A fun children’s puppet show in San Diego!

There’s a fun, light-hearted children’s puppet show coming up later this month in San Diego, at Balboa Park’s historic Marie Hitchcock Theater!

Check out the graphic and the description I was sent:

Magic Jacket Productions is proud to announce the first-run production of “Zhuri’s Pet Project,” a light-hearted children’s puppet show written and directed by Heather Whitney.

Energetic six-year old Zhuri really wants a pet – but can she convince her Dad that she’s ready to take care of one? Join Zhuri and her friends Elijah and Leo for a fun-filled multimedia children’s puppet show as she looks for the perfect “fur-ever” friend. This show features original songs, life-size puppets, and plenty of laughs for animal-loving kids and parents alike.

To learn more about this happy puppet show, which runs for about 30 minutes, check out the Marie Hitchcock Theater’s ticket page by clicking here!

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Explore emerging ocean technology in San Diego!

A special event is coming up next Saturday, November 15, 2025. Visitors to the Maritime Museum of San Diego will have the opportunity to explore how emerging technologies are transforming how we use and protect ocean resources.

The event is free with General Admission and is perfect for families, students and anyone interesting in learning about blue technology. Hours are 10 am to 4 pm.

What is Blue Tech? It’s a category of advanced technologies focused on the sustainable development of the world’s oceans and coasts, also known as the Blue Economy.

According to one sign in the Maritime Museum, there will be hands-on exploration and interactive experiences concerning underwater robots, engineering, data tools and more. Student marine clubs will be there with their own innovations, too!

Super cool!

Some high tech equipment I spotted today near the sign…

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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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An active Saturday on San Diego’s Embarcadero!

A lot of stuff was going on along San Diego’s Embarcadero today, this Saturday in early November!

I enjoyed another fine walk along downtown San Diego’s waterfront. Yes, the day started off gray and overcast, but in the early afternoon the sunshine would break through a bit.

During my walk I observed a whole lot of interesting activity. I’ll post my photos in the order in which they were taken. Read the captions to understand what I was seeing.

The beautiful Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria is docked in downtown San Diego at the Broadway Pier. The public can go aboard and tour it through Sunday, November 9, 2025.
Some vessels were alongside the huge cruise ship Norwegian Jade, presumably fueling it.
The Cruise Ship Terminal was abuzz with activity. Two ships were in!
The Nieuw Amsterdam cruise ship docked in San Diego.
The usual vendors along the Embarcadero.
Here’s world-famous tall ship Star of India of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

I’m a member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego. Members get free tickets for a harbor tour on the Pilot boat. That’s what I did!

Hello Kiki, our tour guide! She’s funny, informative and awesome!

Ready for the harbor tour!
And away we go. That’s San Salvador, the museum’s seaworthy Spanish galleon replica.
Along the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal I spotted two ships of the National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions Fleet: the Sea Bird and the Sea Lion. They tour Baja California and Alaska.
Rowing along San Diego Bay, with the convention center and a couple of superyachts in the background.
The San Diego Food and Wine Festival is going on this weekend at Embarcadero Marina Park North.
The Tuna Harbor Dockside Market always attracts a crowd on Saturdays.
Looks like the ferry is returning from Coronado.
There’s the Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria, seen from the water.
As the Pilot boat returned to the museum, Californian, official tall ship of California, was departing for a Saturday sail.

After the harbor tour, I headed south along the Embarcadero’s boardwalk. Here I am approaching the USS Midway Museum…

I see the pedicabs are out today.
Always many vendors near the USS Midway Museum.
Some characters I spotted as I walked along the Embarcadero.
Now I’m on the pier near Tuna Harbor. The Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is winding down a little after noontime.
A kid was helping out on fishing boat Jonny D. Fishing families are always friendly people.
Some people enjoy Fish and Chips on the pier.
Looking back along the pier toward downtown San Diego.
I think these umbrellas at Seaport Village are new.
People were given wine glasses when they checked into the Food and Wine Festival.
A balloon twister and kids near Seaport Village.

Yes, San Diego is wonderful.

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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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Photos of Colombian tall ship Gloria in San Diego!

The public is invited to tour the very beautiful Colombian tall ship ARC Gloria, which is presently docked in downtown San Diego at the Broadway Pier!

The large three-masted barque is used by the Colombian Navy as a cadet training ship. It’s also the flagship of the Colombian Navy and floating goodwill ambassador. It’s currently on a tour of the west coast of North America.

Through the afternoon of Sunday, November 9, 2025, during daytime hours, anyone can freely board the amazing tall ship and walk about its decks. That’s what I did this morning, camera in hand!

A friendly salute welcomed everybody stepping from the gangplank. There are plenty of awesome photo ops. Visitors, after roaming about the ship, also have the opportunity to purchase souvenirs to remember their experience.

Take a look!

The figurehead of the ARC Gloria is a gilded, winged angel named María Salud. This figurehead is a tribute to the daughter of the sculptor who created it, Victor Gutiérrez Jiménez.

Here we go!

A shining plaque beneath the ship’s crest contains the words HIMNO BUQUE ESCULEA ARC GLORIA… MUSICA Y LETRA DE EVELIA PORTO DE MEJIA.

According to this: Evelia Porto de Mejía (1925-2013), a writer and composer from Cartagena, is renowned for her contributions to music and etiquette on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. She composed the anthem for the Gloria training ship of the Colombian National Navy, as well as several musical pieces that celebrate the traditions and culture of Cartagena.

You can read the anthem’s lyrics in Spanish here.

A medallion-like tribute mounted next to the door to SALON ALMIRANTE PADILLA. With his likeness, it honors GRAN ALMIRANTE JOSE PADILLA LOPEZ.

According to this: José Prudencio Padilla López…was a military officer and sailor and hero who participated in the wars of independence.

