The Santa Fe Depot is downtown San Diego’s train station. Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner, the Coaster, and the San Diego Trolley’s orange and green lines all stop at the historic building.
The Santa Fe Depot, built in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, was opened in 1915 to serve thousands of visitors to Balboa Park’s Panama-California Exposition.
This photo shows one of the Santa Fe Depot’s two colorful domes and some palm trees against a backdrop of high-rise condos. The architects a hundred years ago probably didn’t imagine that glassy skyscrapers would tower nearby!
Birds fly over one of the distinctive tiled domes.Looking up through palm trees toward one dome.
Here are some more photos taken at a later time. Black material now covers up part of the two domes. I learned that the terracotta columns are cracking.
The east side of the Santa Fe Depot in downtown San Diego.Buildings rise behind the domes of the Santa Fe Depot.The two domes of San Diego’s Santa Fe Depot.Amtrak train parked by historic Santa Fe Depot.
This plaque, embedded in a large old slab, is located on the Embarcadero. You’ll find it right next to the USS Midway Museum, at the north end of the Greatest Generation Walk. It remembers the victims of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
It reads:
IN MEMORY OF THE 2335 MEN WHO PERISHED IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY ON THE ISLAND OF OAHU.
It looks like the memorial was unveiled by a local chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association in 1984. I’m not sure where the plaque was located originally. I searched the internet briefly, but found nothing.
UPDATE!
I’ve learned that this plaque was originally located on the Broadway Pier, prior to its renovation a few years ago. This post contains more info I received from the Port of San Diego.
Usually the huge elevator on the south side of the USS Midway Museum contains a few tables and chairs. When I walked by and took the above photo, it featured an F-4 Phantom II jet fighter that flew during the Vietnam War!
The historic USS Midway, a modern aircraft carrier converted into a museum, has become one of the most popular attractions in San Diego. It’s docked on the old Navy Pier right next to downtown. Over a million people visit the Midway each year!
Over time the museum continues to add refurbished military aircraft exhibits. The flight deck is now crowded with them, and the hangar below is filling up. The old airplanes are fixed up and painted by volunteers at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay, then brought over to the Midway on a barge and lifted onto the flight deck with a big crane. I saw this happen once years ago and it was a very cool sight!
UPDATE! I took the next photo on a sunny day the following summer…
This A-4 Skyhawk of the Black Knights attack squadron was once based on USS Oriskany.
ANOTHER UPDATE! Here come two more pics that I took in late 2014. It seems the A-4 Skyhawk is now a permanent feature on the elevator…
Small boat passes near USS Midway aircraft carrier on San Diego Bay.USS Ronald Reagan seen docked at Naval Air Station North Island across San Diego Bay.
ANOTHER! Why not add another pic? This one was taken in early 2016…
Birds large and small in a photo taken from the edge of San Diego Bay.
One more UPDATE!
I stood on the pictured elevator in 2025. The area is now filled with tables. I noticed the following sign…
One of Midway’s three giant aircraft elevators that are capable of moving aircraft between the Flight Deck and Hangar Deck in 15-20 seconds. The hydraulically operated elevators have a lifting capacity of 130,000 lbs…and are large enough to accommodate two F/A-18 aircraft at a time.
The yellow ribbons along the edge of the elevator in the final photo memorialize the approximately 60,000 military personnel killed in action during the Vietnam War. The ribbons during my visit were tied all around the aircraft carrier…
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Unconditional Surrender statue on San Diego’s Embarcadero near the USS Midway Museum.
This large statue is amazingly popular with tourists visiting San Diego’s Embarcadero. Tour buses park in the nearby parking lot and throngs of people stand beneath the kissing sailor and nurse, snapping photos. Many couples joyfully imitate the dramatic pose. Critics say the statue is too kitsch, but I disagree! It perfectly represents a moment in time: the end of the Second World War.
Referred to by many as The Kiss, this huge sculpture was created by the artist Seward Johnson. Its proper name is Unconditional Surrender. It’s based on a photograph taken during V-J day in New York’s Times Square. An American sailor, overjoyed at the news of the war’s end, grabbed a random nurse nearby and gave her a spontaneous kiss. The photograph became world famous.
A temporary Unconditional Surrender statue was originally placed at this site, but it was replaced with a permanent bronze version in 2012. Unlike most other monuments and memorials located on the Greatest Generation Walk, just south of the USS Midway, this statue is so enormous it can be glimpsed from several points on San Diego Bay.
Sailor overjoyed that war is over plants a big kiss!
Sailor applies The Kiss to a nurse at the end of World War II.
Sitting on nearby bench on a cloudy day.
