Beautiful ofrenda at San Diego History Center.

The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, which is open free to everybody, has put up a beautiful ofrenda (altar) for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Their ofrenda appears a bit different from prior years, but it still honors and remembers figures from San Diego’s past. Oh–and San Diego’s famous town dog from the late 19th century, Bum, too!

Making a family ofrenda is a beloved tradition in Mexico. The beautiful altar in the San Diego History Center also contains traditional objects like marigolds, candles, papel picado and photographs of loved ones who’ve passed on.

A nearby table invites visitors to the museum to make their own tissue paper marigold. These hand-made marigolds can be added to the altar with a note containing the name of your loved one and a message.

You may also take your special marigold home.

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Symbiotic art at Chula Vista Civic Center.

Walk through the front entrance of Chula Vista City Hall and you’re immediately greeted by very unique art.

Symbiotic is the name of this Civic Center exhibition. All of the pieces are by printmaker, painter, writer and poet Joelle Cook (@wolfprintsart).

As a nearby sign explains: Symbiotic is the debut solo show of artist and author Joelle Cook… Her art is an exploration of the ways the biological world and the architecture of manmade forms overlap, and how that lends to a new kind of worldbuilding driven by this mix of natural beings and hard shapes.

I noticed that for many of the artists’ pieces, images of living things are created by combining simple and complex polygons–“hard shapes” defined by rigidly straight lines.

In an unexpected way, these creations might remind viewers of a scientific truth. The astonishingly complex living world around us arises from more basic geometry. Think individual molecules and atoms.

Go check out this cool exhibition and see it all for yourself!

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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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Fun characters root for Padres at watch party!

Is that Fernando Tatís Jr. in my above photo?

The big crowd of fans gathered in Gallagher Square for today’s Padres watch party did their best. Closely watching the giant videoboard, they cheered their team, whirled rally towels, and some fans (and the Padres mascot Swinging Friar) excited the crowd as costumed characters. Alas, it wasn’t enough.

The Padres were eliminated this evening from the 2025 MLB Postseason. The Chicago Cubs took the Wild Card series, 2 games to 1. Ouch.

Our team: pitching good enough to win, but sketchy offense. Failure to make clutch hits. Like certain periods during the regular season.

It would’ve been a thousand times more fun if the Padres had won and advanced in the playoffs. The young kids running about and playing catch in Gallagher Square didn’t seem to mind, however. They were simply having a good time.

Of course, Dude Vader was present!

Two Manny Machados are better than one!

This awesome, masked lucha libre Padres fan brought his big swag chain!

I loved this Día de Muertos costumed Catrina!

Well, as they say, there’s always next year.

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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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Words of San Diego Poet Laureate at Civic Center.

In San Diego’s Civic Center Plaza, near the Civic Theatre Ticket Office, you’ll find these words:

Blooming is the wild body unmarred by the limits of this world

Its petals temporary but you’d never know it

The two lines were written by Paola Capó-García, San Diego Poet Laureate 2025-2027. A special City of San Diego webpage provides her biography.

Paola Capó-García lives in North Park. Her accomplishments and accolades as educator, author and journalist are numerous.

The thought-provoking words in Civic Center Plaza are actually the conclusion of her poem Wild, which you can read here. Her poem explains the difference between blooming and blossoming.

Are you blooming?

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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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History Center exhibit: San Diego’s Lost Neighborhoods.

A new exhibition recently opened at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. San Diego’s Lost Neighborhoods takes a look at African-American communities that have been substantially altered, injured, or uprooted by practices such as redlining or urban development over the years.

San Diego’s Lost Neighborhoods is made possible with the help of the San Diego African American Museum of Fine Art (SDAAMFA).

Communities from Downtown to City Heights to La Jolla . . . and even to Julian in our local mountains have painful stories to tell. These stories can be understood through many old photographs, the words of residents affected by racial discrimination, and by viewing historical maps of affected neighborhoods.

Visitors to the exhibit could and should spend a good while taking it all in.

Yes, change over time constitutes history–but change too often has been self-serving, mean-spirited or unnecessarily destructive.

May we all be kind. Hopefully we learn from the past.

