Holiday Photo and Book Sale at San Diego History Center!

A rare opportunity for history and book lovers is coming soon!

On the last weekend of November, the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park will be hosting their special Holiday Photo and Book Sale!

Several local authors will be present for book signings, including:

Elsa Sevilla
(Saturday and Sunday)
Emmy-nominated journalist, filmmaker, and host of San Diego’s Historic Places on KPBS; author of Camera Ready: From Hardship to the Spotlight.

Dr. Sandra Bonura (Saturday only)
Historian and award-winning author of The Sugar King of California: The Life of Claus Spreckels and Empire Builder: John D. Spreckels and the Making of San Diego.

Maria Garcia (Saturday only)
Educator and author of We Made San Diego, highlighting Latino contributions to the region’s growth and identity.

Richard L. Carrico (Saturday, possibly Sunday)
Archaeologist, historian, and author of El Presidio de San Diego: Alta California’s Lost City.

There will also be the opportunity to purchase frameable prints of fascinating historical photographs, and past volumes of The Journal of San Diego History!

In addition, the San Diego History Center’s big annual Christmas tree made of live poinsettias should be ready to view, too!

The Holiday Photo and Book Sale will take place inside the San Diego History Center at 1649 El Prado (the Casa de Balboa) on November 29 and 30, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Admission is free!

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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.

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Soaring birds Crossing Paths in Coronado!

If you happen to glimpse two birds soaring in the sky above Coronado, take a closer look. You might have spotted Crossing Paths, a tall, shining kinetic sculpture!

This beautiful public art can be found between the Hotel del Coronado and the Coronado Shores condominium buildings, standing next to the beachside boardwalk.

Crossing Paths was created by artist Amos Robinson and is now part of the City of Coronado Public Art Collection. It was installed in 2022.

The wind freely turns the arms of the sculpture, redirecting the flight of two silvery birds.

To discover more sculptures around San Diego by artist Amos Robinson, click here and here and here and here!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Balboa Park’s roses after the rain.

In Balboa Park today the rain stopped shortly after noon. I happened to get off the bus right then, and I started my afternoon walk through the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden.

Beads of water gleamed on leaves, and on the flowers that were still in bloom as winter approaches. Many petals had already fallen to the soil.

Some of the roses, having grown taller than my head, mingled with the storm clouds that were passing to the east.

Here are a handful of photos…

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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.

Feel free to share!

Storm clouds, surf and light in Imperial Beach!

The views this morning from the Imperial Beach Pier were dramatic!

Stormy weather brought a procession of very dark clouds, through which bright sunshine penetrated. The waves were pretty big, too, as you can see from these photographs!

Yes, some surfers were out. I saw a KEEP OUT OF WATER sign posted on the beach by the County of San Diego. For their sake, I hope those surfers don’t become sick from the rain’s runoff and all that raw sewage coming from the Tijuana River.

Anyway, the storm clouds, light and breaking surf resulted in great photos!

When I arrived on the Imperial Beach Pier, I saw a rainbow!

A few minutes after I left the pier, a big cell arrived and there was a long-lasting downpour. My final photo was taken from the shelter of a bus stop on Seacoast Drive.

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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.

Feel free to share!

Getting ready for the Holidays in Coronado!

People are already getting ready for the Holiday Season in Coronado! And it’s still over a week until Thanksgiving!

Today I enjoyed a long leisurely walk from the Ferry Landing down Orange Avenue to the Hotel del Coronado and beyond.

What’s the first thing I saw? Red bows, wreaths, candy cane signs, festive banners, and a Christmas tree at the Coronado Ferry Landing!

Proceeding down Orange Avenue, I spied more holiday things (often in shop windows)…

The big landmark Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree is already strung with colorful lights!

Continuing my walk…

When I arrived at the beach near the Hotel del Coronado, I found workers setting up The Del’s holiday Beachside Igloos!

The magic of Oz is coming to The Del from November 21, 2025 to January 4, 2026!

