Today, February 4th, is the birthday of civil rights icon Rosa Parks. MTS in San Diego is honoring her heroism by reserving a seat for her on every bus and trolley!
Four years ago I photographed one of those reserved seats on a bus. Today, I found a special seat on a San Diego Trolley reserved for Rosa Parks!
Of course, I had to take a photo.
The legacy of a courageous citizen lives on. This sign on one trolley seat is a small but important reminder that one individual with a single act of courage can change the world.
Amelia Earhart was an aviation pioneer best known for her disappearance over the South Pacific while trying to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. But some might not know that she became a popular American hero by setting numerous flight records.
Visitors to the San Diego Air & Space Museum will find several displays that recall how she accomplished historic world’s firsts, including the first female solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, the first female solo flight across the United States, and the first solo flight from Hawaii to the United States mainland.
Her portrait can be found in the museum’s Hall of Fame Hallway. Amelia was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 1967. This Hall of Fame webpage describes her many successes, including setting multiple speed records.
Visitors can listen to an animatronic Amelia Earhart talking about her life, and view a reproduction of a Lockheed Vega 5B, the type of aircraft she flew while setting many world records. The airplane in the museum was created for the Hollywood film Amelia.
There are also artifacts that show how she was a celebrity in her time, a leader in the fight for women’s rights, promoter of commercial aviation, and a founder of the Ninety-Nines, an International Organization of Women Pilots.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is a must visit for everybody. It’s crammed full of cool exhibits, representing the dawn of flight right up to present-day space exploration.
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Have you seen this plaque in Balboa Park and wondered about it? Located on the west wall of the California Quadrangle near the Museum of Us, it honors David Charles Collier, the prime mover behind San Diego’s 1915-1916 Panama–California Exposition.
The plaque reads:
DAVID CHARLES COLLIER
A Man of Vision–A Dynamic Leader–A Developer and Builder
A Great and Lovable Character
The Creative Genius of the Panama-California Exposition of 1915
An Inspiration to the Citizens of Today
The plaque was installed on October 11, 1936, in the second year of the California Pacific International Exposition.
David Charles Collier, often called D. C. Collier, was a real estate developer and philanthropist. He is considered the founder of Ocean Beach, where he built his home and lived for many years. He also helped to develop Point Loma, Pacific Beach, University Heights, Normal Heights, North Park, East San Diego, and Encanto.
He made many of the decisions concerning the Panama-California Exposition, including its location and style of architecture. He served as Director General of the Panama California Exposition from 1909 to 1912, and president of the Exposition from 1912 to 1914… He also chose “human progress” to be the Exposition’s cultural theme. The theme exhibit, particularly focused on the anthropology of the Southwestern United States, later became the San Diego Museum of Man, of which he was a founder.
The Museum of Man is now called the Museum of Us. It’s appropriate the plaque is located nearby.
Here’s a public domain photo of D. C. Collier from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division:
If you’d like to learn more about David Charles Collier, here’s an extensive article about the life of this fascinating man, published in The Journal Of San Diego History.
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If you’ve recently traveled on the Green Line of the San Diego Trolley between the Morena/Linda Vista and Fashion Valley stations, you’ve seen renewed construction activity to the north of the tracks. That half of the old Riverwalk golf course is being replaced by Riverwalk San Diego, a massive project now under development!
I saw all this activity through the trolley window a couple days ago and took several photos.
If, like me, you’re curious about this project in the heart of Mission Valley, check out their website here and see a map of what is coming. Riverwalk San Diego will include 4,300 homes (including 430 affordable homes), 152,000 square feet of retail, one million square feet of office, and 97 acres of parks and open space, including a restored San Diego River and a 55-acre regional park.
You might notice there will be a new trolley station, too!
We in San Diego are so fortunate. Our city is home to one of the world’s most famous tall ships, Star of India, and one of our nation’s top maritime museums. Why not show your love for these San Diego jewels with a Valentine’s Day gift?
The historic ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, like all ships exposed to time and outdoor weather, need continuing maintenance and repair. With love in your heart, you can help out!
