Early this afternoon I enjoyed a short walk through Sweetwater Marsh. I’ve already blogged about a guided hike through the marsh here, where you’ll find a bit more detailed information.
My solo walk today was for quiet introspection. And the absorption of natural beauty.
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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!
Late this morning I took a walk through one section of Chula Vista. I headed east on E Street from the trolley station, south on Broadway, then back west on H Street. I drive through this commercial area once in a while and haven’t noticed much in the way of street art, but I hoped I’d find some fun examples during my walk.
I found almost none.
Chula Vista is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, with many neighborhoods that are beautiful. The section I walked through is bit more on the gritty side. The streets are lined with auto repair shops, tire stores, old strip malls, motels and trailer parks. Many utility boxes–and building walls–are spray painted not with murals but gang graffiti.
I did meet some very nice people during my walk. Others looked at me a bit strangely as I carried my camera down the sidewalk.
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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!
I went on a short tour of the Santa Fe Depot last week during the San Diego Architectural Foundation 2018 OPEN HOUSE event.
I’ve posted about the depot several times in the past. One fact-filled post concerned an historical exhibit inside the waiting room; another shared hundred year old photos of the building. During our tour I learned even more and enjoyed looking at additional old images.
This downtown San Diego landmark was designed by Bakewell and Brown to welcome the many anticipated visitors to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. The depot’s construction began on May 28, 1914. The building officially opened on March 7, 1915. Materials that were used include a steel frame with wood trusses, concrete slabs, brick arcades and hollow clay tile infill walls. The architects Bakewell and Brown also designed San Francisco City Hall, the Coit Tower and Pasadena City Hall.
During the course of its history, there have been various changes to the building and its forecourt. The original arched forecourt, pictured in some of the following photos, was demolished in 1954 to make way for a parking lot. The current outdoor plaza featuring a fountain and colorful tiled benches replaced the parking lot in the 1980s.
The gentleman providing the tour indicated that recent new ownership of the Santa Fe Depot has opened up the possibility of future development. I learned an unused second story of the depot, once containing a manager’s apartment, telegraph room and railroad worker bedrooms, might be converted into office spaces, but an elevator, heating and electricity are now lacking.
I learned that the fountain in the forecourt’s plaza is leaking and permanently turned off. This valuable property between the main depot building and Broadway might be developed into a space for downtown eateries.
I also learned the large iconic Santa Fe sign atop the depot dates from the mid 50’s, and that there are plans to light it up at night using LED lighting.
Read the captions for some additional fascinating facts about this architectural marvel!
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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!
Here’s a bunch of photos I took this evening during the first day of the 2018 Padres Opening Weekend Block Party!
The family-friendly event stretches from the Gaslamp Quarter into East Village, along J Street between Sixth and Tenth Avenue. You’ll find it just north of Petco Park, adjacent to the Park at the Park. As you can see from these photographs, there’s tons of food and entertainment, plus one large section devoted to adult beverages. And sprinkled throughout there’s some very cool artwork! Every year this block party seems to get larger and more popular.
The Padres Opening Weekend Block Party continues tomorrow so head on down if you’re in San Diego!
GO PADS!
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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!
Here’s a quick, fun post . . . about posts!
I got off work early this afternoon, so I took a slow walk along the Embarcadero. By sheer chance, today happened to be the day that old piles from the now demolished Anthony’s Fish Grotto were being extracted.
After watching a large crane on a barge lift one pile skyward, I asked a nearby worker to describe what I was seeing. He explained that the long concrete piles had been installed in 1964, and had supported the old Anthony’s Fish Grotto structure for half a century. I stood for a while and watched the crane do some more heavy lifting.
My friend Carlos, who shows his cool artistic creations near the water, had watched this activity for much of the day. He told me that in the morning some powerful machinery had gripped and violently vibrated each pile for 30 seconds or so, in order to loosen them prior to extraction. I wish I had seen that!
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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!
The new Piazza della Famiglia in Little Italy is finally open to the public!
Yesterday morning I took a slow stroll through this amazing community gathering place. As I snapped photos I was awed by the space’s beauty. The European-style piazza is designed for pedestrians; it connects India Street and Columbia Street at Date Street. The delightful setting includes a tile fountain and lots of welcoming tables with umbrellas.
I noticed the apartment homes on either side of the Piazza della Famiglia aren’t quite completed. Construction workers were busy applying the final touches. I’ve also learned that eateries and other businesses along the piazza will be opening later in the year. Once the entire project is finished, the Piazza della Famiglia is sure to become one of the most popular destinations in downtown San Diego!
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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!
Magic in this world is abundant. I sensed some of it this evening during my walk home.
As I headed west along Broadway, slanting sunlight touched downtown buildings in unexpected ways, as if cast by a wizard with a flashing wand. The sun rolled away and the moon brightened. And then a few city lights blinked on.
