In Memory of Jesus A. Suarez del Solar Navarro. Was born in Tijuana, Mexico – died like a hero and he will live forever in our hearts.
Today I walked through beautiful Kit Carson Park in Escondido. I was on my way to see Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, a world famous sculpture garden by Niki de Saint Phalle. It’s an extraordinary work of art that celebrates life. I’ll post many photos in the next day or two.
As I walked up a path near Eagle Scout Lake, I stumbled upon a small memorial under a tree. I looked down to read some words.
A family in Escondido’s Kit Carson Park pauses to gaze at a small memorial.American flags and The Aztec Warrior. Hero of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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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!
Five enormous eucalyptus leaves seem to have fallen beside a walking path in Escondido’s lush, beautiful Kit Carson Park. You can find them near the adult softball fields, just above Tree Lake.
The huge leaves are cast in bronze. One is gently curved to form a bench. Two stand on their stems to form a graceful arch. One edgewise on the grass seems to be blowing in the wind. The end of one seems to have become pressed into the walking path by passing feet.
These five timeless leaves were created by artist Christine Oatman in 1991. Together they are titled Eucalyptus Leaf Court.
Late this morning I sat on the leaf bench and time stopped. I was very small. As if in a dream, the trees around me were gigantic.
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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 sat on a bench waiting for a trolley at the City College station. This unique trolley station is located in the middle of a two tower condo building called Smart Corner.
Suddenly I had to yawn deeply. I tilted my head way back. Above me, the complex pattern of windows, jagged shadows and reflections appeared unreal!
Right then I knew I had to take a few photos.
Here I am, looking “skyward” while sitting inside Smart Corner!
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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!
Forgive me for posting the following photos. I have a boyish love for trains.
This morning and afternoon I walked along C Street to and from the City College trolley station. I simply had to pause to watch as workers tore up a section of old asphalt and rails running down the center of the street, then later as the workers carefully dumped and leveled new track ballast. I asked one friendly guy who seemed to be supervising if the rails were old and he replied that was the case!
According to some signs, work on this section of trolley tracks will be completed this weekend.
As you can see in the final photo, I wasn’t the only one intrigued by all the activity!
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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!
Look what I just managed to photograph this morning! A new trolley wrap has appeared for 2019 San Diego Comic-Con!
This cool design promotes Stumptown, an upcoming television crime drama on ABC starring Cobie Smulders. From what I’ve read, the show will be based on the comic book limited series written by Greg Rucka with art by Matthew Southworth.
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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!
A small group on a free walking tour learns about the history of Old Town San Diego.
A free walking tour of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is available every day at 11 am and 2 pm. The tours meet in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center, at the northwest end of Old Town’s large grassy plaza. (UPDATE! In late 2022, post-COVID, the tours were being offered Thursday and Friday at 11 am. Times are subject to change!)
When I visit Old Town San Diego, I’ll sometimes join the walking tour while it’s in progress. Last weekend I happened to be in front of the Robinson-Rose House right at eleven o’clock, so I decided to enjoy the full one hour tour!
During this easy walk a guide in period costume provides fascinating information about San Diego’s early history. Several different periods are covered, from the Spanish mission period, to the Mexican rancho period, to the early American period. The main interpretive period is 1821 to 1872.
Among the following photos are a few interesting bits of history…
Free walking tours begin daily at 11 and 2 in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Inside the Robinson-Rose House visitors can view a large model behind glass. It shows what Old Town San Diego looked like in 1872.The tour guide leads our group out into Old Town’s historic Plaza de las Armas.We learn that the Native American Kumeyaay village of Cosoy was located right here, long before Old Town was established.
The Native American Kumeyaay village of Cosoy was located where Old Town San Diego’s plaza was established. Before the San Diego River was diverted in 1877, its water ran very close to Old Town and was an integral part of the life of early people in our desert-like Southern California coastal region.
Our tour now heads toward restored buildings that stand on the southwest side of the plaza.We enter Casa de Machado y Silvas, where today visitors can view the small Commercial Restaurant museum.Our tour guide talks about tiny San Diego during the Mexican rancho period. Trade goods were acquired from merchant ships in exchange for cattle hides, which were called California Banknotes.
