Help us Save the Vaquita display at the east gazebo of Seaport Village in San Diego. The band Insect Surfers was providing some music!
The Vaquita is the world’s most endangered marine mammal. It is thought that about 60 of the animals exist in the ocean today. This small species of porpoise (Phocoena sinus) lives in the warm waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean–specifically in the northern Gulf of California, in a small region east of Baja California not too distant from San Diego. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Vaquita is classified as Critically Endangered.
International Save the Vaquita Day was observed today in San Diego and many other cities around the world. I swung by Seaport Village to see what efforts are underway to save Mexico’s “Panda of the Sea” and to learn a little about the Vaquita.
I learned that the Vaquita, thankfully, enjoys clean waters. Their big threat is being entangled in the gillnets of fishermen. A major effort is underway to eliminate these nets from the Vaquita’s natural habitat. But some fishermen, seeking to provide a living for themselves, use them anyway.
I learned there’s also an effort to inform consumers that some shrimp and fish that one finds in the grocery store is caught with gillnets. It is hoped enlightened shoppers will seek out and purchase seafood that isn’t caught with this type of net.
I learned that Vaquitas have never been held in aquariums, and has only been known to science since 1958.
If this species goes extinct, it will be gone forever.
These nice ladies are working hard to save the Vaquita. It is hoped many others will join the effort, in any way possible. Time is very limited–perhaps a year or two–before the species might go extinct.Kids make art and learn about the critically endangered Vaquita, a marine mammal that clings to a tenuous existence not far from San Diego.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Baseball-loving kids converged today on PLAY BALL PARK in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. They would enjoy a very special activity during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game Week!
Do you want to know what baseball is all about? Take a look at these joyful photos!
The very first activity during Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game Week is a fun, multi-day event at PLAY BALL PARK. Today was the first day! Young baseball players get to swing the bat in a tiny baseball field which has been created in the public park between the Hilton Bayfront and the San Diego Convention Center.
This evening, after work, I headed down to see what I might see. Wow! Here are photos of the opening ceremony of the All-Star Youth Classic, and just lots of pics of kids having a blast playing softball. The entire event is meant to encourage physical outdoor activity. Playing with a real bat and ball on green mown grass is much more fun and invigorating than a mind-numbing video game! And it makes a kid happy and healthy!
Please read the photo captions where I provide a little more info…
A small baseball field has been created in the grassy park between the Hilton Bayfront and the San Diego Convention Center. Here kids from around the country and nearby Tijuana, Mexico will compete in the All-Star Youth Classic!Several representatives from USA Baseball were on hand to provide instruction to the youth teams selected to compete and have fun at PLAY BALL PARK!The teams had assembled on Thursday in the late afternoon, and the bleachers were full of enthusiastic players and fans!These guys are the Memphis Redbirds. Teams have come in from as far away as Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Rhode Island and Queens, NY. Several teams are from San Diego and two teams drove up from Tijuana, Mexico!The brief opening ceremony of the All-Star Youth Classic at PLAY BALL PARK included speeches by representatives from Major League Baseball and our own San Diego Padres.Organizations who helped make this fun activity a reality were recognized, including USA Baseball, USA Softball, The Positive Coaching Alliance, The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of America.Each of the participating youth teams was recognized.One of the teams from Tijuana, Mexico salutes the crowd by removing their caps.The opening ceremony and introductions are over. Time for the teams to take the field and experience a short but fun baseball clinic!A great swing and a hit. Home runs were rare and received enthusiastic applause. Some powerful line drive homers were struck by both boys and girls.A wild convergence on the field as kids vie to catch a fly ball!Another fly ball! Having fun outdoors and being physically active is what this event is really all about.Just a whole lot of youthful energy in front of the Hilton Bayfront at PLAY BALL PARK!Teams were posing for photos all over the grassy park. These kids are on the San Diego Military team.A batting cage was also very active during the baseball clinic.Lots of whiffle balls have been hit past the pitcher in the batting cage!This kid nailed the strike zone with a great pitch. Everyone was having fun and simply enjoying good old baseball. It’s summer. It’s America’s Pastime. What else does anyone need?
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
One of the three large Son of Zorn banners hung on the parking garage of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront for 2016 Comic-Con.
Zorn the friendly warrior has invaded downtown San Diego! This morning I spotted him right next to the convention center! He’s “hanging out” on three enormous banners draping the parking garage of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront!
I’m not sure where his son is… Perhaps the two got separated in the large San Diego Comic-Con crowd depicted in the fun promotional graphic!
I haven’t observed any Comic-Con wraps applied to buildings yet; right now, the only huge building wrap near the San Diego Convention Center is that MLB All-Star Game one on the Marriott Marquis that I posted several days ago…
Hang tight! The fun around here is just getting started!