(As you might know, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum has deep ties to the Hotel del Coronado. The beach resort’s grand Victorian architecture is said to be his inspiration for the Emerald City.)

That magic will include ice skating!

The holidays are nearly here in Coronado!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Sing Christmas carols with Balboa Park’s carillon!

If you happen to be in San Diego and you love singing Christmas carols, a special event is coming up in Balboa Park that you don’t want to miss!

Carol Along with the Carillon will take place in the Old Globe’s outdoor Copley Plaza on Saturday, November 29, 2025, between 12:30 and 1:30 pm.

Family, neighbors and friends will gather to sing beloved holiday songs, accompanied by the California Tower’s carillon. Lyric sheets will be provided so that you’ll know the words to every Christmas carol!

When I participated a few years ago two dozen popular carols were included. This year, the Ramona Community Singers and the Tremble Clefs will join the public again, so you know it will sound amazing!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Creativity, humor, love at Balboa Park craft sale.

The City of San Diego’s annual Agewell Craft Sale was held this weekend in Balboa Park. Local artists came together at the Casa del Prado to sell unique crafts they’d made by hand.

I noticed a good crowd of people perusing the crafts today with only an hour to go in the sale. I enjoyed looking at the amazing crafts–every sort, including very original creations–which filled artist tables inside and outside the Casa del Prado. I saw lots of potential holiday gifts.

In addition, kids were making art in an activity corner and filling a North Pole postal box, there was a raffle, and entertainment by The Ukes of Hazard musical ukulele group was making everyone smile.

Okay, I especially liked some super funny crafts made by artist Leslie Wagoner. You can see a couple of her hilarious creations in my first two photographs, above and below.

Creativity and fun everywhere you turn…

Adult visitors were invited to create art, too!

Lastly, one kindly artist was selling beautiful crafts in order to raise funds in support of Nazareth Orphanage in Tecate, Mexico. The orphanage is home to young boys and girls whose parents are unable to care for them.

For over twenty years, Father Brian Kelly, a Navy Chaplain stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, has led volunteer efforts in support of Nazareth Orphanage.

If you’d like to read about this and perhaps provide a donation, click here.

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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.

Feel free to share!

A quaint, old 19th century chapel in Oceanside.

I was exploring the neighborhood near Balderrama Park in Oceanside when I spied this quaint old structure at 1510 Lemon Street. I had stumbled upon the historical 1893 St. Mary’s Chapel.

The location of today’s much larger St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, near the Oceanside Civic Center, is where this old chapel was originally built. The wooden chapel, affectionately called the Capillita, was completed in 1896.

The city of Oceanside was incorporated a few years earlier, in 1888, when its population was only 1000.

After the city had grown and a larger church was built in 1927, the chapel served as Parish Hall. The small chapel was later moved to its present location. It was restored in 1977.

You can read about its history here.

The St. Mary’s Chapel remains very active, as I saw during my walk. A service was being held inside, and I didn’t want to intrude.

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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.

Feel free to share!

San Diego submersible in Star Trek: Enterprise!

The Maritime Museum of San Diego recently acquired DeepFlight I, a unique “flying” underwater submersible developed in the late 1990s. You can read more about this amazing, advanced submersible here.

Visitors to the San Diego museum might be astonished to learn that this one-of-a-kind prototype appears in every episode of Star Trek: Enterprise!

DeepFlight I can be seen momentarily in the Star Trek: Enterprise introductory sequence, which begins every episode. The sequence depicts the evolution of human technology and exploration. DeepFlight I appears at the 34 second mark here!

Super cool!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Star of India at sunset from Waterfront Park.

Enjoy a few photographs. They were taken today in San Diego a few minutes after sunset.

The western sky was fiery orange and red, making an incredible backdrop for Star of India, docked at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. The world-famous tall ship was strung with magical lights.

The sunset’s colors reflected brilliantly from the park’s watery fountain and a slice of San Diego Bay in the distance.

Truly awesome!

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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.

Feel free to share!