Author: Richard Schulte

Downtown San Diego has been my home for many years. My online activities reflect my love for writing, blogging, walking and photography.

Giant videoboard in Gaslamp activated!

A gigantic videoboard, installed in Gaslamp Square, has been activated! Two huge LED walls are mounted high in the air, attracting the attention of people near the San Diego Convention Center, Petco Park and the Gaslamp Quarter!

When I walked past the videoboard this morning, at least one worker was still up a ladder finishing the installation.

Bright videos that were running included promos for the Padres, MTS, and our beautiful City of San Diego. Mixed in were several advertisements, including one for a popular baseball video game.

Gaslamp Square, located directly next to the Gaslamp trolley station, has become a hub for many downtown activities such as Comic-Con. Now this outdoor space will be even more lively!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

USS Midway, strangely wrapped!

Why is the towering island of the USS Midway aircraft carrier wrapped up?

To protect San Diego Bay and the environment as the historic aircraft carrier (now a popular tourist destination) receives a new coat of paint! That’s what I was told a couple days ago by a USS Midway Museum employee.

But how strange it appears!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

More public art photographed at RaDD!

More works of public art can be approached at San Diego’s waterfront RaDD complex now that additional construction fences have come down!

Back in mid-February I was able to photograph cool murals and a sculpture between new buildings south of here. See those photos and learn a little more about the Research and Development District (RaDD) by clicking here.

As before, I don’t know the artists. If you have any information, please leave a comment!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

The Rady Shell gets ready for a new season!

It’s now April. The days are getting warmer. The sky has turned a deeper blue. The San Diego Symphony is preparing their outdoor venue The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park for a new season!

The Shell’s red seats were being taken out of storage today in preparation for upcoming concerts. The very first concert, in a couple weeks, will be Lang Lang by the Bay. A couple days later, Peter Frampton will take the stage. And about a week later, Willie Nelson! Yes, lots of musical superstars will be swinging by San Diego in 2024. See the full schedule by clicking here!

I remember the very first concert held in 2021 back when The Shell was brand new. If you want to see photos of the historic opening concert of The Rady Shell, click here!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Innovative robotic ship visits San Diego.

A bright green, very sleek ship caught my eye today as I walked along San Diego’s Embarcadero. The ship Armada 78 07 was docked at Broadway Pier.

Armada 78 07 is an innovative, environmentally responsible vessel that utilizes robotic technology. It was built by Ocean Infinity and operates as an offshore supply ship.

According to what I’ve read, it’s part of a small fleet of Armada ships that has entered service in the past year or two. The Ocean Infinity website states: Today we operate a hybrid model of robotics alongside fuel-efficient conventional vessels. But, we’re beginning the transition away from conventional vessels with the development of hybrid and ammonia powered uncrewed and ‘optionally crewed’ robotic ships, ‘Armada’.

Here’s their video about building a fleet of robotic ships.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

New plantings at Manchester Pacific Gateway plaza!

A new tree-filled, park-like space is coming to San Diego’s waterfront!

The Manchester Pacific Gateway project’s 1.9 acre plaza will be located west of the One Broadway Hotel, which is now in the early stages of construction. The sunny outdoor plaza will be open to the public, just across Harbor Drive from Broadway Pier.

A small army of workers was out today planting greenery in the new plaza. When completed, this popular stretch of the North Embarcadero should be even more inviting and beautiful!

The tall building you see in the background of my next photograph is one of five new buildings at the adjacent Research and Development District. I spotted more new public art at RaDD during today’s walk. I’ll be blogging about that shortly!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cool new Padres mural at Gallagher Square!

Have you seen the cool new mural next to the Gallagher Square playground? It features half a dozen prominent, fan favorite San Diego Padres baseball players!

From left to right, there are images of Joe Musgrove, Manny Machado, Ha-Seong Kim, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatís Jr., and Yu Darvish!

The mural covers both sides of the wall immediately east of the tall “baseball bat” play tower!

In case you can’t make it out to Petco Park, here are photos that I took today.

GO PADS!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cool photo memories from April 2019.