When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the Spanish soldiers of the nearby San Diego Presidio switched their allegiance to Mexico, which couldn’t afford to pay them. For their service, they were given land at the foot of Presidio Hill, where many soldiers and their families built houses. That is how Old Town started.
You can learn more about La Casa de Machado y Silvas and the fascinating Commercial Restaurant museum here.
We head back outside into the plaza.We learn more about the history of Old Town by the unusual, tall flagpole.Old Town’s flagpole resembles a ship’s mast!
You might notice the flagpole at the center of Old Town’s Plaza looks a lot like a ship’s mast. Because originally it was!
When an American force under Captain Samuel F. DuPont sailed into San Diego Bay in 1846 to take control of Old Town unopposed, the plaza had no flagpole, because most of the independent-minded Californios who lived here didn’t feel a strong attachment to Mexico. So a ship’s mast was used to raise the flag of the United States.
You can see a bronze plaque commemorating the event here.
You can learn more about the old Spanish cannon that sits in the middle of Old Town’s plaza near the flagpole here.
We head toward a tree that stands near the Colorado House.This is where the Franklin House hotel once stood.
A vacant area of ground beside the Colorado House (now home of the Wells Fargo Museum) is where the Franklin House hotel used to stand. It was Old Town’s only three story building, notable for its relative elegance and its baths.
The Franklin House was destroyed during the great fire of 1872 along with several adjacent buildings including Old Town’s courthouse, ensuring that San Diego’s future would be located in Alonzo Horton’s New Town, which was then called Horton’s Addition.
To learn more about San Diego’s first courthouse, click here.
To learn more about Colorado House and the Wells Fargo Museum, click here.
We head toward a beautifully restored adobe house that stands alone behind the plaza buildings.Entering the grounds of La Casa de Machado y Stewart Museum.Many artifacts are displayed in the main living room of La Casa de Machado y Stewart. An adjacent bedroom is where parents and daughters slept. The sons slept outside in San Diego’s temperate climate.
Our tour group then walked over to Casa de Machado y Stewart. We learned many things, including the fact that the fancier china seen on the dining table came by merchant ships that crossed the Pacific from Asia.
The more simple items like candlesticks were made by local blacksmiths. Because iron was rare in San Diego, harpoons from a brief period of whaling in San Diego Bay were used to make a variety of furnishings and household utensils.
You can learn more about the Casa de Machado y Stewart here.
You can learn about Old Town’s blacksmith shop here.
We also learned that the art of brick-making was introduced to Old Town by members of the Mormon Battalion, whose arrival in San Diego you can learn about here.
The outdoor oven was made of clay and adobe bricks. Cow manure provided fuel!The garden outside La Casa de Machado y Stewart not only provided vegetables for eating, but native herbs used for medicine.Our tour guide explains the uses of prickly pear. The cochineal beetle found on prickly pears is used to make red dye. That plant you see is about 150 years old!Finally, we head over to the beautiful, iconic Casa de Estudillo.The courtyard of the U-shaped Casa de Estudillo includes a simple fountain at the center.Sitting on wooden benches, learning more about San Diego’s unique early history.
The walking tour concluded inside the courtyard of La Casa de Estudillo. In many respects, this beautiful house is the centerpiece of Old Town San Diego. Two past blog posts provide a great deal of information about La Casa de Estudillo.
You can peer into the house’s restored rooms and learn about their history here.
You can learn how a wildly popular novel saved this historic building from destruction here!
The walking tour is over. Now visitors to Old Town San Diego can roam wherever they fancy, and visit numerous free museums scattered around the plaza.
Finally, to enjoy a good overview of San Diego’s early history, I recommend a visit to Old Town’s excellent McCoy House Museum. You can check out my blog post featuring its many exhibits by clicking here!
UPDATE!
It’s not free anymore! I learned in December of 2025 that the same walking tour costs $10 for adults and $5 for children. I was told the change was made about a month ago.
The tour times have changed, too. They now start at 10 and 11:30 am and 2 and 3:30 pm.
You still meet at the Robinson-Rose Visitor 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!
2019 Comic-Con is about a month away and cool banners celebrating the 50th Anniversary of San Diego Comic-Con have suddenly appeared in the Gaslamp Quarter!
