You know those strings of small lights that have been installed along certain downtown San Diego streets in the past year? This morning I saw workers on B Street toiling by one segment of the new lights, and I learned they’re installing a wireless network.
Once their work is complete, these strings of festive lights can be changed to different colors remotely!
What a cool enhancement for downtown’s atmosphere!
I can’t wait to see all the colors!
UPDATE!
A couple months later I saw more of these lights being strung in Little Italy by the trolley station!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Those entering Balboa Park from Bankers Hill might notice this beautiful old house at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street. During my walks I’ve often wondered about it.
After doing a little research, I discovered it’s called the William Clayton House. It was designed in 1907 by San Diego’s first female architect, Hazel Wood Waterman.
Hazel Wood Waterman got her start as one of renowned architect Irving J. Gill’s two chief draftspeople. With a particular love for the Arts and Crafts style, she would eventually design a number of houses and buildings around San Diego. Her most famous work was the 1910 restoration of the Casa de Estudillo in Old Town, a commission that came from John D. Spreckels.
You can learn more about Hazel Wood Waterman here.
The William Clayton House barely avoided demolition almost thirty years ago. You can read about that here. Today it is San Diego Historic Landmark #270 and location of the Vista Balboa Crisis Center.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
If you’ve ever entered Liberty Station by turning down Dewey Road from Rosecrans Street, you might’ve glimpsed a very unusual sight. On the left, beyond some trees, an enormous sign is lying on the ground!
Last weekend I walked down a footpath behind Officer’s Quarters D of the old Naval Training Center San Diego for a better look. Quarters D until recently was the home of SCOUT. It is now home of Banyan Tree Educational Services.
The huge sign lying strangely on the ground once belonged to the Hotel San Diego. For many decades the neon sign was an iconic sight on Broadway in downtown San Diego. The large hotel was demolished in 2006 to make way for a new federal courthouse.
I myself stayed in the hotel a little over twenty years ago, when I moved to San Diego, and I remember seeing this landmark sign on the historic building.
The Hotel San Diego was built in 1914 by John D. Spreckels to accommodate visitors arriving for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. Learn more about it and see historical photos here.
Why is this large, rusting sign now lying on some grass at Liberty Station? It was preserved with the intention of restoring it for display in the garden behind Officer’s Quarters D. Read more about that here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
There’s no need to expound on the terrible developments presently taking place in Afghanistan.
A couple weekends ago, during my walk along the east shore of Mission Bay, I saw a small plaque by the pathway. This plaque is located at Tecolote Shores, a little north of the Mission Bay Playground, near a beautiful grove of tall palm trees. I paused to read the following words.
THIS PALM GROVE PLANTED IN HONOR OF THE 52 AMERICAN CITIZENS HELD HOSTAGE IN IRAN, FROM NOVEMBER 4, 1979 TO JANUARY 20, 1981.
BY KIWANIS CLUB OF SAN DIEGO
Today, in our own time of fear and uncertainty, let us all hope and pray for the best.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera. You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter.
Last Saturday, as I headed to the Lemon Festival, I walked along downtown Chula Vista’s principal street, Third Avenue. And I spotted all sorts of colorful art that is either fairly new, or that I had missed on previous walks!
The above shark swims directly opposite a cool Manny Machado mural, which has been painted on the north wall of the historic Vogue Theater. For photos of the Manny Machado mural, click here!
The hungry shark and the school of minnows forming the City of Chula Vista logo were painted by Ground Floor Murals.Colorful graffiti creatures. I believe this is an example of the Horrible Monster Scenes that are painted around San Diego by @barfalamul.Beer, a hot dog and pretzel painted in front of Tavern at the Vogue by artist Nicholas Danger.Cheerful bands of color painted at entrance to the ThirdandF building in Chula Vista.Cool graffiti art near a rooftop includes a walking skull with mohawk!Person with megaphone announces Upright Citizen Vintage.Heart Open to the Potential that Exists when I strive to survive. Inspiring words by the door of Rico’s On 3rd, The Salon.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Very few know of this “hidden” public artwork in Point Loma. It can be found on a building’s rooftop at Liberty Station.
In the next photograph you can see green stairs climbing the side of the New Americans Museum. During all of my visits to Liberty Station, I’ve never seen a single person going up them. I myself had thought these stairs to the building’s roof were out of bounds to the public.
Not so!
Head on up, push open the swinging gate, and take a look!
The unique rooftop artwork is composed of colorfully painted skateboards. Appropriately titled Rolling It Forward, the installation was created in 2018 by local artist Jeremy Nuttall of Poway, California. The sculpture, according to a sign represents a boat and rolling waves made entirely of community-painted skateboard decks. It builds on the concept of “pay it forward,” and it required the support and involvement of the community…
The skateboards that compose Rolling It Forward have become weathered by several seasons of rain and sunshine. They are cracked and faded. They are rolling forward through time.
But the creative, often crazy images endure!
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This morning I swung through Kearny Mesa again to see how the new Yu Darvish mural in the Convoy District is progressing.
I was excited to find it nearly completed, and I met the muralists, too!
Signe Ditona and Paul Jimenez, the artists of Ground Floor Murals, have painted several awesome Padres baseball murals around San Diego already. And both are super nice!
Check out these photos of their latest Padres mural featuring star pitcher Yu Darvish. It’s on Convoy Street, just south of Engineer Road.
(If you’d like to see an early stage of the mural, you can revisit my blog post from several days ago here.)
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
An absolutely gigantic sandcastle is now being built at the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier!
The huge two-stories high sand sculpture, which is being referred to as the Monument Castle, is the centerpiece of this year’s week-long Sun and Sea Festival. Imperial Beach has become Sandcastle City!
The I.B. Posse, a team of local sand artists, began to build the castle a couple days ago. The sand carving will continue through this week.
I intend to swing by again next weekend to check out the finished sandcastle! I’ll post those pics in an update here!
UPDATE!
I swung by the following weekend after the huge sandcastle was completed. I see the I.B. Posse was assisted by the Sand Squirrels, Dan Belcher, Bruce Phillips and Sculpting San Diego.
Wow! Check it out!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Today I headed down to Imperial Beach to check out a sandcastle that is under construction at the foot of the IB Pier. This summer’s week-long Imperial Beach Sun and Sea Festival features one gigantic sand sculpture. (I’ll share those photos shortly!)
Because I was at the pier, of course I had to walk out on it.
These colorful photographs were taken during my Sunday stroll over the ocean. I walked out to the pier’s end, gazed at the sky and water for a while, then headed back to the beach.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
This evening I watched a stirring performance. I and many others enjoyed the La Jolla Playhouse’s POP-UP WOW event at Liberty Station.
What did I see?
I saw soulful singing and dancing that stems from a shared history of suffering and endurance.
I saw joy that rises from the heart–a triumph of the spirit.
I saw how bubbles are like aspects of life–and like life itself. Mysterious, beautiful, soaring . . . short-lived. A beginning and an ending. Like memories.
I, too, wondered why we have an impulse to chase bubbles.
I saw a fable about a giant who wanted power over everything.
Until he saw the beauty of bubbles and learned wisdom.
I saw individuals repeatedly asking “Can I?”
They make one clumsy attempt after another, slowly gaining ability, gaining confidence, until they venture out into this sometimes scary world.
Meeting others, overcoming their fear, the question becomes “Can WE?”
What I observed was life.
You can watch it tomorrow if you’d like, too. Click here to learn about the Sunday performances. It’s free!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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