A few weeks ago, on a late summer San Diego day, I enjoyed a sunny walk around part of Mission Bay.
From a point near Riviera Beach at Moorland Drive, I proceeded counterclockwise along the Bayside Walk to San Rafael Place. This northwest part of Mission Bay is called Sail Bay, and you can see why.
Sailboats, bicycles, volleyball, families playing or lounging on the sand, joggers, people enjoying a beautiful, relaxing day… Even yoga on paddleboards!
This is San Diego at its best!
Enjoy photographs that I took as I walked along…
…
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 X.
You know Halloween is coming up when lots of fun spooky events are around the corner! Are you and your kids ready to “Return to Spooky Hollow” in Balboa Park?
“Return to Spooky Hollow” is an original Halloween-inspired children’s puppet show written and directed by Heather Whitney. It’s described as: Come along with Gordy, Squash and Calabaza as they try to top last year’s Spooky Hollow party and meet lots of fun folks along the way. This is an all-ages hybrid shadow and live puppet show with music, songs, and audience shout-outs!
Performances will be at the historic Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park. Shows are on Saturday, October 18: 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM; and on Sunday, October 19: 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM. Each show last about 30 minutes.
Tickets can be purchased here or at the box office shortly before showtime. The box office is located near the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater entrance.
(If you go, make sure to look up and backwards from your seat. You’ll see two of the puppets used by McDonald’s for their classic McDonaldland advertisements!)
…
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 X.
A plaque in downtown San Diego relates a bit of our city’s early history. It’s titled A San Diego Milestone.
You can find the bronze plaque in Horton Square, an outdoor area north of the old Horton Plaza shopping mall. (Not to be confused with larger Horton Plaza Park.)
The plaque states:
San Diego bay is a natural harbor. First sighted in 1542 by Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the bay was originally named San Miguel. Next visited in 1602, Sebastian Vizcaino renamed the bay after a canonized priest, San Diego, from Alcala, Spain. Seldom visited for the next 150 years, Father Junipero Sera came overland from Mexico and founded the first of the California missions in San Diego (Old Town) in 1769. The mission grew and officially became an American town in 1846.
The bay was too shallow for ships to come close in, so passengers were taken to shore by rowboat to the water’s edge and then carried to dry land on the backs of sailors or Indians. Then they were taken by wagon to town…a few miles north to Old Town. In 1867, Alonzo E. Horton first came to San Diego and was immediately convinced that “the town should be down by the wharf.”
This plaque is one of several in Horton Square. Two bronze statues stand among them.
Apparently, according to one corner of the plaque, all together these make up the Horton Walk.
Twelve years ago, back when Cool San Diego Sight was brand new, I photographed the other statues and plaques. See those by clicking here.
The old statue of Ernest Hahn has since been moved–I don’t know where. If you know, please leave a comment!
…
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 X.
These unifying words–in English and Spanish–are suspended in the sky above San Ysidro.
During my last walk up San Ysidro’s Cultural Corridor, I noticed this public art for the first time. According to a plaque, the painted steel sculpture is dated 2023. It’s by artist Janelle Iglesias, who lives in San Diego. It was commissioned for the residents of San Diego by the Commission for Arts and Culture.
Where is the Cultural Corridor you might ask?
San Ysidro’s alley-like Cultural Corridor extends north along Cypress Drive from San Ysidro Boulevard to the trolley tracks near the Beyer Avenue station. Walk up it and you’ll see many colorful murals.
At the north end you’ll pass under these words. They remind us that we all live under the same life-giving sun.
…
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 X.
Imagine owning a table umbrella that’s also a work of fine art!
No need to imagine. Look for Studio 26 in Balboa Park’s amazing Spanish Village Art Center. That’s where you’ll find Edward Juarez, the friendly artist who you see in these photographs!
He was painting away when I walked through Spanish Village yesterday. I asked him about the umbrella. When finished, it will have multiple coatings and will be absolutely waterproof. The finished carousel umbrella on the patio nearby has been outdoors for a good while and still looks great.
It was incredible how the cowboy image he was painting came to life and acquired depth as he continued to apply color. This umbrella will be as vibrant as an oil painted framed canvas! He kindly took me into his studio and showed me other Western paintings perfect for this umbrella.
It would be super cool to own one of these table umbrellas, don’t you think? Good news! Edward told me he does commissions! Step into his studio and you’ll notice he paints every kind of subject matter.
