Pioneer Park and Revisiting Ibis Market 20 Years Later

One of my favorite local blogs is Cool San Diego Sights, posts are put up on a regular basis and and some of the posts are quite interesting. And during the pandemic, I took to visiting places I'd long heard of like finding the grave site medallions for folks who are buried un San Diego Avenue. Along those lines, I had heard that Mission Hills Park, Pioneer Park had graves onsite and also buried in the park. And after reading this post, I decided to head on over to the park which I'd driven past many times.

It's a nice park, located right next to a school.

The pooches always seem to be having the best time!

The wall surrounding the park looks pretty old.

And as you head east just south of the playground area (?!!?!?) overlooking Washington Street you see it.

Good lord! Apparently, this was the site of Calvary Cemetery, which fell into disrepair. And in the 70's it was decided that there should converted into a park. So, you figure they'd go ahead and move the 800 graves, right? Well, they removed all the tombstones except for those that line the edge of the park. They did not however, remove the graves.....so all those folks are still buried under Pioneer Park. There a list of them in the park.

You can't make this stuff up?

While driving back from Pioneer Park, I passed a place that I hadn't thought about in years.

Ibis Market! Man, we used to get our hummus fix from here when we first moved to San Diego  and lived in Mission Valley. Which would be over 21 years ago! 

I decided to stop and check the place out.

It pretty much looked the same.

I walked to the deli counter and had to rub my eyes.....

Deli sandwiches are priced at $6.99.......which is crazy low for these days!

But I was interested in other items.....

The Missus and I miss Harvest Market down the street which closed during the pandemic. So, I sent the Missus a text and got a couple of items....

The hummus sampler. The Missus liked the jalapeno hummus, my favorite was the classic hummus, our least favorite was the artichoke hummus which had curry in it. It had a bitterness we didn't enjoy.

The Missus recalled how much She always liked the Dolmas, so I got that for Her.

I got my old favorite, the pickled beets which I still enjoy.

So much that I finished the whole container.

We enjoyed this warm weather meal with some pita that I bought as well.

A few nights later, the Missus sent me to Ibis to get some Falafel....I wasn't too keen on getting deli counter falafel, but what the heck. Of course I got my pickled beets and another item that I recalled liking.

The Armenian Potato salad, which is pretty good.

We still had pita bread and hummus leftover, so I just had to figure out how to heat up the falafel.

So, this is what worked the best. I got the toaster oven out and put it on toast at a high temp. I then microwaved the falafel for 1 minute to heat thru. I then crisped it up in the toaster oven. Not the best falafel I've had but the outside was crisp and interior was fairly moist and still had hints of a nice creaminess.

I like the couple that run the place; they are quite friendly and helpful.

It's nice to know that Ibis is still open two decades and one pandemic since we last visited.

Ibis Market
1112 Fort Stockton Drive
San Diego, CA 92103
Hours:
Daily 10am - 7pm

Comments

[kat]

pickled beet looks great!

[Soo]

That's a cool park!

[Cathy]

I passed Ibis in March but was going to an appointment and forgot to go back. Now will make the effort. Really miss 'your' Harvest Market ('mine' is smaller).

[Kirk]

That's a favorite of mine Kat!

Kinda spooky in my opinion Soo!

We do miss "our" Harvest Market Cathy. Definitely check out Ibis. I think the prices are quite good.

[Peter]

Kirk: Where do you get your favorite falafel in the San Diego area? The best I've had were homemade by a Palestinian neighbor we used to live across the street from. Doubt I'll ever match those, but I can hope...

[Kirk]

Sorry to say nowhere right now Peter. After having the good stuff in Israel and also decent falafel in Paris it's a tough sell. Shawarma Guys was good, though I've only visited once pre-pandemic.

[Peter]

Yeah -- I've had a lot of sub-par falafel around these parts. Will make a trip to the Shawarma Guys truck. Just checked out their online menu and they've got a lot of vegan options, which is a BIG plus for my wife and me. They're apparently planning to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant this year on Jackson near Grossmont Center.

[Kirk]

Let me know how it goes Peter!