A great free concert will be held in San Diego this coming Saturday, October 25, 2025. Just in time for Halloween, The Phantom of the Opera in Concert will be performed in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion!
The 75 minute concert will begin 6:30 pm, but you might want to arrive early for the best seats. The concert will feature soprano Laynee Dell and tenor Cole Tornberg and include popular music from Phantom of the Opera and spectacular organ solos with spooky projections on the front of the Pavilion!
Audience members are encouraged to come in costume! You’ll be able to get your photos taken with the artists on stage!
This very special concert is presented by the Spreckels Organ Society.
How awesome!
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The House of England in Balboa Park celebrated the 250th birthday of Jane Austen today!
Dressed in Regency attire, members of the Jane Austen Society of North America San Diego Region assembled outside the House of England cottage and listened to beautiful music performed by Amanda Fagan. Many of the ladies were wearing bonnets!
Jane Austen was a major literary figure who wrote such famous novels as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. Songwriter and prolific creator Amanda Fagan (@amandafaganofficial) entertained everyone with original compositions inspired by Jane Austen novels!
I learned that Amanda Fagan is writing a screenplay for a musical based on Austen’s satirical novel Northanger Abbey. I suspect it will include a good deal of humor! See her YouTube page here.
Inside the House of England cottage they were serving Victoria sponge cupcakes and scones with proper British jam and cream, and, of course, a cup of tea. I noticed that a few displays in the cottage pay tribute to Jane Austen and her importance to world literature.
Heading into the cottage…
Back outside. (Did they have smartphones at the turn of the 19th century?)
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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.
As you step through the front door of the old Santa Fe Depot in Escondido, take a look left and right. You’ll see two large paintings which show how Escondido appeared about a century ago.
The old Santa Fe Depot is part of the Escondido History Center in Grape Day Park. Inside the depot building you can view many great displays concerning every aspect of Escondido’s history–from its early beginnings, its agriculture, gold mining, and more as the city developed over the decades.
The two paintings I photographed yesterday stand out among the displays. They were created by artist Henry Thees and were commissioned in 1928 for the First National Bank of Escondido, which was built in 1886. The artist never saw Escondido–they were painted from postcards!
Henry W. D. Thees (1882 – 1942) was born in Hamburg, Germany. He settled in Los Angeles in 1927 where he was active as an artist. I can’t find much more that is definite about him.
The two paintings, eventually given to the Escondido Historical Society in 1973, have moved around over time. They arrived at the old Santa Fe Depot in 1988.
The painting in my first two photos is on the south wall. It is a 1927 view looking east toward the first and second Escondido High Schools. The huge building with a tower that looks a bit like a church with steeple was actually the first high school!
The second painting on the north wall is a 1905 view looking west from Curve Street, which today is Ivy. I was told the artist might have included some embellishment in his paintings.
It would be interesting to compare these paintings to the original postcards that inspired them!
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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 free community event was hosted by the Native Youth Foundation and featured Native American culture, education, crafts, food, music and fun for the entire family.
The festival brought together tribes from around the Southern California region to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It was a celebration of Native voices shaping the future.
I came by in the late afternoon as the festival was kicking off. When I departed about an hour later, a good crowd had gathered for this inaugural event.
I enjoyed listening to the Campo Bird Singers, visiting various booths and eating crispy tacos.
What are some of the things I learned?
I learned the people in the next photo represent Volunteer Escondido. They’re neighbors who come together to help build a stronger community and enhance the quality of life for all!
You can visit their website here! Check out their event calendar and perhaps you can participate as a volunteer in their good work!
I was interested to learn from the next group of smiling people that there is a National Native American Hall of Fame!
The organization, with its headquarters in Oklahoma City, honors Native American achievements in contemporary society, from the 1860s to present day!
Visit their website here! There are various ways that you can support them!
Look! More friendly people at the next booth!
They represent the La Jolla Generations Program, a tribal youth program of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians.
They would be demonstrating basketmaking later during the festival!
In the late morning, the Campo Bird Singers were on stage performing traditional, sacred Bird Songs.
Lots of tasty food, including carne asada and Kumeyaay frybread!
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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.
Check out this collection of photos! My camera was aimed at amazing chalk art at this weekend’s Galbani Bella Vita Fest in Little Italy!
The festival, produced by the ArtWalk San Diego team, is similar to the old Festa events held in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood years ago. In addition to chalk artists decorating several blocks of India Street, there’s plenty of Italian culture, including food, live music and wine tasting.
The public can stroll through the festival for free, which many people were doing this Saturday afternoon!
Dozens of chalk artists have arrived from all over, including from out-of-state. Most are friendly and welcome a few words from admirers.
