on my Journeys of Discovery in a whole new dimension.
