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.

Penelope awaits Odysseus at Coronado Tidelands Park.

In 2019, this sculpture of Penelope, from Greek mythology, was placed beside the boardwalk in Coronado Tidelands Park.

The bronze head of Penelope gazes across the water toward the Coronado Bridge and South Bay, as if awaiting the return of her husband Odysseus. Odysseus (the Romans called him Ulysses) was fated to wander from adventure to adventure after the Trojan War.

I guess I hadn’t walked this way for over three years, because I didn’t notice Penelope here before. But I did see this same sculpture many years ago. It stood for a while just north of Seaport Village, where Ruocco Park was eventually developed.

The amazing work of public art was created by artist Michael Stutz in 2009. (Looking at his website, I note he also created the Flame Flower in front of the Westin Gaslamp, which you can see here.)

I love the artist’s representation of Penelope. The mask-like face, gazing out over San Diego Bay, appears windblown but firm. The sculpture evokes human patience, anticipation, nobility…

Weaving by day, Penelope would be forced to choose a…

…new husband when her tapestry was complete. But all…

…the while she waited, unraveling her work by night…

…steadfastly sure of Ulysses’ return.

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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 Twitter!

La Mesa to create Downtown Village Sign!

Plans are underway to create a landmark sign in La Mesa’s downtown Village!

La Mesa families are preparing painted tiles that will decorate the columns of the archway sign!

The “La Mesa Village District Sign” will span La Mesa Boulevard at Palm Avenue. It will resemble the distinctive gateway signs in other San Diego neighborhoods and cities in the county.

I knew nothing about this project until I walked past a banner and posters in windows at the intersection where the sign will be erected.

The ongoing “Leave a Legacy Tile” fundraiser will eventually produce a “Community Quilt” installed on the base of each column!

If you’d like to participate, here’s the website!

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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 Twitter!

Coffee mural in Encanto at The Mental Bar!

Check out this very cool new mural, painted in Encanto just a couple months ago! It’s by artist Irieanna Sesma (@SD_IRIE).

The mural very effectively attracts attention to the newly opened The Mental Bar!

The Mental Bar- Coffee, Tea & Wellness, at 6325 Imperial Avenue, is a welcoming place run by two very nice people who greeted me with big smiles.

They offer all sorts of healthy things to eat and drink. I’m afraid all I asked for was a bottle of water. (Walking around in the San Diego sunshine is thirsty business!)

They asked what I liked about the mural. I said I really liked the cool neon vibe!

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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 Twitter!

Let’s Live, Let’s Love in Encanto!

Words of wisdom can be found up and down Imperial Avenue in San Diego’s Encanto neighborhood.

LETS LIVE LETS LOVE has been painted on several different electrical boxes, along with a variety of beautiful designs.

I photographed one of these boxes a couple years ago when I posted great examples of street art in Encanto. (You can see all that street art here.)

Let’s Live. Let’s Love.

These words might seem simple, but you know what? The very peak of wisdom might be contained in those few small words.

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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 Twitter!

Life on and off the shore at Cardiff.

At Cardiff State Beach, in San Diego’s North County, restored coastal dunes are roped off, protecting fragile habitat from human feet.

Signs posted on the perimeter explain the “constructed dunes” and Our Living Shoreline.

One sign explains that coastal dunes provide a natural buffer against waves, tides and storms in winter.

Made resilient with native vegetation, the dunes provide important wildlife habitat and protect San Elijo Lagoon from flooding.

The roped dunes at Cardiff State Beach constitute a snowy plover and least tern preserve. These birds have decreasing populations, largely due to development, recreation and other human activity. The birds nest in vulnerable bowl-like depressions in the sand.

A second Our Living Shoreline sign concerns native coastal scrub and dune plants. Among these are sand-verbena, beach evening-primrose and woolly-heads.

The plants provide cover and food for native and migrating birds.

This colorful information sign, near the entrance to South Cardiff State Beach, concerns California’s kelp forests.

The underwater “Hidden Forest, Rich with Life” can be viewed from the shoreline as floating brown-green patches of seaweed.