People gather about Seward Johnson’s Unconditional Surrender.
This is the bust of Vice Admiral Clifton Sprague. He commanded Task Unit 77.4.3, also known as Taffy 3, during World War II. The 13 ships and over 7000 men of Taffy 3 fought courageously in the Pacific, repulsing a vastly superior force of Japanese battleships, cruisers and destroyers in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. It was the war’s final and greatest battle between the two opposing fleets.
Behind the bust, the monument features thirteen black polished granite panels. Each one contains historical information about the American naval ships that participated.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf Memorial is located in the middle of the Greatest Generation Walk, just south of the USS Midway. It’s not far from the huge, iconic Unconditional Surrender statue, which people often dub The Kiss. You can see it there in the first photo’s background!
Republic of the Philippines Presidential Unit Citation.
Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague won many awards.
Few can compare with the courage, coolness and tactical genius.
Looking at the memorial with Navy Broadway Complex in background.
Tourist poses near bust of Vice Admiral Clifton Sprague.
I love this statue. It’s located on the Embarcadero a little south of the USS Midway, just off a bike and pedestrian path, in an area called the Greatest Generation Walk. Other statues, plaques and memorials can be found in the vicinity, but this bronze sculpture expresses such genuine feeling and humanity, it’s hard to take one’s eyes from it.
It’s called Homecoming. It depicts a sailor newly returned from deployment, reunited with his wife and small child. It’s a scene often televised by local news stations. San Diego is home to several large Navy bases, and is the homeport of many naval ships.
The artist who created this is named Stanley Bleifeld. According to the Port of San Diego website, this sculpture is identical to the artist’s original work, which is featured at the entrance to the Naval Heritage Center next to the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.
View of touching public art from different direction.
Love and thankfulness depicted on face of a Navy wife.
A whole variety of street performers, entertainers, psychics and artists can be found along the path that separates Seaport Village from Embarcadero Marina Park North. It’s a lively scene, especially during the summer. I snapped a great photo of a portrait artist sketching the faces of a couple who were seated together. Some of the artists seem more skilled than others; some paint, some draw, some do cartoons and caricatures.
The following pic is from another sunny summer day…
Street artist by Seaport Village paints kids sitting on wall near the bay.
Just steps from the Seaport Village carousel and Ben and Jerry’s you’ll find a henna tattoo artist. They must’ve been out to lunch when I walked by. But it was interesting to check out the display of possible designs and the table full of colorful materials.
Another pic taken on a day the artist was at work:
Henna tattoo applied to arm of Seaport Village visitor.
And then, one day, I took another stroll through Seaport Village…
I learned the henna tattoo artist is named Natasha! Great smile!
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This photo shows sailboats on San Diego Bay passing the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel, those two tall, sandy tan buildings.
Tour guides and pedicab drivers often joke that the downtown skyline resembles a set of tools. The Hyatt buildings resemble straight-edge screwdrivers; America Plaza, which you can see, resembles a phillips screwdriver; and another skyscraper, Emerald Plaza (not visible in this pic) resembles a set of socket wrenches!
Here’s a pic of a non-sailboat taken on a later occasion…
Lord Hornblower passes Hyatt hotel buildings on San Diego Bay.
These private yachts are docked directly behind the San Diego Convention Center. Some can be really huge. Most are gorgeous. Over the years, I’ve seen a few that have helicopters or small airplanes!
I took the above photo while riding the ferry to Coronado island. The building jutting up in the background is the Omni Hotel, which stands in the Gaslamp adjacent to Petco Park.
The following pics were taken at various different times:
Large yachts docked behind convention center.
Luxury yachts with Coronado Bay Bridge in background.
Crew member polishes Vibrant Curiosity.
Rear of huge multi-level superyacht Majestic docked by convention center.
Oberon, a fast yacht support vessel, docked behind the San Diego Convention Center.
A row of private yachts docked in downtown San Diego.
Looking south toward Hilton hotel behind San Diego Convention Center.
Two super yachts with small aircraft seen in April 2015. On the left, the enormous single-masted yacht M5 boasts a seaplane, while the Pacific carries a helicopter.
In October 2017 I saw Vava II, a 97-meter superyacht docked behind the San Diego Convention Center!
The Vava II, built by billionaire Swiss pharmaceutical tycoon Ernesto Bertarelli, is equipped with its own helicopter.
The brand new, blue-hulled luxury superyacht Chirundos among other impressive ships docked in San Diego in late 2017.
Beautiful yachts in a row behind the San Diego Convention Center.
The sleek Attessa, with helicopter, docked in San Diego in early January, 2018.
People walk and jog along the south Embarcadero.
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