Here’s a wish list that supports the museum’s fleet, including Star of India, H.M.S. Surprise, Californian, Pilot boat and San Salvador.
To learn more, or perhaps make a loving donation, send an email to membership@sdmaritime.org.
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During my walk yesterday through SDSU Mission Valley River Park, I was surprised to see members of San Diego State Aztecs Rugby Club getting ready for a game. They would be playing UC Davis out on a wide swath of the park’s grass. It was the second game of their 2026 season.
I remained at the sidelines for a while to watch the beginning of play. Other fans would gradually gather with their lawn chairs and umbrellas.
SDSU Aztecs Rugby Club competes in Division 1-A in the California Conference. Founded in 1958, the team has a long and proud history. They won the 1987 National Collegiate Rugby Championship.
The action I observed was fast and exciting! I don’t know too much about rugby, but perhaps I’ll have to become a fan! The Aztecs would go on to win 31-38.
If you’d like to watch this victory on YouTube, click here.
To go to a future game, you can follow SDSU Aztec Rugby at this website.
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Muchas Manos de San Diego, a group of hand embroidery enthusiasts, is celebrating their 50th Anniversary with an exhibit inside the Mission Valley Library. The library’s large display case is filled with carefully stitched examples of very beautiful embroidery!
If you’d like to join the supportive group and have fun creating amazing, exquisite objects like these, here’s their website! They meet once a month.
These photographs were taken during a recent walk through La Jolla Shores, at the Kellogg Park playground. What you see is the 16-foot-long life-size bronze sculpture of J.J., an orphaned baby California gray whale.
The malnourished baby whale, near death, was rescued off the coast of Marina del Rey in 1997, and nursed back to health at SeaWorld. She would ultimately be released back into the Pacific Ocean to resume her migration to Alaska.
The sculpture of J.J., which children love to ride and play on, was created by sculptor D. Lynn Reeves. It was commissioned by Friends of La Jolla Shores and was installed at the Kellogg Park playground next to the beach boardwalk in 2011.
Signs posted beside J.J. tell the tale of her rescue and of the creation of her beautiful sculpture.
We might be in the middle of winter, but spring will be here before you know it, and birds will be looking to build their nests.
If you’d like to construct a nesting box for your yard or as a community project, how can you make one that bird’s will like, choose and use?
Some useful information is posted in downtown San Diego at the Tweet Street linear park atop Cortez Hill. If you’re into DIY and like to use saw, hammer and nails, here goes:
The wood should not be painted. If you use a nontoxic stain, use lighter colors–sun on dark colors might make the box too hot. Natural wood is excellent.
The entry hole must be sized for the bird you wish to attract, and raised from the nesting box floor to accommodate a nest. Small ventilation holes at the top keep the inside of the nesting box cool.
A slanted roof will allow water to run off, keeping the birds living inside the nesting box dry.
Have a side panel that opens for monitoring and cleaning when the box is not in use.
Put up your box before birds begin to look for suitable nesting sites. (And put it well above the ground somewhere the birds feel safe.)
After the nesting season, use the side panel to clean out the old nest. Ready your nesting box for birds to roost in during the fall and winter, or the following spring.
If you’d like to see photographs of the many cleverly designed birdhouses in Tweet Street Park (and they’re pretty amazing), click here!
As you build your own unique bird house, have fun and be safe!
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In 1997 the 100 Years, 100 Stones monument debuted at San Diego State University. It was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of SDSU.
If you’ve ever walked down the campus’ central Campanile Walkway you’ve no doubt seen this unique stone-like sculpture with its two portals. It has an appearance suggestive of ancient temples or ruins.
Those who look closely at the monument will see small rock samples embedded in it, with informative labels. The rocks come from locations all around our region, within a hundred miles of SDSU, including places in Mexico. The art blends culture with geology.
Installation artist Eve Andree Laramee designed 100 Years, 100 Stones. There’s no plaque by this public art with any sort of explanation (that I’ve noticed), so I wonder if students walking past it understand its origin and nature. For years I myself didn’t know. Thank you Google!
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Cool San Diego Sights! 