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.

San Diego cosplay group poses in Balboa Park!

Members of the San Diego cosplay group Science Fiction Coalition assembled today in Balboa Park for a photoshoot. And I happened to run into them as I walked around with my own camera!

I first encountered this awesome group several years ago in Balboa Park. Back then they were posing as members of the Justice League (with a few supervillains mixed in). Since then I’ve encountered the Science Fiction Coalition several times, mostly during Comic-Con and at the Comic-Con Museum.

If you’re into cosplay–costume play–and you live around San Diego, you probably want to check this group out. They have numerous members belonging to many diverse fandoms. Here’s their website!

Today I recognized the Addams Family, Phantom of the Opera, She-Hulk, Elvira and Chainsaw Man. There were a few others, too!

Very cool!

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Plein Air painters interpret Balboa Park’s beauty.

A group of plein air painters were at work today in and near Balboa Park’s rose garden.

As I wandered through the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, I peered over a couple of shoulders to see how different eyes might interpret the nearby beauty, including Balboa Park’s Desert Garden and Florida Canyon. A couple of the artists kindly let me take photos close up.

I learned these are students enjoying the Plein Air Painting: A Working Method workshop offered by the UC San Diego Division of Extended Studies. Perhaps one day I’ll sign up.

Plein air artists have endless material in beautiful Balboa Park. Set up your easel anywhere!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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 Playa Trail marker in Roseville.

In Point Loma’s Roseville neighborhood, at the intersection of Rosecrans Street and Avenida de Portugal, you’ll find a historical marker between two benches. Six similar markers were placed along San Diego’s historic La Playa Trail back in the 1930s.

According to their website, this replacement marker was the project of the La Playa Trail Association. All of the markers feature a bas-relief of an Indian and a Mexican carreta (or ox cart), and were designed by Old Town sculptor, Rose Hanks.

I happened to walk by this particular marker the other day and realized I hadn’t yet photographed it.

The La Playa Trail is considered the oldest commercial route in the western United States. In the past, I’ve photographed a few other La Playa Trail markers and provided more information. If you’re curious, you can see that here.

La Playa Trail. An ancient Kumeyaay path that became the oldest commercial trail in the western United States. La Playa Trail Association, 2010.

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Archive and Witness sculpture at Liberty Station.

A thought-provoking sculpture can be found at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Created by San Diego artist Trevor Amery in 2021, the wood sculpture, Archive and Witness, stands in front of the Dick Laub NTC Command Center.

A nearby sign explains that Archive and Witness takes the form of…a fallen tree in a forest…Through…decomposition and decay, it…provides a home to animals and insects…The fallen tree is not the end of a life cycle; it is a transformation as well as a beginning…

The slab from the dead tree, whose tree rings represent a finished life, seems to pulse outward with abstract rings symbolizing future life. At least, that’s the way I see it.

It was interesting to read that artist Trevor Amery’s father was stationed at the old Naval Training Center San Diego here years ago. The human world, like a forest, is interconnected in surprising ways.

Archive and Witness stands where the Mingei International Museum’s Nikigator sculpture stood while that Balboa Park museum was undergoing its renovation a couple years ago.

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Help restore a memorial to lost Navy submariners.

A San Diego memorial to U. S. Navy submariners lost at sea, the 52 Boats Memorial, needs your help. Some of the monuments that line two pathways at NTC Liberty Station in Point Loma are badly damaged.

I was walking through Liberty Station today when I took these photos. A search of the internet brought up this very recent article, which describes one man’s effort to restore broken markers, like those in my photographs.

The original markers need to be replaced with more durable concrete duplicates. There are already sufficient funds to undertake this endeavor–what they need is someone who can make concrete and use the molds…Ideally, the person or business also would be able to deliver and install the heavy monuments…

I first blogged about the 52 Boats Memorial over eight years ago here. It’s a very powerful Veteran’s memorial. Certainly someone out there can help.

If you haven’t read the article yet, do so here.

