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.

Sunrise photos at the Georgia Street Bridge.

Yesterday morning I walked from Hillcrest to the top of the Georgia Street Bridge to watch the sunrise over North Park.

After a few quiet minutes, with the daylight gradually increasing, I walked back down to Park Boulevard and headed east along University Avenue under the bridge, where I photographed the plaque from the historic structure’s construction in 1914.

According to this page of the City of San Diego Digital Archives: The Georgia Street Bridge was built in 1914 in one of the city’s earliest suburbs, crossing over busy University Avenue where streetcars once traveled. The bridge’s basic design is Romanesque Spandrel Arch with Mission Revival styling. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The bridge recently completed a major renovation that included seismic and structural retrofitting.

As you can see in my photos, I then ascended the bridge again from the east, while gazing down at early morning traffic below. The second-to-last photo with the two buses is from the top of the bridge, looking west into Hillcrest’s Egyptian Quarter.

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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!

Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts.  If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!

To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Christmas lights brighten historic house in Bankers Hill!

The historic Forward House in Bankers Hill is brightly lit with Christmas decorations once again! This amazing holiday display has become a tradition in San Diego!

The Forward House, located at the intersection of 1st Avenue and Ivy Street, was built in 1905 for John F. Forward Sr., who would become San Diego’s mayor from 1907 to 1909. The historic house is now home to American Security Mortgage.

I walked through Bankers Hill as night fell to see these fantastic Christmas lights. I wasn’t the only one snapping photos!

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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!

A downtown burial site at Dead Men’s Point?

At the south end of Pacific Highway, a short distance from Seaport Village, an historical marker can be observed by the sidewalk. In 1954 it was placed adjacent to the old San Diego Police Headquarters, which today is home to the shops and eateries of The Headquarters.

The marker reads:

LA PUNTA
DE LOS MUERTOS
(DEAD MEN’S POINT)
BURIAL SITE OF SAILORS AND MARINES IN 1782
WHEN SAN DIEGO BAY WAS SURVEYED & CHARTED
BY DON JUAN PANTOJA Y ARRIAGA, PILOT, AND
DON JOSE TOVAR, MATE, OF THE ROYAL FRIGATES
“LA PRINCESA” AND “LA FAVORITA” UNDER
COMMAND OF DON AGUSTIN DE ECHEVERRIA.
STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 57
MARKER PLACED BY SAN DIEGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
AND THE HISTORICAL MARKERS COMMITTEE
ERECTED 1954

But according to The Journal of San Diego History’s article A Monument to an Event that Never Happened, this marker is wildly inaccurate! There is no burial site and no one died on the Pantoja voyage. And “dead men” probably refers to pine logs! Huh?

To read the article, click here!

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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!

Monuments to freedom by Escondido City Hall.

Several plaques and monuments honoring military veterans can be found around Grape Day Park in Escondido. One tribute, the Wall of Courage, I previously photographed here.

At the east end of the park, between Broadway and Escondido’s City Hall, two marble monuments stand together in the shade of trees.

The four sides of an obelisk display the United States Constitution’s first Ten Amendments, the Bill of Rights, which guarantees our individual rights and liberty. According to a plaque at its base, the obelisk was presented by the Escondido Rotary Club to the City of Escondido on July 4, 1976, during our nation’s Bicentennial.

The second monument honors all veterans who serve to defend that freedom. The memorial was dedicated twenty years later, in 1996 on Veterans Day.

It reads: The eternal gratitude of the citizens of Escondido and the nation is extended to every man and woman, living or dead, who wore the uniform of our military services with honor past, present and future.

A flag flies above both.

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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!

A Long-Ago Christmas memory — Spreckels Organ Society

In the 1920s and early 30s — before the Christmas music of Bing Crosby, Perry Como, or Vince Guaraldi — it was a holiday tradition for world-famous mezzo-soprano Ernestine Schumann-Heink to sing Silent Night on the radio. Click the photo for the recording. She recorded Stille Nacht for Victor Records in 1908 at their Camden, New…

A Long-Ago Christmas memory — Spreckels Organ Society

I seldom reblog articles published elsewhere, but the above bit from the Spreckels Organ Society’s blog might appeal to some readers! It contains interesting San Diego history!

Have you ever wondered about that monument “In loving Memory of Mme. Ernestine Schumann-Heink. A Gold Star Mother. A Star of the World” located at the rear of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park? The world-famous singer lived for many years in La Mesa!

Click the above link for the full article and a link to an historical recording!

And while you’re at it, give the Spreckels Organ Society’s blog a follow! Especially if you love Balboa Park and love organ music!

Here’s a pic I took of the monument…

A morning walk on Balboa Park’s West Mesa.

This morning I enjoyed a stroll through Balboa Park’s West Mesa area, from Marston Point up to El Prado.

The sun had just risen and was sending horizontal rays through leaves and across green grass. Few were about. Just some walkers, joggers, squirrels, birds.

