Night photos of Oktoberfest in La Mesa!

It’s early October. It must be time for La Mesa Oktoberfest!

In previous years I visited the big festival during the daytime. This year I walked through downtown La Mesa and enjoyed the lights and sights of Oktoberfest after dark!

As usual, big crowds. Endless food with lots of sausage and plenty of beer. Rows of vendors, live music stages, carnival rides including a bright Ferris wheel, kids trying out hula hoops, and, of course, the annual wiener dog racing. I saw people in traditional Oktoberfest attire, diners at tables on the sidewalk, happy families and plain good fun.

Walking through it all, I took these nighttime photographs.

You can enjoy Oktoberfest in La Mesa all weekend long!

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Three amazing tall ships in one shot!

Star of India, HMS Surprise, and Cuauhtémoc, all together in one photographic shot…

All three historic ships, docked in a row on San Diego’s North Embarcadero by the Maritime Museum of San Diego. What a rare chance for my camera!

Star of India, world’s oldest active ship; HMS Surprise, star of classic film Master and Commander; and Cuauhtémoc, tall ship used to train sailors in the Mexican Navy…

I took these photos from the poop deck of Star of India.

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Mexican tall ship Cuauhtémoc arrives in San Diego!

The Mexican tall ship Cuauhtémoc arrived in San Diego this morning. It has docked on the North Embarcadero not far from the Maritime Museum of San Diego!

The beautiful ship is used as a training vessel for the Mexican Navy. When I walked by, sailors were busy preparing the tall ship for visitors all this weekend.

The public will be able to freely step aboard Cuauhtémoc tomorrow until October 4, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

I toured the amazing tall ship back in 2014 and 2024. See the photos I took here and here!

Here’s what I saw today…

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San Diego’s love for Joe Musgrove.

What an incredible moment yesterday.

September 29, 2026. First game of Major League Baseball’s National League Wild Card series. Ninth inning. After two years of surgery and rehab, out of the bullpen strides native San Diegan, Padres hero Joe Musgrove.

Petco Park went absolutely crazy. (My friend who works at Cine Cafe three blocks away could hear it!)

It was a moment, along with an absolutely incredible game by the Padres, that will go down in San Diego history. Decades from now, it will be remembered with goosebumps.

Over the years, I haven’t photographed all the murals around San Diego concerning Joe. But I have captured a couple. The one above is dedicated to his grandmother and can still be found in Little Italy. That’s where she lived. I first blogged about the mural here.

The next sign appeared on the Western Metal Supply Company building’s Padres Team Store five years ago. On April 9, 2021, newly acquired Joe Musgrove pitched a 3–0 no-hitter against the Texas Rangers, the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history. The no-hitter also broke a streak of having gone 8,205 games without throwing one, a major league record.

The last photo is of the “It’s Our Time” mural painted back in 2022. See my past blog post concerning it here.

Remember how in the 2022 postseason the losing New York Mets accused pitcher Joe Musgrove of using a banned sticky substance because his ears were red? It was a desperation move. Joe was dominating the Mets.

Go Joe!

Go Padres!

World Series or bust!

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A huge United States flag arrives at Petco!

The United States flag arriving at Petco Park before the San Diego Padres Wild Card game this evening was huge.

It will cover much of the field during a pregame ceremony.

Many hands carried the flag up to the ballpark. I saw that U.S. Navy sailors were participating…

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Banners rise for Padres playoffs in San Diego!

Banners are rising throughout downtown San Diego supporting the Padres as they begin what hopefully will be a long playoff run in 2026. This evening the first game of Major League Baseball’s National League Wild Card series will be held at Petco Park!

The excitement is building!

Not only are merchants, bars and restaurants raising Padres flags, but fans, in their state of high anticipation, have already lined up to enter Gallagher Square two hours before the gate opens.

Some photographs from my mid-afternoon walk through the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village…

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Sea lion makes its home in Balboa Park!

Why is there a sea lion now at the center of the Spanish Village patio in Balboa Park?

I encountered the sea lion today during an afternoon walk!

If you’re curious about the appearance of this life-size sculpture, you can read a previous blog post that explains its creation and its purpose by clicking here!

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Getting ready for the MLB Postseason at Petco Park!

With an incredible late season run, the San Diego Padres have captured home field advantage for Major League Baseball’s National League Wild Card series! It begins tomorrow!

Will we beat the Chicago Cubs in the best of three series? I’ve got a good feeling!

Will the Padres advance all the way to the 2026 World Series? Why not?

I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter and around Petco Park this morning. Local television reporters were already out hunting for comments (I got caught by two) but the coolest thing I found was the red, white and blue playoff bunting being hung up all around the ballpark!

That’s Todd from Channel 7 by the way!

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Sunset mural: sea, land, plants and stained glass!

This mural at Liberty Station in Point Loma is suggestive of many things. Variously shaped and colored cells combine into what appears to me like an organism seen through a microscope, or perhaps a color-coded map, or perhaps a sunset or stained glass seen through an odd lens. What does it look like to you?

The public art is titled Vitral Sunset: A Marine Perspective Across The Border. It was created last year with acrylic paints by Tijuana artist Mischka Ippólita (@mischkaippolita). You can find it at Barracks 19.

A nearby plaque describes the art:

The visual references that inspired this mural are seascapes, landscapes, local plants, and microscopic life.

Components of the mural are a combination of ships at sea aerial views and cross-sections of native plants from California and Baja California. A significant factor that unifies all the elements in the piece references the North Chapel, an aesthetic emulating the stained-glass windows.

Yes, the mural does evoke all of those things. Very cool!

A couple weeks ago I took these photos…

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Oceanside Harbor wildlife seen on a walk!

During my recent walk around Oceanside Harbor, I encountered wildlife that you might expect by the water.

For fun, I took these photographs!

Okay, what animals do you recognize?

In addition to more common seagulls and pigeons, I observed Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Brewer’s Blackbirds (I think!), and Sea Lions snoozing and hanging out on the docks!

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