
First of all, I’d like to welcome new visitors to Cool San Diego Sights! I’m not sure how my website suddenly merited inclusion in Google News, but, what the heck, this amateur photo blogger will take it!
Cool San Diego Sights is mostly about a guy with a little old camera walking around our big city semi-randomly, experiencing the wonder of its neighborhoods, its people, and the world in general. Occasionally I’ll report something that’s newsworthy, but only if I happen to stumble upon it. All this walking and taking photos is really just a hobby and personal pleasure.
On Saturday I enjoyed a long walk that included several areas of Point Loma. After climbing those hidden stairs I blogged about on Saturday, I headed through residential Loma Portal and down into the tiny business district near the intersection of Voltaire Street and Chatsworth Boulevard.
I walked in a short counterclockwise loop, from the Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church, toward Point Loma High School, down to the Point Loma Library, and back up to the spot where I had begun.
I had no plan other than to take photos of whatever caught my fancy!















…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Now you’re talking! I attended Richard Henry Dana Jr. High School at Chatsworth & Narragansett, and Point Loma High up at the east end of Voltaire. There’s been a lot of water under the fantail, but I think the European Cake Gallery was Point Loma Music back in the 60s. It was a huge store full of vinyl and we would all mob the place after school on Friday to get the top 40 surveys from KCBQ, KDEO, and KGB, as well as KHJ in Los Angeles. That’s also where I bought my Beach Boys and Stones albums. The garden shop was a drugstore where my buddy and I used to buy Popular Hot Rodding magazine. Yup. The only time I ever wanted a car was before I had one…
In 1958 my grandma bought the only new car I ever knew her to have, a Chevy Bel Air. It boasted the then-unheard of feature of air suspension. Chevrolet’s trade name was LevelAir. It was fabulous in the early going, but when it went, it went big, and it was right in front of that mural. Those are pretty steep parking places, more than they look in the pictures, and the store adjacent was a mom & pop grocery. Grandma pulled in there to shop in about 1960, and when we came back out the car had leveled itself, which meant that when we pulled out, the back was jacked up about twenty degrees, and it took a pricey service call to get it back down. Great times!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow–great memories! You brought the past to life! You must be some sort of writer!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t get to California much, though when I do, it often includes a visit to San Diego as I have family there. Point Loma is one of my favorite places to visit.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s one of my many favorite places, too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re right around the corner from where we live and work. We have so many favorite walks around Point Loma. I hope you continue to explore. I was already missing the library, but now your walk has me imaging it’s doors open again. Congrats on the SEO magic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I’ll keep walking!
LikeLike
Great views from your walk, like the guitar artwork!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I also went to Dana in the early 1960s. I remember the music store, where you could buy 45s and albums, as well as a variety of musical instruments and take music lessons. The building with the mural had a barber shop in one of the store-fronts, and was also home to a slot-car track back in the early or mid 1960’s. I remember that the pharmacy on the corner had a fountain where you could get a fountain-style milkshake back in the day, and the popsicles and candy bars cost the same as milk at Dana, so you could “re-direct” your milk money if you were inclined to support local business and wanted a treat on the way home from school. We lived in Loma Portal, so I didn’t go by the Loma Portal shopping area very much after moving on to PLHS in 1964. I think you missed the Mormon church, which is around the corner from “the brick church” on Centraloma.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m afraid I did miss the Mormon church. Maybe next time I walk in the area!
LikeLike
Yow, I DO remember the slot car track, but not well. That must have been the last half of the ’60s. I think we were in the same class, PLHS Class of ’66. I did the first semester of sophomore year at Monterey High, then returned to PL for the rest of 10th and 11th. I quit after that rather than be forced to return to Monterey, joined the navy, and only saw the slot car track when I was home on leave and my buddy Chip took me there a couple of times. Remember the grad assembly at Dana, and the wicked surf band that Marty Hess played in?
LikeLiked by 1 person
My Mother had an office on Canon St. for 20 years.
LikeLiked by 1 person