A bright, happy Christmas tree has appeared inside the Donut Bar.
Many colorful Christmas trees have suddenly popped up all around downtown San Diego!
Step into the lobby of any elegant hotel or large office tower and you’re sure to be dazzled!
This morning and evening I walked through downtown searching for Christmas trees to photograph. A couple of my photos turned out a bit grainy due to dim lighting, but hopefully you get the sense of how amazingly beautiful many of these trees are!
I also got pics of some fun ornaments in shop windows!
One of the slender Christmas trees adding holiday cheer to the north entrance to the 701 B Street office building.A large Christmas tree has appeared in the lobby of the Wells Fargo building. When I dropped by in the morning it hadn’t been decorated yet.A beautiful, shining Christmas tree in the grand lobby of One America Plaza.One of several creative, very elegant Christmas trees in the lobby of The Sofia Hotel.San Diego sand dollar and disco ball ornaments inside the window of Best of Gaslamp.One of the dazzling Christmas trees in the posh lobby of the historic US Grant Hotel.A simply magnificent Christmas tree in the lobby of Symphony Towers.A gorgeous Christmas tree inside the luxurious Westgate Hotel.A snowy Christmas tree inside the west entrance of the 101 W. Broadway office building.A funny surfing Santa ornament in the window of San Diego Trading Company!
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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!
Another bright day in November. A day for sailing.
I sat at a picnic table at Embarcadero Marina Park North, quietly gazing at the sparkling water.
As the tide flowed, a sailboat drifted across San Diego Bay. It turned in the wind. The unmanned vessel must have become accidentally unmoored. A small Coast Guard boat slowly followed it.
Beside the water people moved forward through life.
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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!
Visitors to Cabrillo National Monument investigate the tidepools.
Cabrillo National Monument at the end of San Diego’s Point Loma peninsula is a place of many wonders.
Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views of San Diego, its big, beautiful bay, Coronado’s North Island and the Pacific Ocean. They can enter the Old Point Loma Lighthouse which was built in 1855 to guide ships into San Diego’s harbor. They can see the iconic statue dedicated to Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the explorer who discovered San Diego Bay in 1542 on behalf of Spain. They can watch the migration of gray whales, move through native flora on the Bayside Trail, and check out bunkers that were erected as a coastal defense during World War II.
And by heading a little off the beaten track, visitors can also explore amazing tidepools!
Where are they?
Shortly after passing the park’s Entrance Station, turn right on Cabrillo Road and drive down the hill to the Point Loma Tide Pools.
Make sure to arrive around the time of low tide. Wear sturdy shoes with good traction. Then carefully walk from the parking lot down a short path to the sandstone cliffs and slippery intertidal zone rocks. That’s where you’ll find abundant sea life.
It’s easy to spot all sorts of diverse marine animals, invertebrates and plants at the ocean’s edge. One can find surf grass, sea lettuce, dead man’s fingers, sea hares, lined shore crabs, bat stars, aggregating anemones, sea urchins, limpets, chitons, periwinkle snails, California mussels, lobsters and even small octopuses!
I took some photographs about two hours before low tide!
As low tide nears, people look about the rocks and shallow water for signs of sea life.Amazing beauty awaits curious eyes.Starting down the path from a parking lot to the Point Loma Tide Pools at Cabrillo National Monument.A sign by the path. Exploring the rocky intertidal zones is like peering through a window into the ocean’s ecosystem. During low tide, marine animals in shallow pools can be closely observed.The closer you look, the more you see. Park rangers periodically identify and count the organisms to monitor the health of each species.As we head down the dirt path, the tide pool overlook comes into view.The tide pool area is active with curious visitors. Only two hours until low tide this afternoon.A funny crab asks visitors to please leave all shells in the tidepools.Approaching a pair of information signs atop the overlook. Pacific Ocean waves curl smoothly below.These old signs are very faded, but let’s take a look anyway.You are now standing in the upper limits of the splash zone. The waterline does not come this high, but splash and spray sometimes do. Just below is the high-tide zone.Some organisms pictured are limpets, chitons, sand castle worms, goose-necked barnacles and abalone.Plant life includes giant kelp, surf grass, coraline algae, rock weed, feather boa kelp and dead man’s finger.Families enjoy the warm sunshine and smell of the ocean. This photo looks north along the sandstone cliffs of Point Loma.A few rocks stick out of the surf. Fishing boats lie in the water beyond.A gull stands upon one of the larger rocks.A lone surfer has caught a good wave!As we head down a short dirt path from the overlook to the tidepool area, we take a closer look at the eroded sandstone cliffs and water-smoothed stones on the narrow beach below.
A wide flat rock dips dips toward the ocean at one end of the tidepools, making a perfect platform for exploration when the tide goes out.In a couple hours even more tidepools will appear. Low tide is the best time to explore the rocky pools of captured water.Someone peers down into the shallow water, perhaps looking for an octopus or fish.Someone–a young person most likely–searched for heart-shaped stones on the rocky beach and lined them up for all to see.People explore a smooth bowl-like pit in the eroded, layered, tilted sandstone.So much wild natural beauty. So much to contemplate.The rock shelf contains parallel fissures and oddly eroded patterns. Over many years the rock is weathered, strangely changes.I see some of those whitish goose-necked barnacles. Many of the tiny pits are home to troglodyte chitons.I found some limpets clinging to the wet rock.Bright green algae grows on the exposed intertidal rock’s surface.Beauty that defies adequate description.The patient sea washes against these rocks, doing its slow work over the course of countless lifetimes.Looking south at light on the water and dark, broken rocks.The uplifted then eroded sandstone cliffs tell a story in their book-page-layers about the passage of time.Little piles of sand and stone collect where the cliffs crumble.High above, atop Point Loma, I see the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, now a part of human history.Gazing at the sublime work of nature.