The Son of Zorn, an imaginative television show combining animation and live action, will premiere on September 25 on FOX.Zorn the friendly warrior seems to be walking through a San Diego Comic-Con crowd. In addition to a sword, he’s got his badge, a soda and smartphone handy!
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Special education kids in San Diego are fortunate to have a non-profit school that turns young lives around, helping emotionally disturbed and learning disabled students make their way toward a positive future. This school is called Aseltine.
The awesome people at Aseltine School believe that all children deserve access to the full opportunities of life. They also believe that when troubled kids are encouraged to take purposeful action, they develop self-esteem and overcome self-doubt.
I am privileged to know some of the friendly people who work at Aseltine. I recently learned that the small school exists due to the generosity of others. Here is their Mission Statement.
When I visit Aseltine from time to time, I see polite students laughing, smiling and learning to live life the way it should be lived–with optimism and gladness.
Please consider offering the good people of Aseltine a little bit of help. There are many different ways to get involved. Click this link to learn more!
Work of art by a student at the non-profit Aseltine School in San Diego. Aseltine helps special education kids make their way toward a bright, positive future.
In case you’re in San Diego and you read this in time, Aseltine School’s Festival of the Arts event is coming up on July 13, 2016, and will take place from 5 pm to 7pm at Cafe on Park, which is located at 3831 Park Boulevard. Student poetry and artwork will be featured, and those attending can help the school out with donations, purchases of art, or even by grabbing a bite to eat.
I urge those who enjoy following my blog to check out Aseltine’s website. Can you help?
American flags lead a Fourth of July parade in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
Here come oodles of fun photos! I took them during the first two hours of Old Town San Diego’s Fourth of July celebration! (Sorry, but I missed the pie eating contest!)
I’ve captioned the photos with descriptions. If you’ve never enjoyed Independence Day at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, you’re missing out on a very colorful and patriotic event! And there’s a lot of fascinating history that you can absorb, as well!
During the Independence Day celebration in Old Town San Diego, there were all sorts of fun and educational activities. Musical entertainment could be heard at the main stage.The Armory Band played music popular in America long ago–patriotic tunes that citizens in San Diego would have enjoyed during the mid 1800s.Los Bailadores, performers in period costume, sing vintage patriotic songs like The Battle Hymn of the Republic inside Old Town’s historic La Casa de Estudillo.Los Bailadores then lived up to their name and began a few social dances that folks would have enjoyed in the 1850s and 1860s. Their first dance was the Virginia reel.During the Fourth of July, there were many historical demonstrations in Old Town’s central square, which was originally called La Plaza de Las Armas.A lady in a bonnet at a spinning wheel was making wool yarn.Quilters were getting their tent displays ready as Old Town San Diego’s Fourth of July events got underway.These guys were playing the old Victorian Game of Graces. A small hoop is shot into the air by pushing apart two rods. The hoop is then caught by one’s partner. Winner catches the hoop ten times first.The San Pasqual Battlefield Volunteer Association had an interesting display, including ammunition that was used in old cannons.A poster has photos of reenactments of the Battle of San Pasqual, which took place northeast of San Diego during the Mexican-American War.Of course, you need some tasty watermelon during a traditional Fourth of July!The middle of the plaza became a center of attention as various tug of wars were contested by young and old alike.These ladies vied for tug of war glory!Later games would include wheelbarrow races.A cakewalk. Stop on the winning number and you receive a cake! This simple game was common in mid 19th century San Diego.Several speeches included one by Connie Gunther, a descendant of early San Diego. The legacy of those early Californios, townspeople, settlers and immigrants live on.
Are you a descendant of early San Diego? Do you think you might be? There’s a website I learned about that you ought to visit. Here it is. Those with family trees that reach back into early San Diego history can relate their knowledge for posterity and the benefit of others; those who think they might be related to an early resident of San Diego can perform searches and do extensive research. Check it out!
Kids listening to the speeches wave American flags.The keynote speech was by Tom Vilicich, portraying a first sergeant, Company K, 1st U.S. Dragoons, who fought in the Battle of San Pasqual.After the speeches, there was a Flag Raising Ceremony. People removed their hats as Old Glory was hoisted up Old Town’s high flagpole.Salutes as the Star and Stripes ascends into the San Diego sky.A billowing American flag rises on Independence Day!The musicians left the stage to make way for a special public reading of the Declaration of Independence.Diverse folk representing San Diego in the mid 19th century take turns reading the Declaration of Independence. Ordinary citizens in the crowd also took part!An ordinary American young person reads a few lines from the Declaration of Independence, on the Fourth of July in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.And then the parade began! It wound around the plaza twice. Ordinary Americans were invited to join in!Represented in the small patriotic parade were Old Town volunteers, boosters, and descendants of early San Diego.Here comes the old-fashioned marching band!People in the parade wore every sort of period costume–even red, white and blue attire from our own modern period!That’s because ordinary American citizens joined in the fun!This photo shows the good crowd that converged on Old Town San Diego for the Fourth of July!A scene from the colorful American Independence Day parade in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
…
This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
A huge MLB All-Star Game building wrap has appeared on the Marriott Marquis hotel in downtown San Diego! Promoted is the sports talk show on FS1 called Speak For Yourself, with Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock.