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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!

Photos of Padres Postseason watch party at Petco!

Padres win! Padres win!

The crowd in Petco Park’s Gallagher Square went nuts when the San Diego Padres recorded the final out in Game 2 of the MLB Wild Card Series against the Cubs in Chicago. When Manny Machado hit his 2 run homer, imagine how excited everyone was!

What awesome fans: waving rally towels, dancing between innings, tossing balls with excited kids, focusing on every pitch and swing on the big Gallagher Square videoboard.

What a great team win! The Padres pitchers in particular were practically unhittable.

There will be another Padres Postseason Watch Party tomorrow. At the time of my writing, the start time is undetermined. Proceeds from the five dollar tickets go to the Padres Foundation. Get your tickets online.

Win or lose, the San Diego Padres organization always provides a really good time.

Enjoy some fun pics taken before and during the big game…

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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!

AI experiment: Martians arrive in San Diego!

I had a fun idea for a new AI experiment!

Last night I was rereading H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, when suddenly I wondered… What crazy images would the AI Drawing Assist function of my Samsung Galaxy smartphone create, should I use the text prompt: “Martians arrive in San Diego” and tap Generate.

I had my phone create the images in Pop Art style. That explains why words are sometimes splashed as if in a comic book. In many instances, the AI misspelled San Diego or produced absurd words.

I selected the best, most diverse images out of many that were produced.

Most had boats in a bay and flying saucers descending above a city that resembles San Diego. Certain skyscrapers like those of the Manchester Grand Hyatt are recognizable, even if oddly drawn or positioned.

A few surprising images had the green Martians themselves!

This is the third time I’ve experimented with the AI Drawing Assist on my phone. Would you like to see some more bizarre results?

Strange images of “Balboa Park at sunset” are here.

Eye-popping images of “San Diego 100 years in the future” are 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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The new MTS mural on Beyer in San Ysidro!

I read this article about the new mural painted on Beyer Boulevard in San Ysidro, so I had to go see it.

The multi-wall mural was created by artist Mr. B Baby, whose real name is Michelle Guerrero. It’s her second collaboration with the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS), which operates the San Diego Trolley. (The first mural painted late last year is also on the trolley’s Blue Line in South Bay–but just north of E Street in Chula Vista.)

This latest addition to the “MTS Color the Corridor” project contains colorful doll-like imagery you might recognize from other Mr. B Baby murals.

As motorists proceed under the trolley’s steel bridge, their attention is drawn to the two walls on either side, which represent the two sides of the San Diego/Tijuana border. The characters’ love for each other transcends the border.

Some online sites claim the mural is at the Beyer Boulevard trolley station, but that’s not true. It’s actually located here.

Unfortunately, relatively few people enjoy this amazing public art. Beyer Boulevard at this spot has very little traffic. Commuters on the trolley can’t really see the mural. Perhaps a rider could glimpse a small part of it while sitting at a right side window seat looking down. I’m not sure.

In any event, check out this great mural!

As playoffs begin, downtown roots for Padres!

Hard to believe it’s almost October. Major League Baseball Postseason 2025 begins tomorrow!

The San Diego Padres will be playing in Chicago against the Cubs in their MLB Wild Card Series matchup. Our hometown team ended up with another 90 win season. Let’s go Pads!

I walked around the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park and East Village this afternoon, and found indications that small businesses, restaurants and many others in downtown are rooting for the Padres!

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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!

Día de los Muertos mural in San Ysidro.

This very beautiful Día de los Muertos mural was painted in San Ysidro in 2024. I saw it for the first time last weekend during a long walk.

The mural is filled with traditional Día de los Muertos imagery. It was painted by artists Berenice Badillo (@bbadillos) and Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist) on the long wooden fence at the north end of San Ysidro’s Cultural Corridor.

Curious? The art-filled Cultural Corridor stretches for a quarter mile along Cypress Drive, from San Ysidro Boulevard to the trolley tracks near the Beyer Avenue station.

Community organization Casa Familiar has been working to make the corridor more than a mere alley. It is a vibrant place that provides residents with physical and spiritual connection.

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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!