A walker and a squirrel ahead.
The squirrel got a good look at me before scampering up a nearby tree.
More walkers heading in the opposite direction.
I was tempted to sit for a moment in the early sunlight.
Sculpture of Kate Sessions near Balboa Park natural beauty. She was responsible for much of it.
Regarding a pine cone.
Who left these shoes here? Why?
Looking back as I walk on.
I became aware of squawking above me. A huge flock of parrots was passing overhead, high above the eucalyptus trees! They look like tiny dots in this photograph.
These two little birds–white-crowned sparrows, I believe–were content to sit on the low wall along El Prado.
People and pooches hang out at Nate’s Point Dog Park.
Looking south toward downtown San Diego from the west end of the Cabrillo Bridge.
Several twisty old Australian tea trees can be viewed along El Prado near the lawn bowling greens.
It’s still early morning. Electric scooters at the ready in Sefton Plaza, near the west entrance to Balboa Park!

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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!

Bronze wildlife sculptures at Viejas outlet mall.

Many realistic bronze sculptures representing regional wildlife can be found all around the Viejas Outlet Center in Alpine, California. This unique shopping mall, filled with beautiful artwork inspired by Native American Kumeyaay life and culture, is operated by the Viejas Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation.

The wildlife sculptures are found throughout the mall, among trees, on pedestrian walkways, even lurking atop artificial rocks and waterfalls. Families turning corners might encounter a bear, mule deer, mountain lions, a rattlesnake, coyote, river otter, Canada geese, and even desert bighorn sheep. Adult animals are often accompanied by their young. The bronze sculptures depict the animals interacting with each other naturally in their small realistic settings.

The wildlife sculptures were created by award-winning El Cajon artist Robert G. Berry, who began as a taxidermist before turning animal sculptor. His work can also be enjoyed at the San Diego Zoo, Cypress Gardens in Tampa, Florida, and at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor and Interpretive Center, which is also in San Diego. To see a few examples of his half dozen bronze sculptures at Mission Trails, click here!

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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!

Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts.  If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!

To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

Holiday lights on two landmark buildings!

After sunset I photographed two landmark buildings in San Diego that are illuminated with colorful lights this holiday season!

Until this Friday, December 18, the County Administration Building is lit blue and white to celebrate Hanukkah.

The County Administration Building in San Diego lit blue and white during Hanukkah.

And as usual in Bankers Hill, the Manchester Financial Centre building, long-time home of Mister A’s, is lit red and green and strung with many colors to celebrate Christmas!

The colorfully lit Manchester Financial Centre building in Bankers Hill with Christmas trees at each corner!

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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!

More sunset photos from the Embarcadero!

This evening I arrived at the Embarcadero around sunset. I intended to photograph the County Administration Building, which is illuminated at night this week with blue and white to celebrate Hanukkah.

But as the sun set, I had to turn my camera to the west to capture more beautiful photos over San Diego Bay!

Sun setting over Point Loma, beyond the Grape Street pier.
A sailboat passes behind one of the docked Hornblower ships.
San Salvador and Californian a few minutes after the sun vanishes behind Point Loma.
HMS Surprise darkens while sunset colors linger.
Lights are strung high above on Star of India.

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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!

Malcolm Leland’s modernist designs in San Diego.

Malcolm Leland was an influential modernist sculptor and architectural designer whose work can be seen in important structures around Southern California. He lived in San Diego for much of his life, and the city is home to several fine examples of his work.

I became aware of Malcoln Leland recently while watching a very informative San Diego Museum of Art video here. When I visited the artist’s website, I soon realized I’ve seen many examples of his work during my walks around the city!

In the past few weeks I’ve revisited places where his often iconic mid-century modern designs can be found. In many instances his elegant designs were used to create stylish decorative elements. Most of his work is in pre-cast aluminum and concrete. I took photographs in Balboa Park, Fashion Valley, and San Diego’s downtown Civic Center, which I’ll now share!

First up are his organically intertwining aluminum gates, and his gracefully shaped concrete columns and the archlike fascia above them at the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden and Court…

Next, check out his beautifully ornate fascia along the rooftop of the Elmer C. Otto Center at the San Diego Zoo…

Next are his façades on several sides of the JC Penney building in the Fashion Valley shopping mall. They were made using panels molded out of copper sheets.

Originally water tricked down the sculptural panels, which were meant to oxidize and turn turquoise. But maintenance problems shut the unique fountains, and the panels were painted over. You can still see a little bit of copper orange in my photos…

Next is Malcoln Leland’s “Bow Wave” bronze sculpture fountain, in downtown’s Civic Center Plaza near the Community Concourse building.

In my photos the water feature is off. When on, the sculpture appears to be a ship’s bow moving forward through a spray of water. Leland’s once controversial sculpture is now much loved, and is listed in the Smithsonian’s inventory of art.

The previous photo was taken from the Civic Center’s multi-level Evan V. Jones Parkade parking garage, which features more instances of Malcolm Leland’s work.

Decorative panels around the perimeter of the parking garage and forming arches inside the garage were designed by Leland and made from pre-cast concrete.

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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!