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Lots of activity on San Diego’s waterfront!

Right now there is a whole lot of construction activity along downtown San Diego’s waterfront.

Today, during a walk along the Embarcadero, anyone could observe new buildings rising, an aircraft carrier’s hull being inspected, a cruise ship pier being reinforced, and an iconic San Diego landmark being painted!

First up, check out how quickly the buildings of the Research and Development District (RaDD) are rising!

The five new bayfront buildings will be grouped around the U.S. Navy Region Southwest Headquarters building, which itself was completed two years ago.

I learned from a USS Midway Museum volunteer that the Midway’s hull is inspected and cleaned every year.

The extensive operation consumes a substantial part of the aircraft carrier museum’s budget.

There are numerous sealed inlets in the enormous ship’s hull where saltwater from San Diego Bay might invade. There is also algae and other marine growth to be removed below the waterline. It’s part of a vital hull preservation program.

As I approached the B Street Pier today, home of the Cruise Ship Terminal, I observed a huge drill and other ponderous machinery.

I’ve learned the structural stability of the pier is being improved.

The Port of San Diego project is technically described as curtain wall repairs and backfilling. Don’t ask me exactly what that means!

Lastly, the landmark 1938 County Administration Building’s new paint job continues.

The sections that have been finished look great!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Beautiful mural at Living Coast Discovery Center!

There’s a very beautiful mural near the front entrance of the Living Coast Discovery Center in Chula Vista that was painted fairly recently. I saw it a couple weeks ago when I visited Sweetwater Marsh in the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The very colorful mural, depicting native wildlife and plants, decorates a roll up door behind a group of outdoor picnic tables. I took these photos.

I asked a Living Coast Discovery Center employee about it, but she didn’t know who the artist was. If you happen to know, please leave a comment!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Excitement fills San Diego during 2022 NLCS!

The games might be played inside Petco Park, but during the first two days of the 2022 National League Championship Series, plenty of excitement fills the streets of downtown San Diego!

Walking outside the ballpark, one feels the energy from thousands of enthusiastic Padres fans. Many families and generations are creating forever memories.

Baseball gloves are already on many hands, as fans hope to catch a ball during the NLCS.

I’ve never seen so many swag chains!

A few Philadelphia Phillies fans are out there too, but the Friar Faithful far outnumber them.

Enjoy these photographs that I took this morning!

Hopefully the Pads prevail in Game Two early this afternoon, before Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series heads over to Philadelphia.

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Padres fans go crazy outside Petco Park!

Minutes before the start of the 2022 National League Championship Series, Padres fans were going crazy outside Petco Park!

The rally goose seemed to appear from around every corner, as did the rallying cry LFGSD!

There were smiles, excited kids, clever signs, thumbs up, and people watching the pre-game broadcast and partying in every sports bar.

Let’s go Padres!

Let’s trounce the Philadelphia Phillies and win the pennant!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Downtown gets ready for 2022 NLCS!

Major League Baseball’s big 2022 National League Championship Series begins in a matter of hours. And the San Diego Padres have home field advantage!

Downtown San Diego has been busy getting ready for the upcoming games at Petco Park. Huge, super excited crowds will be filling the streets this evening!

I wandered around the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village this morning and saw flags and banners going up, sidewalks getting spruced up, news reporters hanging out near the ballpark, and fans in Padres hats and jerseys walking around.

Lots of video production trucks are now parked on two sides of Petco Park.

NLCS graphics were up on one of Petco Park’s big videoboards.

City workers were repainting stripes on the street near Petco Park.

Those barricade “planter boxes” near the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge have recently been painted with orange, brown and yellow. Together they spell P A D R E S.

Nearby shops, bars and restaurants are welcoming baseball fans.

The Gaslamp Quarter has these Capture the Moment banners.

Transit buses everywhere root for our Padres!

The Donut Bar has these yummy Padres doughnuts!

I hope this place has the game on!

A television news cameraman stands by near Petco Park.

And this cool guy gave me a thumbs up!

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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!