The magic was plainly visible to anyone with lifted eyes.
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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!
Time flies! Only two days until the start of the Padres’ 2018 season! San Diego ended up with a record of 15-10 in spring training, the second best preseason record in the National League!
Expectations have risen greatly for the coming season. The team has a crop of young, hungry, super-skilled players, many rising from what is arguably the deepest and most talent-rich farm system in baseball. A sprinkling of outstanding veterans with great leadership skills are also in the mix, including newly acquired Eric Hosmer. Every indication is that the Padres’ offensive production should be really good. If the pitching is also good, who knows what might happen? It’s fun to dream, right?
During a walk around Petco Park last weekend, I spied 2018 Padres players on lamppost banners. And, naturally, I took photos!
Would you like to dream with me? Take a peek at what might be a very bright future!
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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!
GO PADRES!
Several years ago I wrote a short blog about the Spreckels Theater Building on Broadway. I took a few photos of the six-story office building’s exterior and Grand Lobby. You can see those here.
During the San Diego Architectural Foundation 2018 OPEN HOUSE event last weekend, I enjoyed a tour of the Spreckels Theatre, which is found inside the large mixed-use building. Our group met in the building’s Grand Lobby near the original old box office, which for many years had been hidden and forgotten behind a wall. We then ventured into the theatre’s smaller elegant Baroque lobby.
After learning some fascinating history, we headed down an aisle through the theatre, up over the orchestra pit and right up onto the stage! By tilting our heads back we could gaze six floors straight up at the stage’s complex workings, and by walking a few steps off the stage, we could poke our noses into the three “Star” dressing suites.
Our group was provided with all sorts of cool information, but sadly I didn’t write it all down. We did learn that the Spreckels Theatre and the building that it’s housed in was built by San Diego entrepreneur and philanthropist John D. Spreckels, and was designed by Harrison Albight. The structure is built of concrete and steel–it actually contains more steel than nearby modern high-rises. The Grand Lobby outside the theatre entrance contains a vast quantity of beautiful onyx that was shipped in from Mexico.
When the theatre opened in 1912 it was the largest theatre of its kind west of New York City. The theatre originally had 1915 seats, to celebrate the 1915 Panama-California Exposition which would be held in Balboa Park. The theatre has been operating continuously for its entire existence–well over a hundred years. To this day, the theatre has one of the best acoustic ratings anywhere in the world.
Everyone in our tour group smiled when we heard about a 1923 production of Ben Hur, which included horse-drawn chariots actually racing across the Spreckel Theatre’s stage! Apparently the chariots raced in a circle through the lot behind the building, and would periodically come into the building to thunder across the stage!
The interior of the theatre was fairly dark during our tour, so many of my photographs didn’t come out very good. Please read the captions to learn some more about this very cool old theatre.
One additional thing! When questions were posed to the theatre’s manager, I asked whether Conan O’Brien would be returning to the Spreckels Theatre for 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. The answer was he almost certainly will!
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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!
Would you like to enter a truly magical place? Step into the Timken Museum of Art. Walls disappear, and suddenly you are surrounded by fine art masterpieces, natural light, and the greenery and open space of beautiful Balboa Park.
I took a special tour of the building during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s 2018 OPEN HOUSE event. I jotted a few notes and will now try to describe my experience.
According to our tour guide, David Kinney, a Balboa Park Conservancy Board Member, the building housing the Timken Museum of Art is disimilar in many respects to the extremely ornate Spanish Colonial buildings lining El Prado, which were designed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The Timken has clean, symmetric, simple lines. It is the only building in Balboa Park specifically designed for people to walk around. The museum was built in 1965 and incorporates many facets of modern architecture. It was designed by San Diego architect John Mock, who intended it to be a “see-through” museum, where boundaries are blurred and gardens and sky are visible from many points inside.
When built, the Timken was the most expensive building ever constructed in San Diego. The building is widely considered to be one of the finest examples of mid-century Southern California Modernism and the International Style in the nation.
The abundant travertine, bronze and glass create a magical effect. Visitors to the museum feel surrounded by San Diego’s native sunshine. There are views of small gardens, the Plaza de Panama, the Lily Pond and families enjoying picnics on nearby grass.
By taking a few steps into the museum’s intimate galleries, visitors can view one of the most amazing small collections of fine art in the world. There are 60 major works, paintings by the likes of Copley, Johnson, Bierstadt, Veronese, Guercino, Clouet, Claude, David, Brueghel, Rubens, van Dyck, Zurbarán and Murillo. The Timken owns the only Rembrandt to be found in Southern California. Every work is partially bathed in indirect natural light, from hidden skylights along the walls in each gallery. During our tour, as we gazed at the Rembrandt, a cloud passed over the sun, and the light in the gallery dimmed. It was an extraordinary experience that infused additional life into the moody masterpiece.
Come along with me as I show you a few photos. Read the captions for more info!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 