Preparation for the Major League All-Star Game in San Diego is picking up steam around Petco Park. I was excited during my walk around downtown to see a brand new building wrap on the Marriott Marquis waterfront hotel. It must have gone up almost overnight! It promotes a talk show on FS1 called Speak For Yourself, with Colin Cowherd and Jason Whitlock. As I walked around Petco Park and around the San Diego Convention Center, I spotted a number of other cool sights! Check them out!
Major League Baseball All-Star Game banners line Harbor Drive, near Petco Park. These now appear all over downtown San Diego, temporarily replacing the Doctor Strange Comic-Con banners.All-Star Game sign not far from the grass where a special MLB outdoor event will begin Thursday, called PLAY BALL PARK. The multi-day event will entice youth to have fun playing baseball. Inside the Hilton San Diego Bayfront is the Fox Sports Grill, which should also be a hub of activity during All-Star Game weekend.Another photo of the huge Speak For Yourself building wrap on the Marriott Marquis, just beyond the San Diego Convention Center with its blue umbrellas.MLB All-Star Summer banners along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade and the Green Line of the San Diego Trolley. The big game is Tuesday, July 12, on FOX, but there will be many other cool events all weekend leading up to the big game.Here’s a banner in the Gaslamp Quarter that advertises the All-Star Red Carpet Show! I’ll be there and share photos if I’m lucky!A bonus pic. Padres faithful hope to sweep the Yankees today. This is my first photo of the outside of the new Padres Hall of Fame, which plays tribute to Padres history and its most notable players.And one more bonus pic from today’s walk! An MCRD San Diego drill instructor keeps a steady eye on new Marine Corps recruits filing in to watch a Sunday Padres game, a proud tradition San Diego.The countdown clock in back of the Padres scoreboard keeps on ticking down the seconds. It’s now only 9 days until the Major League Baseball All-Star Game!
UPDATE!
Here are two pics I took on July 7 . . .
All-Star Game sign above the entrance to San Diego’s historic Santa Fe Depot.A large banner on the San Diego County Administration Building celebrates All-Star Week in 2016.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Stay tuned for fun photos of All-Star Game events, then of San Diego Comic-Con the following week!
Visitors to the Ocean Beach Pier during its 50th anniversary celebration look at posters containing information about the amazing concrete pier’s construction and history.
I enjoyed a walk along the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier this morning around 10 o’clock, just as the pier’s 50th anniversary celebration got underway! One of my favorite places in San Diego, the OB Pier has a fascinating history.
Here are some cool photos of what I saw and learned! To enlarge the posters containing historical information, click the images!
A table near the OB Pier gate welcomes people to the 50th anniversary celebration with flyers and event info.This San Diego Fishing Pier plaque was unveiled on July 2, 1966, 50 years ago when the engineering marvel known today as the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier first opened to the public.A good crowd turned out for the beloved pier’s big day! Here we are looking west toward the Pacific Ocean.Later in the day, a new plaque would be unveiled near the stairs down to the beach.Turning for a moment back east toward Ocean Beach. It’s a pleasant if somewhat overcast morning in early July.A stand up paddle surfer next to the OB Pier. It’s possible to watch a lot of surfing action from the top of the pier on almost any given day.The familiar old Pier Cafe has a brand new red, white and blue paint job!People were poking their heads through a couple of fun photo props, set up just for the special occasion.As we approach the hub of the anniversary event, just past the Walking on Water Cafe, a lady peers through the jaws of a shark!The United States Postal Service had a temporary philatelic station out on the OB Pier! Anyone could have a special pier postcard stamped with a custom-designed postmark!Before the OB Pier was built, the Mission Bay Bridge across the San Diego River was used by trolleys, cars and fishermen. It no longer exists. The Del Monte Avenue Steel Pier’s construction was halted due to WWII.The Souvenir Dedication Program Book dated July 2, 3, and 4, 1966. The original opening celebration was also around the Fourth of July!Planning the pier. Historical photos of the people who commissioned and built the truly amazing 1971 feet long pier–the longest concrete pier on the West Coast. Its original purpose was simply for fishing, out beyond rock and kelp beds!Engineering the OB Pier was no small feat. Thirteen months were required for the pier’s completion because of various design changes.Poster shows photos of the OB Pier construction back in the 1960s. The 2 foot diameter piles were place 12 feet deep into bedrock. Slabs were placed on top and everything was welded securely.I couldn’t help but notice a surfer in this old photograph! No obstacle can deter a good ride on the mighty ocean, even half a century ago!Photo shows concrete pilings and steel. The pier has survived countless huge storms over the decades.A poster highlights events at today’s Ocean Beach Pier 50th anniversary. There will be spectacular fireworks this Fourth of July!Photos of the opening celebration weekend in 1966. California Governor Edmund Brown cut the ribbon and cast the first fishing line . . . but gave up after 5 minutes! Festivities included parades, a surfing and variety show, and a sandcastle contest.This cool dude gave me the thumbs up while hanging a display for the Ocean Beach Pier’s 50th anniversary. That’s OB style!Generations of San Diegans have been fishing here for half a century. I wonder . . . how many fish have been caught over the years?A gull and the OB Pier hover over the restless ocean. This 180 feet extension of the south arm at the pier’s end was added at a later time, and remains a favorite spot for fishing way out where the water is around 30 feet deep.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! 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 fun photos for you to enjoy!