The 69th Annual Massing of the Colors and Service of Remembrance will be held this coming Saturday, October 11, 2025 in Balboa Park. Everyone is invited!
Dozens of color guards from all around San Diego County will come together for an amazing patriotic event at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. The event will take place between 10:30 and 11:30 in the morning. It’s free and open to the public.
If you’ve never witnessed the Massing of the Colors, you’re missing out on a very stirring spectacle. Representatives from the military, Junior ROTC, Scouts, and patriotic organizations around San Diego will honor those who’ve served and sacrificed by filling the Spreckels Organ Pavilion with a sea of flags.
The Massing of the Colors is presented each year by the San Diego Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars, a patriotic organization that was founded in 1926. Their motto is: It Is Nobler To Serve Than To Be Served.
Here’s the flyer concerning Saturday’s event:
…
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 X.
A great exhibition of art in Gallery 21 at Spanish Village in Balboa Park is about to wrap up. What has made this exhibition unique is that sales directly help a San Diego organization called the Feral Cat Coalition.
The Sixth Annual Reigning Cats and Dogs Art Show continues through tomorrow, Monday, October 6, 2025. (I wish I’d come by a bit sooner.) If you can’t make it but would like to help the Feral Cat Coalition, no problem!
Here’s the Feral Cat Coalition website, where you can make a donation or buy fun merch. Funds raised are dedicated to reducing the overpopulation of feral and abandoned cats through free, humane Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).
Neutering these feral cats (which are mostly unadoptable) is considered compassionate. Feral cats multiplying outdoors can result in their offspring being unhealthy or malnourished or captured and euthanized.
Some photos taken in Gallery 21 today…
…
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 X.
The annual festival is just as epic as ever. Big weekend crowds are filling several blocks of downtown La Mesa and enjoying a big party.
As one might expect at Oktoberfest, there’s no shortage of beer, pretzels, bratwurst and, indeed, tempting German and International food of all types. There are plenty of activities for the whole family, including a big Ferris wheel and games for kids. And, of course, how can I forget the hilarious weiner dog races?
The festival continues on Sunday, with plenty to see and do. It’s free to walk in. The three biergartens, however, have an entry fee.
A good way to get to all this fun is by trolley. For more info, visit the La Mesa Oktoberfest website here.
Here’s my collection of colorful photos taken on Saturday afternoon…
…
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 X.
Today hundreds of geocaching enthusiasts converged on San Diego searching for fun. And they found it!
An event named Signal’s Island drew geocachers from around Southern California and the nation to the grass of NTC Park at Liberty Station.
While rubbing elbows with other members of the broader geocaching community, attendees could enjoy all sorts of challenging family activities. There were nearby hidden geocaches to find, puzzle-like “gadget caches” to figure out (including that one with a toilet in my first photo), interesting displays (including the last remaining item from the world’s first geocache–a can of beans), games like Geo Limbo and Coconut Bowling, photo ops, a mini-pie eating contest, a raffle, a geocaching trackables and pathtag exchange, and more!
Why the name Signal’s Island? Signal the Frog is geocaching’s official mascot, and the event was styled after Gilligan’s Island!
Okay, perhaps you’re a geocache novice, like me. Click here to learn about this fun, healthy and stimulating outdoor hobby! According to the Geocaching website, there are 6,602 geocaches to be discovered around San Diego!
…
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 X.
Today Alex “Teddy” Blanco pulled a 7,000 pound truck over 2 miles through Liberty Station in San Diego. His strenuous physical effort would raise money for the EOD Warrior Foundation.
I happened to stumble upon this amazing 12th Annual Truck Pull as it progressed down Cushing Road. Teddy Blanco has been doing this every year!
EOD stands for Explosive Ordnance Disposal. The EOD Warrior Foundation website explains: EOD technicians are highly-trained military members serving in the Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force who are responsible for disarming, rendering safe, and disposing of explosive hazards.
The EOD Warrior Foundation (EODWF) serves the EOD community by providing financial assistance and support to Active-Duty, Guard, Reserve, Retired, and Veteran EOD technicians and their families.
Additional info importantly explains: This event is to raise awareness and funds for injured service members and their families.
To learn more about the organization, visit the EOD Warrior Foundation website by clicking here. (You can find a donation button on their website, too.)
…
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 X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 