This crazy boat shaped like a donut features a large central barbeque!
I walked about Coronado yesterday and got material for a few blog posts. First, check out this crazy watercraft! I saw it while walking along Glorietta Bay and thought–what the heck is that?!?! It’s a floating barbeque! I’ve seen pictures of jacuzzi boats, but never something inventive resembling this! I wonder what the Coast Guard thinks of the thing. To me, it looks like fun!
The Barbeque Donut can be found at Seaforth boat rental dock in Coronado.
Perhaps you saw my post a little over a year ago about the very cool “Imagine Tent City” public artwork on Coronado. It stands just south of where I took the above pics. Well, I got many more really great photographs and have added them to that old post. You might enjoy checking it out!
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Plaque marks the birthplace of the San Diego Union newspaper in 1868.
There are many interesting houses and buildings within Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. One of the most fascinating is the San Diego Union Building. Take a step inside and you’ll see the carefully restored birthplace of a present-day major newspaper: the San Diego Union Tribune.
The framework of the building, erected around 1851, is believed to have been originally fabricated in Maine, then shipped to San Diego around Cape Horn. The San Diego Union was first published on October 10, 1868. The newspaper’s editor at that time was Edward “Ned” Wilkerson Bushyhead, a Cherokee Indian with a Scottish ancestor.
The newspaper began as a modest four page weekly, and was produced on a massive wrought iron Washington hand press. In the museum one can also see an authentic 1860’s recreation of the editor’s room, which contains a desk once owned by the son of Ulysses S. Grant!
The San Diego Union Building in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park contains a print shop and editor’s office.The prefabricated wood-frame building was erected circa 1851. In 1967 the building was restored by James S. Copley, who at the time was owner of the San Diego Union Tribune.Old wood stove just inside the front entrance of accurately restored newspaper office.Drawers hold hand-set type that used to be assembled in a press for newspaper printing.A massive Washington hand press can be glimpsed to the right in the small printing shop.The small editor’s office contains a desk once owned by the son of President Ulysses S. Grant. In 1910 Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. built a grand hotel in San Diego’s New Town. (I took this photo in August 2017.)The Newspaper Museum is open daily from 10 to 5.
UPDATE!
In August 2017, during Stagecoach Days in Old Town, I was able to actually enter the print shop and take better photos of the presses and other objects inside. (Usually visitors must peer or take photographs from a greater distance.)
Washington hand presses were common on the frontier because of their relative light weight. They required two people for efficient operation.Fresh paper was laid on inked type and an impression made. Setting the type for new articles on just one page could take hours. Fortunately, many advertisements on a page didn’t change.A jobber printing press like this would have been used for small jobs such as stationery and handbills.This safe is the only original object displayed inside the restored San Diego Union Building in Old Town.A type case full of large cast metal sorts. Individual letters were combined into words, sentences and paragraphs. UPDATE! Big mistake by the caption writer: me! The largest letters you see in the above photo are actually made of hard wood. I was corrected by a member of the 919 Gang blog, who’s far more knowledgeable than me. I returned to the museum to confirm this. I learned very large metal sorts would be very heavy!Manual typesetting for old presses, as one might imagine, took lots of patience and a good eye.Gazing from the print shop toward the small building’s entrance area.According to one sign, the San Diego Union Building was erected around 1850 by Miguel Pedrorena. The Washington Press, type and printing supplies arrived by steamship from Northern California.A knowledgeable lady in period attire explains how the San Diego Union newspaper was composed and printed a century and a half ago, long before the digital age.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Cool utility box in Hillcrest shows tall buildings on planet Earth.
During my walks about San Diego, I spy all sorts of cool art on utility boxes and electrical transformers. Most of the painted artwork is super creative and colorful. You never know what you’ll find!
Little Italy art on utility box shows boats in water beneath row of windows.Fish and fishermen are big themes on Little Italy utility boxes.Tropical beach island scene on a fun, eye-catching Gaslamp utility box.Soft and peaceful beach image on this Imperial Beach utility box.Cool abstract face on an imaginative Hillcrest utility box.Some large utility boxes in Hillcrest feature photos of fruits and vegetables.This Hillcrest electrical transformer has a bold blue eye.East Village utility box art has been vandalized with angry words.Very colorful artwork on an East Village transformer.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Dignitaries cut symbolic ribbon officially opening California Tower on New Year’s Day.
New Year’s Day in San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park was marked by a historic event. Today, after 80 years, the California Tower reopened to the general public!
The California Tower is one of the most iconic sights in San Diego. Like many of the ornate Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings in today’s Balboa Park, it was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, which celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. The tower was originally accessible to visitors, but in 1935 that changed. One of the most important developments during the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration this year is the long-awaited reopening of the amazing tower!
