Category: Uncategorized

Free coronavirus hand sanitizer in San Diego!

This morning I headed down to Barrio Logan, just south of downtown San Diego, to pick up a free bottle of coronavirus killing hand sanitizer! I’d heard free bottles were being handed out on weekends by Liberty Call Distilling during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

When I arrived, I was greeted by a huge smile!

The Liberty Call Distillery and Restaurant appears to be a really cool place, located in Mercado del Barrio, just a block from Chicano Park. They distill a variety of spirits which they serve along with locally crafted beers and wine at their restaurant. Go to their website here if you’d like to check out their menu.

Once the lockdown on restaurants is lifted, they are ready to open and once again become a destination for those around San Diego who like good food and good times!

During the coronavirus pandemic, while supplies last, a free bottle of hand sanitizer, made on site, is handed out to all comers on Saturday and Sunday between 10 am and 2 pm. The spray sanitizer is a World Health Organization approved formula with 80% alcohol content that will effectively kill the COVID-19 virus.

I just used some on my hands when I got home and it smells great, too!

Thank you!

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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!

Cool photographs from museums around San Diego!

Museums around San Diego are currently closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. So I thought you might enjoy exploring a collection of cool photographs from a wide variety of local museums!

Following are 41 links to blogs documenting past visits to museums, exhibitions and museum-like places that I found particularly interesting.

Hopefully you’ll be inspired to check out many of San Diego’s unique and amazing cultural attractions once the pandemic subsides and our world returns to normal!

Click the following links to see lots of cool photographs!

Visit a world-class map museum in La Jolla!

Art from the Mingei at Central Library gallery!

Photos of San Diego and Arizona Railway centennial!

History of IDW at San Diego Comic Art Gallery.

Joan Embery’s My Animal World at Bonita Museum.

Creativity at a museum helps to mend lives.

History of firefighting at San Diego Firehouse Museum.

San Diego’s early history at the Serra Museum.

Freedom Bell at Balboa Park’s Veterans Museum.

Little Italy’s history, culture at Amici House.

Quilters look to the stars for inspiration!

Threads of the Past: Living history in Old Town.

Amazing animal bronzes at San Diego Museum of Art!

A look inside the Portuguese Historical Center.

Art and architecture at La Jolla’s Athenaeum.

History at the Los Peñasquitos adobe ranch house.

Photos aboard historic steam ferryboat Berkeley.

Photos of National City Depot museum and streetcars!

Starfleet Museum’s future Picard exhibit in San Diego!

Fun art outside The New Children’s Museum!

A visit to the Air and Space Museum Annex!

Photos inside America’s most haunted Whaley House!

Steampunk vehicles exhibited in Balboa Park!

Photos of National City’s Heritage Square and Brick Row.

San Diego history at Old Town’s Wells Fargo museum.

The Art of Shag at the Comic-Con Museum!

Cold War history: How one man stopped World War III.

Planes and people on USS Midway’s flight deck.

Photos inside a World War II bunker on Point Loma.

Historical exhibit at Women’s Museum of California.

Historical exhibit features archives at City Hall.

Baseball history at San Diego Padres Hall of Fame.

Museum celebrates diversity in American baseball.

Paintings by Kadir Nelson exhibited in San Diego.

Rare cars, antiques at a surprising museum!

A visit to the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum.

History inside the William Heath Davis House.

Cool poster designs at SDSU Downtown Gallery!

Photos inside the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.

Architecture and light at Timken Museum of Art.

Rare exhibition of Modern Masters from Latin America.

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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.

Scenes of normalcy in abnormal times.

A commercial fishing boat unloads their catch in Tuna Harbor.
A commercial fishing boat unloads their catch in Tuna Harbor.

We live in abnormal times.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many businesses to temporarily shut down. There is little traffic on roads and freeways. Citizens stay safely home, or wear face coverings and keep six feet apart. It’s like an eerie scene from a science fiction movie.

But there are increasing signs that the pandemic has peaked, and hopefully our lives can eventually return to a semblance of normalcy.

Today I got some exercise by walking in a loop through downtown San Diego, including a stretch along the sunny Embarcadero. For a weekday, the usually bustling city was much, much quieter than usual.

But there were signs of activity.

I captured a few images of seeming normalcy in these very abnormal times.

The Coronado Ferry crosses quiet San Diego Bay.
The Coronado Ferry crosses quiet San Diego Bay.
Renovation work is underway at Seaport Village.
Renovation work is underway at Seaport Village.
Algae must still be removed from the hulls of boats in the Marriott Marina.
Algae must still be removed from the hulls of boats in the Marriott Marina.
An athlete trains by running up and down the steps of the San Diego Convention Center.
An athlete trains by running up and down the steps of the San Diego Convention Center.
The San Diego Symphony's new waterfront venue "The Shell" is still under construction.
Construction of the San Diego Symphony’s new waterfront venue “The Shell” continues.
One must still check the phone and grab some carry out food.
One must still check the phone and grab some carry out food.
A lot of work is being down on the streets of San Diego while traffic is light.
A lot of work is being down on the streets of San Diego while traffic is unusually light.
The good old Post Office is still delivering.
The United States Post Office is still delivering.
The Downtown San Diego Partnership is still keeping us Clean and Safe.
The Downtown San Diego Partnership is still keeping my neighborhood Clean and Safe.

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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 very short story with a surprise ending.