The event continues Sunday, October 19, 2025 from 11 am to 5 pm. Consequently, many of the artists when I walked by were still at work on their colorful chalk masterpieces!
Here are some of the Italy-themed chalk art creations, most of which are works in progress. I’ve included artist team names in the photo captions…
Artist team Graceful Meadow.Artist team Cecelia Linayao Fine Art.Artist team Madonnara.Artist team The Kim Sisters.Artist team Kimberly Canilang.Artist team Shawdell Smith Art.Artist team Team Arcala.Artist team MDFerrera Fine Art.Artist team Tonie Garza.Artist team Meg Beverly Canilang.Artist team Gutierrez Family.Artist team Steele Canyon High School.Artist team Maddalena & Rogalski.Artist team Kat Brown.
Look who else was present at the festival. Friendly people representing KPBS!
They told me they could use a little extra help now that federal government funding has ended. Check out their website if you’d like to help.
And a few tables down India Street I found ArtReach! They engage youth with art education and paint beautiful murals all over San Diego. You’ve seen many on my blog.
People passing by had created small works of art at their table, too!
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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.
In ten years the historic post office in the Village of La Jolla will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
It’s very fortunate the 1935 building has been preserved. The result of a Great Depression-era works program, the post office was threatened by a planned U.S. Postal Service downsizing in 2011. The historic building was saved by an outpouring of community activism.
The handsome La Jolla Post Office was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 and remains a beloved landmark in La Jolla at 1140 Wall Street.
The architectural style is considered Mission Revival. You can read about its construction and history on the Living New Deal website here.
It’s interesting to note the building’s plaque states the La Jolla Post Office’s creation was the result of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Living New Deal website, however, states it was the Public Works Administration (PWA). The two were separate programs.
Inside the post office lobby, a beautiful New Deal-era mural was painted by renowned local artist Belle Baranceanu. The art shows a hilly panorama of La Jolla and the Pacific Ocean. If you’d like to see photos of the mural, 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.
Halloween is destined to arrive in San Diego in merely two weeks!
Are you ready to encounter spooky ghosts, crafty witches, thirsty vampires and undead zombies? Have you stocked up on candy?
Looking around, it seems the entire city is preparing for Halloween. Ominous signs are everywhere. You see omens of the approaching day in shop windows, front yards, public spaces…
For the past couple weeks I’ve been photographing Halloween stuff that I’ve encountered.
Can you identify a few of the places where I took these 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.
Does your bicycle need repair? Do you live anywhere near City Heights in San Diego? Check out this free, very cool community resource!
Bikes del Pueblo operates on Sundays near the corner of El Cajon Boulevard and 40th Street. You can see them in action in these photographs.
The collective is a bunch of volunteers and neighbors who get together to maintain bicycles and help each other. They provide free educational workshops, and access to tools and bicycle parts. Some of the regular participants have a lot of experience repairing bikes and are happy to help. Bikes del Pueblo welcomes donations–bicycles, parts, and money–to help keep a good thing going.
When I walked by a few weekends ago, they were really busy! Some people were even hanging out at the picnic benches and enjoying the sunny day. What a great resource for a community that can be underserved.
Got a bike? Does it need some work? Check out their website for more info 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.
I’m not sure if it has an official title–it’s described as a pre-World War I scenic mural…depicting an imaginary airfield in France, about the time of the first great aerial races and daring exhibitions… It was painted in March, 1984 by New Zealand pilot and artist-designer Jon Francis Petrie.
In the mural, words painted on an observation tower indicate: ROUEN Aérodrome La Grande Exposition d’AVIATION 1910.
I’ve tried to search for biographical info on the artist, but to no avail, except that he was born in 1940. Perhaps someone who is knowledgeable can leave a comment.
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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.
Liberty Station in Point Loma boasts many great works of public art. The Garden of Transformation, with its colorful, luminous butterfly, is one of my favorites! You can find it in the North Promenade near the Stone Brewing patio.
Sunlight shines through the monarch butterfly’s translucent wings producing a rainbow-like effect. It’s magical.
Garden of Transformation was dedicated almost exactly a year ago, in October 2024. The steel and dichroic laminated acrylic sculpture was created by San Diego artist Kaori Fukuyama. (Perhaps you’ve seen her Wave of Change on the front of the Target store in North Park.)
The small garden where this stunning butterfly lives is an official Monarch Waystation. The space contains milkweeds and other nectar plants. According to a sign near the art, between early spring and fall you might observe adult butterflies, young caterpillars, chrysalis, and other pollinators here.
A native seed library stands nearby.
The artist, in her statement, envisions “this installation as a welcoming space where people from diverse backgrounds can come together to observe monarch butterflies and learn about the conservation of this important species…”
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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! 