The kelp plants hold to the ocean floor and stretch up 100 feet or more. They support an unseen world teeming with life, including diverse fish, marine mammals, sea slugs, sea stars, sea anemones and spiny sea urchins.

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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 Twitter!

Ruocco Park plaque memorializes Deborah Hoffman.

Today I sat on one of the benches in Ruocco Park reading a book. As I stood up and looked around, I discovered a plaque in nearby greenery that I’d never noticed before. It reads:

In loving memory of Deborah Hoffman, of The San Diego Foundation.

Instrumental in bringing together private philanthropy and the public sector to create a park for future generations.

Here’s an article that explains how the idea of Ruocco Park originated in the minds of architect Lloyd Ruocco and his wife, Ilse, art professor at San Diego State University. It then explains how Deborah Hoffman, senior vice president for the San Diego Foundation, worked continuously for five years to meld the Ruocco fund with assistance from local governments, particularly the Unified Port of San Diego, which controls the land.

I’ve spent many hours over many years sitting in this fine park, reading, writing, listening to street musicians, gazing at people walking down the boardwalk past Tuna Harbor and its picturesque fishing boats.

All I can say is thank you.

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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 Twitter!

Greetings Tour mural at Seaport Village.

Early last year, the artists of the Greetings Tour (@GreetingsTour) painted this mural in Seaport Village. I finally got around to photographing it!

If the style seems somewhat familiar, this same artist couple has painted three other postcard-like murals in San Diego: in Little Saigon, North Park, and Liberty Station!

The traveling artists Lisa and Victor have created dozens of “postcard murals” all around the country, but San Diego boasts more of them than any other city!

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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 Twitter!

Photo memories on this First Day of Winter.

Today is the Winter Solstice. The shortest day and longest night. The first day of winter.

I’ve taken many winter photographs around San Diego over the years. My camera has captured wild storms and their aftermath, high winds and crashing waves, snow in the mountains, umbrellas in the city, and the unique beauty of winter in nature.

Would you like to see some of these photos? Click the upcoming links and you’ll be transported back in time…

Click the following links to explore past winters…

Winter beauty by the San Diego River.

Snowing in Balboa Park?

A hike in Tecolote Canyon near Genesee.

Walking through Little Italy in morning rain.

Photos of high winds downtown.

Balboa Park’s magical winter garden.

A city reflected from puddles.

Early winter and three Santee bridges.

Snow and winter beauty at Cuyamaca.

Boats destroyed by El Nino winds in San Diego.

Los Peñasquitos Lagoon between winter storms.

Glimpses of nature’s beauty after a storm.

Storm brings huge surf to Ocean Beach Pier.

Morning rain and umbrellas downtown.

Photos of San Diego River, after three storms.

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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 Twitter!

Super creative piñatas fill the Mingei!

Would you like to see a jaw-dropping exhibition of super creative piñatas?

Would you like to see fantastic works of art that have been inspired by the traditional Mexican piñata?

Piñatas: The High Art of Celebration is now on display at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park!

I’ve never seen so many unique piñatas all in one place. And so many unusual ones!

In addition to more familiar traditional piñatas, visitors to the exhibition will see unusual piñata costumes, creative piñata wall art, piñatas with political messages, humorous piñatas, pop culture piñatas . . . even a life-size car piñata! (That car piñata would hold a lot of candy!)

According to the Mingei’s website, this is one of the first-ever exhibitions to spotlight piñatas as a traditional craft and vibrant contemporary art form.

I was excited to see so many unexpected creations. It never occurred to me that piñatas might be crafted as small hummingbirds or butterflies, or a bag of Cheetos, or a bottle of COVID-19 vaccine!

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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 Twitter!

New art in Artist Alley Oceanside!

During my North County adventure last week, I noticed that new artwork has appeared in Artist Alley Oceanside!

First, the long mural on the low wall identifying the alley has changed considerably. You can compare how it looked previously by checking out this blog post from two years ago.

You’ll also notice a couple of cool new murals on either side of Ikigai Artifacts, and a painting that greets customers just inside their front door.

Sadly, the Van Gogh sunflowers mural at one end of the Artist Alley, which I photographed here, has been vandalized again. Hopefully somebody restores it and keeps an eye on it!

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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 Twitter!