Should you walk along Main Street in Barrio Logan, you might see this inspiring mural. It depicts a heart sprouting butterfly wings.
The mural is painted at The Chrysalis: Monarch Center for the Arts, a 6,000 square foot arts space in Barrio Logan with a dedicated 100-seat theatre, dance studio, visual art classroom, and storefront gallery.
Before the butterfly comes the chrysalis. According to their website: We envision a world where youth and adults use the tools and resources of the arts to help imagine, create, and build the vibrant and successful life they desire and deserve.
The Chrysalis is home to Creative Youth Development and Community Programs. As the beautiful mural suggests, it is a place filled with positivity and hope.
A poster in the window encourages people to “Host your next event in our space!” Why not support people who strive to help youth and the community?
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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 X.
Gigantic gorillas are ready to bust loose and roam around San Diego! Strangely, the gorillas all resemble Donkey Kong!
As Comic-Con 2025 nears, the rampaging gorillas will be clinging to San Diego trolley cars in the wild riding through the city! And I’m not talking about gorilla cosplay on trolleys!
The latest trolley wrap for Comic-Con 2025 promotes Donkey Kong Bananza, an upcoming platform game for Nintendo Switch. According to Wikipedia, the game is scheduled for release on July 17, 2025, right around the time of Comic-Con, which begins the following week.
I remember playing the original Donkey Kong arcade game when I was a kid. I never did master it. I was better at Galaga. Doesn’t seem that long ago. Time flies.
I had to take these zoom photographs from a distance. If I manage to get better images in the coming days, I’ll post an update!
UPDATE!
A couple days later, I got these pics:
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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.
An unusual fashion show took place today in San Diego. Whimsical dresses made of upcycled materials were a highlight of a Philippines Independence Day celebration. The cultural “lawn program” was held outdoors among Balboa Park’s International Cottages.
Local fashion designer Elsie Clavin used everything from newspapers to plastic straws to playing cards to bubble wrap to create these crazy dresses!
I don’t pretend to know anything about fashion, but I did enjoy this very colorful, very fun show!
I’m sure many of you will enjoy these photographs, too. I tried to write down some information as I took the pictures, but I fumbled around with camera and pen and fell well short of decent journalism. Again. Sorry.
Photo time…
First up, a dress made with playing cards and poker chips. Perfect for a visit to the casino!
Next, a dress made of old newspapers! Good news, I hope.
Here’s a skirt made of those color match samples you use to select paint! I did say these dresses are colorful!
Here’s a creative use of upcycled plastic straws and bubble wrap…
There are all sorts of upcycled materials in this next dress. I failed to write any of them down.
More playing card casino action with this couple…
Yes, plastic spoons, forks, and coffee filters can make an exquisitely elegant dress…
Burlap works, too…
I believe I heard that batik is an important part of the next incredible outfit! I’m probably wrong. (I welcome corrections in the comments.)
And finally here’s the fashion designer, Elsie Clavin herself, wearing a fun bubble wrap design!
I bet you’ve never seen a fashion show quite like this!
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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.
Hungry during your weekend visit to Balboa Park? Do you love Filipino food, such as pancit and lumpia?
Head over to the San Diego History Center, where they’re serving up authentic Filipino food and culture!
Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys is the name of the museum’s free exhibition, where displays tell the story of Filipino-American identity through the rich flavors of cuisine. It’s also where, on Saturdays and Sundays, tasty food is available for purchase at the Bataan Café!
What’s on the menu? Pancit, Shanghai Lumpia, and for dessert, Ube Crinkle Cookies and Dubai Ensaymada. Beverages include Ube Cold Brew, Calamansi Lemonade, Ginger Beer, and alcoholic Ube Wan and Jeepney.
When I swung by for lunch on Saturday, I was met by smiles and a neighborly vibe.
A family was enjoying their meal at a very special table. The table’s surface is actually a large video screen. Its looping video shows a Filipino boodle fight: a communal Filipino meal where food is placed directly on the table and eaten with bare hands. (My own table had me eating delicious lumpia by hand, but the pancit noodles made their way into my mouth by fork.)
I recommend you visit Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys at the San Diego History Center. In addition to the great food served on weekends, there are walls full of heartwarming displays. They tell stories of Filipino family life and culture in San Diego.