The streetlamp banners feature popular Marvel characters from the recent blockbuster movie Avengers: Endgame!
This morning I spotted Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and Iron Man!
UPDATE!
After work I had more time to walk around downtown and the Gaslamp Quarter. And I found more Marvel Avengers banners!
One banner depicts Thor. The other is a twist on what might be the most powerful words in Avengers: Endgame. WE LOVE YOU 3000.
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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!
During my walk through the Scripps Institute of Oceanography on Saturday, I paused in the grassy area just north of the Judith and Walter Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Munk Laboratory to admire an amazing sculpture by Donal Hord.
Spring Stirring, 1947-1948, was carved from black diorite and stands 46 inches tall. It was exhibited in 1949 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Third Sculpture International. In 1964, Spring Stirring was given to the University of California’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography by Cecil and Ida Green.
Donal Hord, who achieved worldwide fame for his fine sculptures, developed a deep love for San Diego. He lived most of his life here. Today some of his most important pieces endure as public art around San Diego.
To see the sculpture for yourself (and some fantastic coastal scenery in La Jolla) follow in my footsteps and take a short walk here.
You can find many photographs of Donal Hord’s public sculptures and reliefs by putting his name in the search box on this blog.
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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!
I enjoyed a slow, easy walk down Sixth Avenue around noontime today. As a rule, the quietest day in downtown is Sunday, but there’s still plenty in the city to discover.
If you’re familiar with San Diego, you might recognize some of the locations in these photos!
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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!
Scripps Coastal Meander Trailhead at La Jolla Shores Drive, just north of Biological Grade. A sign indicates Coastal Trail Access.
Please join me for a short but absolutely amazing walk.
We’re going to start at the Scripps Coastal Meander Trailhead on La Jolla Shores Drive and pass through part of the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography. We’ll enjoy breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and nearby coast. We’ll pause at a spot of historical importance. We’ll encounter some beautiful artwork.
Let’s go!
The Scripps Coastal Meander coincides with a short segment of the California Coastal Trail.Starting down the trail.Moving through the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. Someone reads a sign ahead.Starting along a raised wooden walkway with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean.Sign describes the Scripps Coastal Meander, a publicly accessible walking route through the Scripps campus. It is part of the California Coastal Trail.A map on the sign shows the California Coastal Trail in relation to the beach, the Scripps Coastal Reserve Biodiversity Trail, Scripps Pier and La Jolla Shores.Heading down the wooden walkway with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, Scripps Pier, and La Jolla Cove in the distance.A paraglider from the Torrey Pines Gliderport floats in the sky above a campus building.Soaring high above the beautiful coast.Looking down from the trail at native flora atop the cliffs above the beach. Dike Rock can be seen jutting through the breaking surf.Walking along on a beautiful, sunny San Diego day.A bench waits ahead.Bench overlooks the wide blue ocean.Opa’s Bench is dedicated to Arnold Krause. His journey began in Germany and ended in San Diego.Two small birds on a rope.Continuing on, I passed a student who attends world renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography.Another sign ahead.Conserving California’s Coastal Treasures. Sign describes Marine Protected Areas. Just offshore is the San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA.Continuing down the path, I see something interesting to the right.A marker stands at what was the oldest known archaeological site in Southern California–radiocarbon dated in 1962–occupied by the La Jollan I Indians almost 8000 years ago.Approaching a small grassy park with a sculpture.The sculpture is Spring Stirring by world famous sculptor Donal Hord, 1948, a gift of Cecil and Ida Green in 1964.Spring Stirring, by artist Donal Hord.Starting along a narrow walkway around the perimeter of the Judith and Walter Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics Munk Laboratory.Looking north up the coast toward Black’s Beach and Torrey Pines State Reserve.Looking southwest at Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, which is used for ocean research by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.Beyond Scripps Pier and Scripps Beach is La Jolla Shores and the Village of La Jolla.
UPDATE!
I walked this way again in early 2022, and noticed an “Authorized Personnel Only” sign has appeared at the narrow walkway with the amazing view in my final few photographs. Best not to go that way anymore.
By heading back east to Biological Grade road, you can resume a walk south down the marked California Coastal Trail to the foot of Scripps Pier and beyond!
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