No human artist could possibly paint this.
I see a small leaf of sea lettuce!An aggregating anemone has collected fragments of shell and grains of sand.A young boy walked up to me as I photographed this small scene and said that it looks like a volcano. On the surface of Mars, I thought to myself.Like a glittering hidden treasure.A chiton between an anemone and a limpet. Another close look at nature’s awesome and infinite beauty.
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Back in the 1980’s, when I was a young and Seaport Village was new, my family would occasionally head downtown to enjoy the place. We’d stroll around the meandering pathways, poke our noses inside the specialty shops, browse the shelves of the cool bookstore, and enjoy lunch at one of several restaurants.
I was always intrigued by the big selection of magic tricks in the magic shop. At the candy store I’d shovel dozens of different sweets into a small bag, then eat them during the rest of our walk. We’d watch kites soaring in the blue San Diego sky at the nearby grassy park, and sailboats out on the bay. We always tried to catch Kazoo, the Seaport Village mime, performing.
On Sunday I walked through Seaport Village and was saddened to see many of the old shops are now vacant. The east half of Seaport Village almost resembles a ghost town.
Yes, there are plans to redevelop this valuable part of downtown’s bayfront, to make it more attractive and dynamic. Seaport San Diego will feature an observation tower, hotels, even an aquarium. But I’ve been told that future is somewhat uncertain and is still years away.
I’ve also been told that with this uncertain future and a recent change to the Seaport Village management, many shop owners have chosen not to renew their leases.
And yet today I saw hundreds of families happily walking about Seaport Village, visiting those shops and eateries that remain open. Such is the place’s reputation.
Over the decades Seaport Village has been the source of pleasure for millions of people.
But time and progress march on…
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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 morning I published another short story. This one is titled The Station Sparrow.
The humorous little tale was inspired by my own life experience.
I often see birds inside the enormous passenger waiting room of Santa Fe Depot, the train station in downtown San Diego. Feathered infiltrators come through the wide open doors and walk about the floor pecking at crumbs.
That got me to thinking. And imagining. And laughing.
The Station Sparrow is mostly about life, and humor’s saving grace. Click the link to read it.
Star of India and Californian navigate south down the channel of San Diego Bay, heading out into the Pacific Ocean.
I will remember this amazing morning for the rest of my life.
Standing on the Bayside Trail of Cabrillo National Monument, near the end of the Point Loma peninsula, I watched as Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, headed out of San Diego Bay into the wide blue Pacific Ocean.
It was a truly historic moment, and magical.
The Star of India, now 155 years old, is sailing this weekend for the first time in five years.
Tall ships Californian and San Salvador, which also belong to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, accompanied the Star of India, as did two other tall ships based in San Diego: America and Cloudia. I saw Bill of Rights, a tall ship that makes its home in Chula Vista, heading out of the channel a bit later in the morning.
Please enjoy these photos.
People walk down Cabrillo National Monument’s Bayside Trail in order to watch a bit of sailing history.The north part of San Diego Bay is visible from the Bayside Trail. In the distance, with other tall ships, Star of India makes its way around Coronado.Star of India is towed past Naval Base Point Loma as it heads out of San Diego’s harbor toward the open ocean.Star of India is accompanied during its historic sail by Californian, San Salvador, America and Cloudia. Bill of Rights would leave the channel a bit later in the morning.Californian and Star of India pass Naval Air Station North Island.The downtown San Diego skyline behind Star of India and Californian.Two beautiful tall ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India and Californian, head out into the Pacific Ocean.The amazing group of tall ships is almost out of the channel and into the wide open ocean.Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, and Californian enter the Pacific Ocean together.Behind come America, Cloudia and the Spanish galleon replica San Salvador.Pure magic. Like a dream.The beautiful tall ships continue past Point Loma, making their way south.A view of the tall ships from Cabrillo National Monument’s sunny Bayside Trail.155 year old Star of India and its companion tall ships sail across the water on an historic weekend in November, 2018.I and a few other photographers head back up the Bayside Trail to get more photos as the ships head out to sea.Californian and America on the distant water. Mexico lies on the horizon.Five fantastic tall ships together on the peaceful, blue Pacific Ocean.A magical vision of historic tall ships seen from the end of Point Loma. Time’s curtain seems to open for a moment, and we peer into the past.People enjoy the magic near a bench on the Bayside Trail.Star of India crew members can be seen upon its yards. The sails will soon billow in the wind.The ships sail past the end of Point Loma. My old camera can barely photograph them at this distance.Out into the wide, hazy Pacific Ocean.People just below the whale watching overlook of Cabrillo National Monument watch the ships. They gaze past the New Point Loma Lighthouse, which is down by the water’s edge.Among smaller boats, the tall ships are just visible in the hazy distance.Photographers with powerful cameras do their best to get good photos of the tall ships that are now very far away.Light reflects from a passing plane. The distant Coronado Islands poke out of the haze. And the Star of India sails proudly upon the Pacific Ocean.A vision I will remember for the rest of my life.
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