With the purchase of a special ticket, anyone can now join a small tour that climbs up 125 steps to an observation deck high above the park. Views are said to be breathtaking in all four directions. One day (when it’s not sold out) I’ll check the tour out and post some pics!
Dignitaries at the noon ribbon-cutting ceremony included U.S. Congressman Scott Peters, San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, and San Diego City Councilman Todd Gloria.
You might recognize the California Tower and other portions of the California Building, which now houses the San Diego Museum of Man, from the movie Citizen Kane. Shots of Balboa Park’s architectural wonder were said to be Charles Foster Kane’s Xanadu Mansion in Orson Welles’ classic film.
The tower, reopened today to the general public, rises above tiled dome of California Building.Museum visitors can now climb the California Tower for amazing panoramic views.Audience gathers for ceremony on the tower’s 100 year anniversary.Several cool bicyclists happened to ride down El Prado in front of the Museum of Man.News cameras wait for speeches, and so do the assembled dignitaries nearby.Micah D. Parzen of the San Diego Museum of Man begins by thanking many people.California Tower first opened in 1915 for Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park.Photographers up on the observation deck, where the public can now go!Local politicians, museum head and donor, poised ready to cut the big red ribbon!Feeling great about historic event, taking place during Balboa Park’s Centennial Celebration.Crowd disperses from ribbon cutting ceremony on another beautiful San Diego day!
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Unusual street sign on Park Boulevard shows the road in someone’s hand.
A dozen very unusual, artistic street signs line Park Boulevard in the vicinity of Balboa Park. Drive north and you’ll see them standing at intervals, all the way from Presidents Way up to Upas Street. For many years I’ve noted them.
I’m not sure how passing drivers respond to all the crazy artwork. I’m pretty sure these unique signs aren’t included in the Department of Motor Vehicles driving test! I hope not!
UPDATE!
I’ve learned this installation of art is titled Night Visions, by artist Roberto Salas. They first appeared in 1988, a year our city hosted the Super Bowl. According to what I read, in 1989 Night Visions was the very first acquisition of public art by the City of San Diego.
This funny sign shows a magician pulling a rabbit from hat.Drivers might think the speed limit here is 11 miles per hour!Odd, speckled sign stands beside Balboa Park’s rose garden.This crazy sign is a meteoric explosion of creativity.Car near San Diego Zoo entrance heeds artistic street sign, I’m sure.Does this sign indicate that a lizard is crossing?This unofficial street sign is open for interpretation.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Morning light shines on monument originally called the San Diego Peace Memorial.
A fervent wish for this New Year: May There Be Peace on Earth.
Perhaps it’s futile to expect peaceful human coexistence on this crazy, mixed up planet. It often seems that way. That’s unfortunate. But it would be even more tragic to completely lose hope.
The creators of one poignant local memorial certainly yearned for the end of war. Because they understood war is brutal.
A row of plaques stand on the east side of the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park. Originally called the San Diego Peace Memorial and installed in Old Town in 1969, the silent monument was renamed the Vietnam Veterans Peace Memorial in 1996 and moved to this location. It lists all San Diegans who were killed or designated missing in action during the Vietnam War.
Today’s Veterans Museum and Memorial Center is housed in the former chapel of the old San Diego Naval Hospital, which was built during World War II. Throughout the history of mankind, wars have invariably reminded us of the sanctity of peace.
In 2015, May There Be Peace on Earth.
People head into the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in Balboa Park.Vietnam Veterans Peace Memorial was originally located in Old Town.Small American flags remember those who sacrificed in a difficult, controversial war.Names of San Diegans who lost their lives fighting in the Vietnam War, 1965-1975.Flag flies above Veterans Museum, formerly the San Diego Naval Hospital Chapel.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Fishermen enjoy a day on San Diego Bay with downtown skyline in background.
I made a discovery last weekend as I searched through hundreds of old pics on my computer. It seems I really like to photograph anything that floats in San Diego Bay! There’s just something very striking about purposeful objects that move across the sparkling water. Here’s a variety of photos…
Ferry approaches Coronado while navigating past other ships and boats.Kayakers paddle under the Coronado Ferry Landing pier.Kayaker checks out the water underneath Joe’s Crab Shack.Paddling away on San Diego Bay. Looks like a fun adventure!Guy in small inflatable with bucket, net and fishing rods hopes to catch something.USS Ardent (MCM-12) mine countermeasures Navy ship cruises along the bay.Huge Dole cargo ship brings in millions of bananas from Central America.Sailboat heads out from Shelter Island Yacht Basin past Scripps research ship Melville.Billowing sail is colorful under San Diego blue sky.Man casts from shore of Shelter Island, hangars on North Island in the background.A bunch of beautiful yachts in a row behind the San Diego Convention Center.Boats docked in large marina between Harbor Island and Spanish Landing.Maritime Museum of San Diego’s Swift Boat, PCF-816, returns from a harbor cruise.The Harbor Island Fuel Dock is always a hub of boating activity.Sailboat leans on the sparkling water of our endlessly fascinating Big Bay.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook. or follow me on Twitter.