Service with a smile!
I took the next photograph on a weekday, when the café is closed. My photo shows the scale of this exhibition at the San Diego History Center.
On weekends you’ll find people at the tables enjoying Filipino food!
The museum exhibit includes many displays.
This historical photograph shows how social fiestas help Filipino immigrants and Filipino-Americans stay connected to their roots and share rich traditions…
One display shows ingredients that are often used in the making of Filipino food…
Okay! It’s now the weekend and I’m hungry!
Time to eat!
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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.
If you’ve walked around San Diego’s Balboa Park in the past week, you might have noticed fencing has appeared all around the newly renovated Botanical Building. Phase 2 of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization is now underway!
Lush gardens are to be planted all around the Botanical Building! Even behind it!
The new landscaping will be receiving a $10 million makeover, with nine themed garden spaces. You can get an idea of how things might appear when all is said and done by visiting this Forever Balboa Park webpage.
Phase 2 includes installing dozens of historically accurate benches near fountains and around the Lily Pond, and recreating a grand pergola to match the one that disappeared during the federal government’s wartime takeover.
It’s hard to imagine how the Botanical Building in Balboa Park could become even more beautiful. But it’s going to happen!
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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 exhibition details how women in San Diego history, from the 19th century to the present, have excelled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, leading to important contributions in different fields.
There’s a special emphasis on young women pursuing career paths in STEM today. Various organizations are highlighted that can help those with STEM aspirations.
Young people, upon seeing this exhibition, will understand that pursuits in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics can do more than make a world a better place, but can be personally very rewarding.
Examples of what visitors will find…
ECOLOGIK was launched at Cabrillo National Monument in 2017. The free program engages children and young adults in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. There is an emphasis on ecology and environmental sciences.Girls Who Code has reached over 760,000 students through virtual and in-person programming. The organization helps to spark an interest in transformative technology.Dr. Charlotte Baker was San Diego’s first practicing female physician. She moved to San Diego in 1888 and ten years later she became the first female president of the San Diego County Medical Society.During World War II, many women helped with military manufacturing in San Diego. In the aircraft industry, women made up to 65% of the workforce in 1943.Dr. Janese Swanson, graduate of SDSU, was a pioneer at the dawn of the digital age. At Broderbund Software, she helped develop the popular game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?Dr. Ellen Ochoa grew up in La Mesa. An engineer and astronaut, she was the first Latina astronaut in NASA history. She would log nearly 1,000 hours in space!
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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.
According to their website, the San Diego Beamers are a group of family and friends dedicated to uplifting people’s hearts and souls through the power of music.
They were doing exactly that in Balboa Park this afternoon!
Up on the outdoor stage at the International Cottages, the San Diego Beamers were performing cool and classic hits, such as You Are My Sunshine, Tequila Sunrise, and Tin Man. The band members, most playing guitar, are all members of the House of Chamorros.
Their music is like a beam of sunshine. As you listen, you know that life is good. You can’t help smiling.
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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.
One of my favorite plant shows in Balboa Park is presented twice a year by the San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society. Their 2025 Summer Show and Sale is happening this weekend, so I had to check it out!
As always the event is attracting big crowds. When I visited, one of the Casa del Prado’s outdoor patios was bustling with people making purchases of cacti, succulents, pottery, and more.
Inside Casa del Prado’s Room 101, long tables are overflowing with hundreds of incredible plants. The show is free to the public.
I love how cacti and succulents can have so many different forms, and how a prickly plant can boast some of the most bright, brilliant flowers! I tried to take good photographs of the unique beauty.
Parking Lot C in Old Town San Diego will soon attract bees, butterflies, birds and other beneficial insects. That’s because the bed of soil along the Twiggs Street sidewalk is newly planted with native vegetation suited to pollinators!
Three other beds at this parking lot will be planted, too, according to a sign that I saw while walking today. Not only will this newly created habitat benefit pollinators, but it will add natural beauty, help stabilize soil, save water and provide educational opportunities.
If you’d like to learn more, check out this webpage. It concerns the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce’s Pollinator Pathways project. You’ll find there are various ways for you to help out!
(As you can see, I took these photos very early this morning before many cars arrived at the parking lot.)
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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! 