Do you like to read stories with surprise endings?

I finished writing another very short story. This one features a turn of events at the end that is completely unexpected. The story is titled Poem to Myself.

Like most of my fiction this piece is a bit philosophical, and it contains both darkness and light.

How is that possible when the main character is a self-centered creep?

There’s a poem in it somewhere? Will the light triumph?

Read it here to see what happens!

Two wise MLK quotes for challenging times.

Peace as the world commonly understands it comes when the summer sky is clear and the sun shines in scintillating beauty, when the pocketbook is full, when the mind and body are free of ache and pain..but...true peace...is a calmness of soul amid terrors of trouble, inner tranquility amid the howl and rage of outer storm...
Peace as the world commonly understands it comes when the summer sky is clear and the sun shines in scintillating beauty, when the pocketbook is full, when the mind and body are free of ache and pain..but…true peace…is a calmness of soul amid terrors of trouble, inner tranquility amid the howl and rage of outer storm…

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has suddenly made all of our lives very challenging. There is disruption, isolation, uncertainty, fear, and for too many, grieving.

As I took my exercise in downtown San Diego, careful to maintain social distance as other walkers neared, I noticed a couple of wise quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. enshrined along the MLK Promenade. They are perfect for this difficult time we live in.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

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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.

Cool photo memories from April 2015.

Another weekend of staying mostly indoors. Hopefully the coronavirus pandemic will soon subside. For everyone’s sake.

Be careful out there!

We’re well into April, so I thought now might be a good time to once again look back five years.

Included in these old blog posts are photographs of two very cool things under construction: the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s replica Spanish galleon San Salvador, and downtown’s Horton Plaza Park.

Click the following links…

Photos: amazing tour of Spanish galleon build site!

History lives at English Village Fete in Balboa Park.

Spinning yarns (and twine) in old San Diego.

Art, smiles and activism at 2015 EarthFair!

San Diego museum honors Little League Champs!

Photos of Horton Plaza Park construction progress.

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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.

Bittersweet window art during the pandemic.

IMG_7602z Life is a blessing and a heartache. Love one another.
Life is a blessing and a heartache. Love one another.

I saw some bittersweet art in Bankers Hill today as I walked up a sidewalk past the windows of a small business. I’m not certain, but I believe this artwork was created during the present coronavirus pandemic.

Powerful words in one window are both uplifting and heartbreaking. Several images nearby include a girl on a swing wearing a face covering, which I photographed.

I notice many people are becoming more philosophical lately.

Pondering life.

Thinking about the human heart.

Assessing what is truly important.

Art in a Bankers Hill window during the coronavirus pandemic. A girl on a swing...with a face covering.
Art in a Bankers Hill window during the coronavirus pandemic. A girl on a swing…with a face covering.

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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.

Signs thanking heroes during the pandemic.

Thank you to all essential personnel. You are all heroes. Grateful words on the marquee of the Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego.
Thank you to all essential personnel. You are all heroes. Grateful words on the marquee of the Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego.

Around San Diego, signs are popping up that thank healthcare workers, first responders, and other heroes who are fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

I noticed two prominent examples as I walked through downtown this morning.

I thought you might like to see.

A sign of gratitude for healthcare workers and other heroes during the coronavirus pandemic. A heart composed of windows on a tower of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.
A sign of gratitude for healthcare workers and other heroes during the coronavirus pandemic. A heart composed of windows on a tower of the Manchester Grand Hyatt in 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!

Listen to live Easter music around San Diego.

The historic Great Organ at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The historic Great Organ at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

There are many online opportunities to listen to live musical performances this Easter Sunday. During the present coronavirus pandemic, everyone who is safely at home can enjoy the inspiring music of Easter remotely.

As usual there will be a video live stream of the 2:00 Sunday organ concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Civic Organist Raul Prieto Ramirez will also chat with those who tune in to listen. To read the details, click here.

Many local churches will be live streaming their Easter services, and those who listen will hear beautiful music from San Diego’s finest organs. To see the complete list, including links to the live streams, click here.

Playing the organ inside the beautiful First Presbyterian Church of San Diego.
Playing the organ inside the beautiful First Presbyterian Church of 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!

Amazing desktop wallpapers of San Diego!

An amazing photograph of Balboa Park, perfect for your computer desktop wallpaper, provided by the San Diego Tourism Authority.
A breathtaking photo of Balboa Park, perfect for your desktop computer wallpaper, courtesy of the San Diego Tourism Authority.

I just made the above photograph the wallpaper background on my desktop home computer. It’s one of seven stunning images that were made available today by the San Diego Tourism Authority. I learned about it because I subscribe to their email list.

The amazing photos were sized to be used as Zoom video communication virtual backgrounds, but the high quality .jpg images also work perfectly as wallpaper on a computer.

Anyone can freely download beautiful images of Balboa Park, Torrey Pines, Cabrillo National Monument and Windansea.

To download these wallpapers, visit the San Diego Tourism blog by clicking here!

Another recent post links to amazing virtual experiences from around San Diego, including many of the city’s most popular attractions. You can access live webcams at the San Diego Zoo and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, go on a virtual tour of the USS Midway aircraft carrier and the San Diego Museum of Art, listen to world-class music by the San Diego Symphony, view clips from some of the Old Globe’s famous productions, and much more.

To check out these virtual San Diego experiences, click here!

Very cool, indeed!