Small, vacant eyes stare up from a seldom used bridge in downtown San Diego.
A pedestrian bridge in downtown San Diego spans Interstate 5. It’s almost never used. From the extreme end of a large, mostly vacant parking lot below the Veteran’s Museum, it arches high over the wide, busy freeway and descends to a securely gated parking lot next to San Diego City College’s sports fields. It leads mostly nowhere.
I’ve lived about a mile away for over a decade, but I’ve never set foot on the bridge–until this afternoon. Walking up Park Boulevard, I’ve often gazed at the distant bridge and wondered if it was open. Never once have I seen a soul on it.
I suppose people must visit this place at times, because the bridge is absolutely covered with both new and old graffiti. It’s a singularly lonely place, enclosed in fencing, suspended above unseen drivers flashing by in anonymous cars below.
Here are some random photographs. Who applied these small artistic faces? The eyes never blink.
This pedestrian bridge spans Interstate 5, connecting two unrelated parking lots.Two strange eyes seem to sprout from the concrete. Going nowhere fast.Stenciled images of bearded face. Stay fresh.Two contented smiles inside lettering of boldly spray painted graffiti underfoot.Shy face and downcast eyes. Welcome home.Small grinning face in some faded blue words.These stenciled faces seem to be slowly disappearing as time passes.A whole crowd of colorful eyes watch in every direction.Spray painted cartoon looks happy and excited as can be.Another smiling face in graffiti on the lonely bridge.A fierce cartoon cat or devilish creature of some kind.Above a Facebreaker decal is an old Gasface sticker.Looking down at the freeway where it begins its S-curve through downtown.Enigmatic face is unable to speak to the few who pass by.Another simple, childish smile. Even where it’s bleak, there is always hope.
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Balloons of every color rise and bob above costumed handlers.
I headed down to the Embarcadero a good hour before the start of today’s 2014 Big Bay Balloon Parade. I hoped to capture some fun balloon pics. I succeeded!
The staging area, where the amazing, colorful balloons were being inflated, appeared like a vision in a wonderful dream, with gigantic faces and forms swaying high in the sky. It seemed as if they’d become magically alive!
These photos were taken in a large parking lot north of the County Administration Building. The Big Bay Balloon Parade, held every year in San Diego shortly before the Holiday Bowl, proceeded south on Harbor Drive and ended at Seaport Village.
Tourists pass staging area for San Diego’s 2014 Big Bay Balloon Parade.This is the nation’s largest balloon parade. The event is held just before the Holiday Bowl.Costumed balloon handlers enter a fantastic world of huge smileys and ice cream cones.A giant traditional Christmas nutcracker tips a bit in the San Diego sea breeze.This big inflatable American flag will be part of the upcoming parade.Cool! A favorite toy when I was a kid! I see Mr. Potato Head!Balloons fill the blue sky, and so does a penguin in a tuxedo.Are those gigantic pinatas? They must contain lots of candy!Preparation for the parade includes unrolling something wrinkly near an octopus.This colorful mess is destined to transform into a delightful big balloon!Happy bumble bee billows as it’s filled with helium in parade staging area.USS Midway Museum had a lighter-than-air jet fighter.Happiness is super-sized like a wonderful waking dream.Fun, happy childhood stuff flying all over the place. Marvelous mayhem!
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Meb Keflezighi, San Diego hero, is Grand Marshall of 2014 Big Bay Balloon Parade.
San Diego sports hero Meb Keflezighi seems superhuman when compared to most of us ordinary mortals. Meb’s long-distance running accomplishments are truly legendary. He has been 3-time national champion in cross country, Olympic silver medalist in the marathon, and winner of both the New York City and Boston Marathons. (What’s more, Meb is a terrific human being, who happened to graduate from San Diego High School, about a mile from where I now sit!) But as thousands of onlookers witnessed, even our biggest world-class heroes sometimes need a helping hand!
Meb was chosen to be Grand Marshall of today’s 2014 Big Bay Balloon Parade, a fun event held on San Diego’s Embarcadero in conjunction with the upcoming Holiday Bowl. (He also presided over a 5K run just beforehand.) Meb rode on the parade’s leading float to great applause. But his ride turned out to be somewhat unusual. Some leg muscle was required…
Elite long-distance runner Meb Keflezighi speaks to 5K race participants before parade.Meb watches first wave of Bumble Bee 5K run, a special Holiday Bowl-related event.These guys might not be Meb, but they are giving the race their best effort!Meb awaits start of Big Bay Balloon Parade on the Forever Young float.But the float’s motor doesn’t work! Guys have to push it down the parade route!
…
To enjoy future posts, you can “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Cool San Diego Sights! 