A visit to La Mesa’s McKinney House Museum.

Residents of La Mesa and history buffs who live in and around San Diego should experience the McKinney House Museum, headquarters of the La Mesa History Center.

Last weekend I paid a visit.

The historical museum occupies a modest house that was built by Henry Albert McKinney in 1908. He was a Methodist minister, librarian and operator of a furniture store.

The McKinney family lived on two floors that appeared much as they do today. The McKinney House Museum’s seven rooms have been furnished to reflect the period between 1908 and 1920, and many of the objects visitors encounter were actually owned by the family.

The kitchen, dining room, living room, a room used by boarders, and the upstairs bedrooms are all open to the public. Numerous signs provide information concerning the history of the place.

In 1975 the house was acquired by the La Mesa Historical Society. The year 2025 is the all-volunteer organization’s 50th anniversary!

My photographs provide just a hint of what you might see. You’ll have to imagine how the house once stood in a larger lot full of lemon trees, and had a vegetable garden, rabbits and chickens.

The free McKinney House Museum, at 8369 University Avenue, is typically open on Saturdays, from 1 pm to 4 pm. School and group tours can be arranged. Here’s the website.

When I arrived on Saturday afternoon the museum appeared to be closed, but I found several friendly individuals in a small building in a corner of the property, where the La Mesa History Center archives are kept. The McKinney House was graciously opened for me and the lights turned on.

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Liberty Station’s Hugh Story Memorial Rose Garden.

There are several beautiful rose gardens around Liberty Station in Point Loma. One that visitors might miss is located along the path that follows the edge of the nearby boat channel. It’s called the Hugh Story Memorial Rose Garden.

This garden is situated not far from the 52 Boats Memorial, which honors the ultimate sacrifice made by men aboard U.S. Navy submarines that were lost at sea during World War II.

Those who read the Hugh Story Memorial Rose Garden’s marker can understand why.

Hugh Story Memorial Rose Garden

Dedicated To The Memory Of HUGH GOODMAN STORY, SR. 1920 – 2006 Creative Leader – Motivator

Hugh served his country within the submarine service during World War II, making 5 war patrols in the Pacific and earning a Bronze Star and Combat V Unit Citation.

After the war, he remained in the Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of Commander. In civilian life, he spent thirty years building and managing refineries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Hugh is revered by this community for his twenty-four years of full-time volunteer service to Point Loma and San Diego. He is especially loved for the hundreds of trees that he and his fellow volunteers planted, and for the streetscape improvements they brought to the sidewalks, streets and boulevards of Point Loma. As past president of the Point Loma Association and its Beautification Committee, he formed the “Mean Green Team” to care for the Committee’s many undertakings. He inspired people of all ages, from Boy and Girl Scouts to retirees, to create, install, and maintain the urban projects that enliven Point Loma.

Hugh was equally unflagging in the time and effort he devoted to the Navy League, the Submarine Veterans of WWII, the San Diego Maritime Museum and Friends of the Point Loma Library.

Hugh Story made a difference. He did so in many ways, but always by improving life for those he touched through his selfless service to the community.

Friends and family of High Story provided funds for this garden which was dedicated March 19, 2010.

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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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Rehearsal of Chicago the Musical at Rady Shell!

I got super lucky today. I was walking near the Rady Shell on downtown San Diego’s waterfront when I heard singing voices. I turned toward the San Diego Symphony’s beautiful outdoor venue and discovered Chicago the Musical in Concert was rehearsing for tomorrow’s evening performance!

I sat for a while–one cool thing about rehearsals at The Shell is the public is free to watch politely up close and listen. All I can tell you, anyone going to Chicago the Musical in Concert on Friday is most likely in for a treat!

All That Jazz… Cell Block Tango… Mr. Cellophane… All of the jazzy voices are amazing. I seriously thought I was at a Broadway production.

When I looked at the vocalists’ bios just now, I see that, indeed, they’ve performed in many world-class productions in the most prestigious venues!

Learn all about Chicago the Musical in Concert, and perhaps purchase tickets, by visiting the Rady Shell’s website 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!

Thorny shrub protects beautiful Sunset Cliffs.

The California Box Thorn might appear scraggly and unremarkable, but it helps protect the bluffs of beautiful Sunset Cliffs from erosion.

Several of these plants are protected at the north end of Sunset Cliffs Natural Park in Point Loma. A nearby sign explains how the California Box Thorn (Lycium californicum) is native to the coasts and islands of Southern California.

If the shrub looks dead, it probably isn’t. It’s simply dry. After a rain, the tiny leaves turn green and you might notice white bell-shaped flowers and red berries. Birds love the berries!

It’s summer. The protected plants that I photographed are green and obviously watered.

If you’d like to become one of the Friends of Sunset Cliffs, check out my final photograph of information in the nearby kiosk. You’ll see an email address.

And yes, Sunset Cliffs with its rugged sandstone bluffs is one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in San Diego!

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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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Students win statewide contest for Lemon Grove video!

During my recent visit to the Lemon Grove Historical Society’s newly renovated headquarters–the Parsonage Museum–I learned something extraordinary. Last year two high school students who attend Canyon Crest Academy, Sarah and William Gao, won a statewide contest for their outstanding video concerning the Lemon Grove Incident.