An area beside a popular entrance to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, near the McCoy House Museum, will be the site of an historical reconstruction.
There are plans to bring more history to life in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park! A reconstruction of the Machado-Smith adobe and wood-framed house, including gardens and orchards, will greet future visitors to San Diego’s birthplace!
According to a sign that I read, after archaeological assessments (which appear to be underway right now), the Machado-Smith 1860s adobe casa and 1850s wood-framed house will be built near the main walkway that leads visitors from the Old Town Trolley Station into the California State Park. Also planned is a grapevine covered arbor and gardens and orchards with corn, grapes, figs, roses and fruit trees!
According to some research and a State Park employee that I spoke to, the house was built for American Albert Benjamin Smith and his Mexican wife María Guadalupe Yldefonsa Machado de Wilder who together raised nine children. The property remained with the family until 1929. Eventually the house fell into disrepair.
It is uncertain when the new construction will begin, but I’ll keep my eyes open!
Once completed, the Machado-Smith reconstruction will offer interpretive programs concerning Old Town San Diego’s unique mixture of Mexican Californio and American cultures! Very cool!
I was told by a California State Park employee that bits of pottery and other interesting objects have been found at this site.An historically accurate reconstruction of the mid 1800’s Machado-Smith property will be built in Old Town San Diego. Included will be an adobe casa, wood-framed house and gardens.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! 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 fascinating photos for you to enjoy!
People walk through the breezeway between MCASD and the Santa Fe Depot. Three large portraits address the theme of political and domestic violence.
Unusual, thought-provoking works of art are currently on public display in the outdoor breezeway between the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the Santa Fe Depot. I happened to see them the other day while walking through downtown to catch the trolley.
Close family members who have survived domestic and political violence appear in three large photographic portraits. The photos have been boldly augmented with paint to highlight human resilience and courage. According to a nearby description, these works are part of the FOCUS Binational Exhibition and were created by MCASD’s Teen Advisory Group. The artwork reflects an exploration of strategies for coping with violence and trauma.
This thought-provoking work of art suggests an older gentleman has a complex, deeply personal story to be told.A proud portrait augmented with laurels suggests one woman’s story ends in triumph.An arresting work of art glimpsed in downtown San Diego near the Santa Fe Depot. A strong woman rises from the turbulent ocean. Part of MCASD’s FOCUS Binational Exhibition.
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! 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 unique photos for you to enjoy!
A new 2016 San Diego Comic-Con trolley wrap promotes Dead of Summer on the Freeform cable channel, from the Executive Producers of Once Upon a Time and Lost.
I was wrong! There’s a fourth San Diego Comic-Con trolley wrap for 2016, and I got photos of it this morning!
This brand new San Diego trolley wrap advertises the television show Dead of Summer, which premiered today on the Freeform cable channel! The images are a bit creepy and suggest death in the hot, languid summer. It seems this new horror show, created by the Executive Producers of Once Upon a Time and Lost, concerns a Midwestern summer camp called Camp Stillwater, and is set in the 1980s. Has anyone seen the first episode yet?
This body in the tire swing has no top half visible! Which effectively produces a double-take and horrified reaction!A dead bee lying on the tongue of an open drooling mouth. Not sure about the meaning, but the image is memorable and disturbing!
…
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Heads up! Lots of Comic-Con related photos should appear on my blog this year! It’s going to be a load of fun!
Cool San Diego Sights! 