UPDATE!

I got a better photo of the beautiful figurehead the following day…

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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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Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Barrio Logan!

A printed banner duplicate of a very famous mural by Mexican painter Diego Rivera can be seen in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood. Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central Park) decorates the exterior of the M & R Transmission building at 1775 National Avenue.

The original mural, painted by the artist between 1946 and 1947, can be viewed at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera in Mexico City.

The mural depicts famous people and events in the history of Mexico, passing through the Alameda Central park in Mexico City. It features many historical figures, including Hernán Cortés, Benito Juárez, and Frida Kahlo. The central figure is La Catrina, a skeleton figure symbolizing the connection between life and death.

I took these photos a few weeks ago, when I walked through Barrio Logan.

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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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Renaissance portraits bring poetry to the Timken!

A new exhibition has opened at the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park. It’s titled Poetic Portraits: Allegory and Identity in 16th Century Europe. Read all about it here.

Visitors to the museum have the opportunity to see the work of notable Renaissance artists, including Sofonisba Anguissola, whose painting  Portrait of Giovanni Battista Caselli, on loan from the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, is being displayed in the United States for the first time.

Lovers of fine art and art history will certainly enjoy this exhibition. They’ll also treasure the excellent booklet concerning the artists that is freely handed out at the front desk. It explains how both allegory (symbolism) and identity (descriptive details) combine in the painting of these portraits. This results in a poetic blending of abstract ideals and visual reality.

To most of us here in the 21st century, the people in the portraits are complete strangers. (A few aren’t even positively identified by experts.) But one can see how, compared to flatter, blander pre-Renaissance art, these portraits have assumed a more definite personality.

Gazing at each portrait, I found myself wondering: what had the subject’s true personality been like? The eyes and facial expressions might provide a hint.

The world-class Timken Museum of Art is always free to the public. The exhibition continues through March 29, 2026.

Check out the museum’s website for everything you need to know 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.

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Many amazing murals at Balderrama Park in Oceanside!

If you enjoy viewing beautiful outdoor murals, you’ll be astounded by those in Oceanside at Joe Balderrama Park. Over 45 murals decorate structures throughout the public park, including the Balderrama Recreation Center and Chavez Community Resource Center!

The murals, completed late last year, primarily celebrate the Hispanic and Indigenous heritages of many who live in the neighborhood. Diverse other backgrounds and ethnicities are included, too. Bold cultural imagery is intermingled with messages of hope.

The lead artist was renowned muralist Joanne Tawfilis. A couple dozen local artists and many local school children contributed to the massive project!

Here’s a good article about the Balderrama Park murals’ origin and dedication.

I walked around the park last weekend and was totally wowed. Take a look at these photographs! The collection of bold murals might not be on the immense scale of San Diego’s world-famous Chicano Park, but the experience is similar in many respects.

I proceeded with my camera in a counter-clockwise direction. I’m afraid I missed one mural on the tennis courts fence because someone was seated directly in front of it and I didn’t want to intrude.

Here we go…

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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!

SDMA Artists Guild exhibit opens in Balboa Park!

Today the finishing touches were being put on a new exhibition of outstanding art in Balboa Park. The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild Membership Exhibition is now open in Spanish Village Art Center’s Gallery 21!

Several of the participating artists were in the gallery and were happy to talk about their creations. I learned the public is invited to attend the show’s official reception on Sunday, November 9 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Learn more here.

The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild strengthens the bond between the Museum and the artist community of San Diego County by enhancing the Museum’s awareness and appreciation of local artists.

Their annual exhibition in Balboa Park will continue through November 17, 2025. Diverse works in many styles are on display. All of the pieces are for sale.

The exhibition was juried by Johnny Tran of the Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla. I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Some photos, and friendly guild artists I met today…

Artist Charlene Mosley smiles beside her oil on canvas piece, This Is All That Is Me.
Artist Olga Freedman’s very beautiful watercolor Aspen grove near Lake Sabrina.
James Bliesner is both artist and President of San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. His half-abstract/half-realistic piece is Wind and Sea. Materials are plaster, paper, acrylic, pastel and oil.

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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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Ancient bison skull found at San Diego stadium!

Today, down in the San Diego Natural History Museum’s basement Paleo Center, Mary was working on a fossil found in Mission Valley.

Visitors peering through the Paleo Center window could watch her as she removed tiny bits of sandstone from the partial skull (with horn cores and cervical vertebrae) of a Bison Latifrons, found in Ice Age stream deposits, and dating from 100,000 years ago.

She was using a small pneumatic chisel-like instrument to “clean” the fossil. It reminded me of my last dental appointment!

The ancient bison fossil was unearthed in 2020 while workers were excavating the parking lot of the old Qualcomm Stadium, getting ready for San Diego’s new Snapdragon Stadium! The ancient bison would have stood between seven and eight feet at the shoulder! Imagine it roaming eons ago in Mission Valley!

I learned The NAT has numerous unearthed fossils in line waiting to be expertly prepared. Fossils are frequently discovered at different construction sites around the city.

Right now the San Diego Natural History Museum is half open as it undergoes a monumental roof renovation. Fortunately the paleontology center on the lower level of the museum remains open. Follow various signs and you’ll find this Amazement in the Basement!

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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!

Sign up for a Balboa Park Cleanup!

You can sign up to join the next Balboa Park Cleanup! It’s taking place on Saturday, November 22, 2025 from 9 to 11 am.

Individuals, groups and families are invited to meet in the Plaza de Panama to take part. Trash bags, picker-upper instruments and other cleanup materials will be provided for volunteers!

Feeling inspired? Would you like to take part? It’s easy!

Sign up for the Cleanup event on the Forever Balboa Park website by clicking 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!