San Diego never disappoints. So many cool events were held in April five years ago that I had a difficult time selecting which ones to revisit as this new month begins!

Back in April 2019, my camera recorded knights in shining armor battling in Balboa Park, the inside workings of a Peruvian Navy tall ship, a wheelchair OTL tournament, a couple of Earth Day events, a tour of a United States Coast Guard cutter, Witches’ Night at the Comic-Con Museum, a local skatepark’s 20th anniversary, the Encinitas Street Fair, a big Shakespeare festival, a super fun Pet Day on the Bay…and much more!

I have 15 links coming up to blog posts that contain oodles of photographs!

Click the following links for hundreds of cool photos!

Little Italy’s history, culture at Amici House.

Great ideas at South Bay Earth Day!

Faces of INSIDE OUT still smile in Chula Vista!

Washington Street Skatepark’s 20th Anniversary!

Fun times at the Wheelchair OTL Tournament!

Earth Day at Old Town’s Native Plant Garden.

English knights, cute Corgis, Harry Potter and more!

Photos of Shakespeare celebration in Balboa Park!

Photos aboard Peruvian Navy tall ship BAP Unión!

Cool sights along Adams Avenue west of 30th.

Local history remembered at Trolley Barn Park.

Dogs enjoy a harbor cruise on San Diego Bay!

Take a tour aboard a new Coast Guard cutter!

Cool discoveries at the Encinitas Street Fair!

Images from Witches’ Night in San Diego!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Historic ferry in San Diego, like a cathedral.

It reminds one of stained glass in a cathedral. Exquisite art glass windows, fabricated over a century ago, fill a historic ship in San Diego with golden sunlight.

If you’ve ever stepped onto the Dan McKinney Deck of the steam ferry Berkeley (part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego) you’ve experienced the beauty. The long polished wooden benches, the soft light and tranquil quiet–the atmosphere is indeed similar to that of a cathedral.

I noticed during a recent visit that the Berkeley’s art glass was created by California Art Glass Works in San Francisco. The 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley was built to carry Southern Pacific Railroad passengers between Oakland and San Francisco.

Out of curiosity, I’ve tried to find information concerning California Art Glass Works. The factory was located on Mission Street in San Francisco. It was famous for the manufacturing of lodge and church memorial windows.

Here’s a link to a page on the Oakland Museum of California website that contains information about California Art Glass Works and the man behind it. Among other things, you’ll learn the glass company was founded in 1879 by William Schroeder, who had learned the craft in Germany. California Art Glass won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900 for the windows it exhibited there.

If you happen to know more about California Art Glass Works, please leave a comment!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Two unusual rooms in a San Diego hotel!

A luxurious hotel in downtown San Diego contains two huge rooms that are quite unusual. One used to be a basketball court, and another was an indoor swimming pool!

The Guild Hotel occupies the historic 1924 building that was originally home of the Army-Navy YMCA. For decades, tens of thousands of sailors and military men would head to this location on Broadway, not far from the waterfront, to recreate. They’d play basketball, run around an elevated indoor track, and swim in a basement pool.

The Guild Hotel, when it moved into the iconic building, creatively repurposed two large indoor spaces. The huge basketball court was converted into the grand Grace Ballroom! The swimming pool was turned into the Society Ballroom!

I was shown these spaces several weeks ago during the San Diego Architectural Foundation Open House event.

Just inside the front entrance of the luxurious The Guild Hotel in downtown San Diego.

The Guild Bar in the hotel lobby.

To the left of the bar, a door opens to the unusual Grace Ballroom.

The Grace Ballroom at The Guild Hotel was originally an indoor basketball court. Military men shot hoops here for decades when the building was an Armed Services YMCA.

An elevated platform intended for jogging or running continues to surround the hotel ballroom!

Beautiful tiles along a stairway that descends from The Guild Hotel lobby to a lower level.

An old photograph of the large swimming pool that once occupied the Army-Navy YMCA’s basement.

The swimming pool is gone, replaced by the Society Ballroom! The historic space was set up as a meeting room when I toured the hotel.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!