The contest had the theme Turning Points in History.

Their extremely well done documentary concerns the fight that led up to the landmark court order in 1931 that ended school segregation in Lemon Grove. View their excellent video on YouTube by clicking here.

This is such a great achievement that I thought it deserved additional recognition. Their video concerns history that everyone should know. Let’s run up the views, comments and likes on YouTube and give their video more traction!

The Lemon Grove Incident was the United States’ first successful school desegregation case. It was a pivotal event in our nation’s history. For the longest time I myself hadn’t known that.

Back in 2022 I took photographs of a mural in Lemon Grove that celebrates the Lemon Grove Incident and those who courageously fought for the victory against segregation. My first photograph above shows part of the mural. See the other photos 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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More hidden treasure in Old Town San Diego?

Is it possible that more hidden treasure will be found in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park?

The adobe walls of a room inside the Casa de Machado y Silvas are undergoing restoration. Do these walls contain additional secrets?

During a past restoration of the same Machado y Silvas building, an incredible treasure was found. Important historical papers concerning early San Diego resident Allen Light were found inside the adobe walls!

As I explained in a past blog post: Historical documents discovered by archeologists hidden in the Casa de Machado y Silvas shed light on the life of San Diego resident Allen B. Light. He was also know as the “Black Steward.” Allen arrived in California during the 1830s, aboard the sailing ship Pilgrim, the same vessel that brought Richard Henry Dana Jr. who would later write Two Years Before the Mast.

One document was “a sailor’s protection,” which proclaimed Light was a “coloured man, a free man, and a citizen of the United States of America.” The second document was his commission from the Mexican Governor of Alta California to investigate illegal sea otter hunting along the coast.

If you’re curious what might be found during the present restoration, you can follow Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s Facebook page here or their Instagram here.

Will a stash of coins be found? A skeleton? More valuable documents? Nothing at all? You can submit your best guess 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!

Clairemont Garden Tour street art in Bay Park.

Have you seen these electrical boxes in Bay Park, on Ingulf Street, just east of Morena Boulevard? Colorful street art painted on the boxes concerns the Clairemont Garden Tour, which is held each Spring.

It appears this street art was the project of the Clairemont Town Council, and I believe it was created in 2024. An artist signature I found is @cuttingsedgeart. That would be Grace Bagunu. She’s a community leader who makes art out of succulents, upcycling Comic-Con bags and creating sustainable art for a more beautiful world.

All sorts of plants and flowers are depicted. Those passing by are encouraged to Grow Your Own Way!

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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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A surprising vineyard on Mission Bay!

One might expect beach blankets on the sand and picnics on the grass around San Diego’s sunny Mission Bay. But a vineyard?

Well, yes!

A small working vineyard can be found below the patio of the Mission Bay Beach Club. With its Superbloom vegan coffee shop, yoga classes, artisan market, wine tastings and view of the nearby water, the unique gathering place is a hipster’s paradise.

The other day I walked past the distinctive building that is now home of the Mission Bay Beach Club.

As I walked past the landmark structure, which was built in 1969 by architect Richard Lareau, I recalled how decades ago it housed the Mission Bay Visitors Information Center. Travelers arriving in San Diego on Interstate 5 could exit at Clairemont Drive and learn all about our city’s attractions.

Before it eventually became the Mission Bay Beach Club, the building sat vacant for years.

In the 1980s, I used to shoot hoops at the nearby basketball courts with ordinary guys from the neighborhood. Those courts have been neglected, dismantled.

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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!

Colorful wildlife mural beautifies Bay Park!

This very colorful mural debuted in Clairemont’s Bay Park neighborhood back in March. It decorates a fence on Morena Boulevard south of Ingulf Street.

Flora and fauna one might find in the neighborhood is depicted. In Tecolote Canyon one might observe a Red-Tailed Hawk. On the shore in Mission Bay one might spy a Snowy Egret. A bright yellow Bush Sunflower is an exclamation point to the brilliant artwork.

The digitally printed mural, part of the Morena Boulevard Beautification Project, was created by ArtReach (@artreachsd) in partnership with SDG&E. It was designed by artist Ian Stiles-Mikl (@ianstilesmikl) with input from community members.

Before the mural arrived, equipment and porta-potties in a dirt lot were visible through the fence. So much more beautiful now!

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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!

Hidalgo exhibit opens at House of Mexico.

A new exhibit opened yesterday at the House of Mexico cottage in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The history and culture of the Mexican state of Hidalgo is celebrated with displays of art, crafts, dolls, fashion, photographs and more!

Hidalgo is a small state in central Mexico, located directly north of Mexico City. It is known for its mining history. Hidalgo has its own unique attractions, including local traditions, picturesque towns and architecture, thermal springs, and beautiful natural landscapes. The objects on display inside the House of Mexico’s cottage help to show why Hidalgo is a popular tourist destination.

Friendly members of the House of Mexico welcomed me to their cottage and happily explained what I was seeing. But you must see all the color yourself! Just head over to Balboa Park’s always fascinating International Cottages.

I was told the House of Mexico welcomes new members. Anyone can join. Even I was invited! You can visit their website 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!