Substantial improvements are being made to Heritage County Park near Old Town San Diego. The grassy upper area will soon feature a new outdoor meeting space/classroom, new walkways, trees and shrubs, and a new event gazebo perfect for weddings. The project is scheduled to be completed this summer.
I took photos over the construction fence a couple days ago. Hundreds of potted plants are in position and ready to be planted.
The historic Victorian-era structures in Heritage County Park will also be improved according to the park’s website.
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Easter Sunday, for many, is a day full of promise, joy, new life.
As I walked through Balboa Park early this afternoon, I could see in many open faces a love of life. Laughter and smiles. Delighting in the sunshine. Soaking in our world’s beauty and the bright colors of spring.
I wandered about without any destination in mind…
A smile and Easter Bunny ears in the Balboa Park Visitors Center.Joyful baile folklórico dancing in the Plaza de Panama.Is there a more wonderful place?Plenty of flowers for a photographic background.The Spring Orchids In The Park Show attracts a big crowd inside the Casa del Prado.A street performer has colorful balloons ready.Mitchell Walker brought three didgeridoos today!Spring has turned the park’s trees bright green.I see golden California poppies along the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new nature trail.Spanish Village is always colorful, no matter the season.Abstract artist Lucas Smith is exhibiting in Gallery 21 through tomorrow.Another weekend in Spanish Village means more live glassblowing!Plenty of color here!The San Diego History Center will soon have the official opening of Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys.What spring looks like between Casa de Balboa and the House of Hospitality.A couple of the International Cottages were open on Easter Sunday. This very beautiful pendant is displayed in the House of Korea.Imagination Station is now playing at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater.A prickly pear blooms in the Kate O. Sessions Cactus Garden.Colorful umbrellas provide shade during rehearsal before the Sunday two o’clock organ concert.Talented musicians in a splash of sunshine along El Prado.An artist has captured some of this world’s infinite color.Balboa Park’s thriving rose garden attracts many families on Easter Sunday.
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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.
April 19, 2025 is the 250th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. A special event celebrating that first victory of patriotic Minutemen over the redcoats of the Kingdom of Great Britain was held today in San Diego!
At Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town, local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution welcomed the public to the colorful and educational event.
DAR and SAR members, who are descended from patriots of the American Revolutionary War, were dressed in colonial garb. Historical information was available at a number of tables.
I was met by many smiles!
Above is the City of San Diego Proclamation concerning the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington Concord.
Whereas, on this day…the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord, igniting a struggle for liberty and self-government that would shape the course of history…
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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.
If you read this in time, you might head down to Balboa Park to enjoy San Diego EarthFest. The big environmental festival is being held on the grass near Park Boulevard and Presidents Way today–Saturday, April 19, 2025–until 5 pm.
Numerous organizations are present, providing education and volunteering opportunities to those who want to help protect our environment.
This the third year of EarthFest, not to be confused with the gigantic EarthFair that filled the entire park years ago. A smaller space, but still numerous participants! Non-profit organizations are joined by food trucks, artists, and vendors. There are several stages offering entertainment and education.
Because it’s mid-afternoon as I type this, I’ll quickly share these photographs. That might give you time to head on down!
“May the Fourth” be with blood donors in San Diego!
The Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park will be hosting a May the 4th Blood Drive, in partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank. The event will take place at the museum from 10 am to 4 pm.
Not only will this event include awesome Star Wars cosplay by local fan groups, but donors will get a free Comic-Con Museum ticket and a coupon for a complimentary Soapy Joe’s car wash!
The San Diego Blood Bank could really use your life-saving donation. You can schedule an appointment here. Walk-ins are also welcome!
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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.
Billowing Bait is a kinetic sculpture on Shelter Island, mounted near the entrance of Nielson Beaumont Marine. I spotted it during a recent walk in Point Loma.
The sculptor is Jon Koehler. His shimmering work of art features over 300 small stainless steel elements that move together but independently with the wind. Created in 2013 according to its webpage (2012 according to the nearby plaque), the sculpture is part of the Port of San Diego Public Art Collection.
The shining sculpture is meant to resemble a school of small bait fish . . . or a billowing spinnaker sail. You can learn more about it here.
If you ever walk past 2420 Shelter Island Drive on a breezy day, pause to watch Billowing Bait come alive!
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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.
What’s that star-like sculpture sitting on the grass near the box office of California Center for the Arts, Escondido?
It’s *!
The cool creation, named * (pronounced star), is a 30 foot diameter great stellated dodecahedron created by Escondido’s own Glass House Arts. According to posts on their Instagram page, * appeared at Burning Man last year! If I understand correctly, the sculpture was called MOOT (Matter Out of Time) back then, and said to be a time machine!
By night, 30 programmable LED floodlights illuminate the fabric sails, transforming the piece into a glowing beacon. I saw * in the daytime during my visit to the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, and thought it was pretty cool as it was!
The sculpture will be on view through May 17, 2025. It celebrates Escondido Arts, Culture & Creativity Month!
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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.
Self-Portraits with Underwear Pulled Too High, Matthew Freedman, 1995. Acrylic on plaster.
Today a new exhibition opened at the museum of the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Everything in Its Place: Selections from the Permanent Collection features a surprising variety of pieces.
The museum’s webpage explains how these works explore the shifting relationships between abstraction, the human form, and the environments we inhabit. In other words, the art explores just about everything and anything.
I found myself pausing before certain complex pieces, enthralled. And so many different materials! One unusual sculpture is made almost entirely of glass. There are creations on cardboard and on linen. One piece, created during the museum’s inaugural artist-in-residence program, is a ten-foot wall of open wooden boxes containing found objects–like thoughts or memories in the compartments of one’s mind.
I took photos of a few examples.
There’s humor, too. Look closely at my first photograph!
Untitled, Mark Jackson, 1983. Oil on cardboard.In the Sun’s Blood, Doris Bittar, 1997. Oil on linen.
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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.
Tomorrow, Saturday, April 19, 2025, a free, live glassblowing extravaganza continues at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido! The special event is being held outdoors in the Cal Club Courtyard between noon and 6 pm. Look for the signs! You can check out the event webpage by clicking here.
The two day event began today. I swung by as everything got underway. In addition to a very cool glassblowing demonstration, various San Diego County glass artists have tables with some of their fantastic creations for sale.
The artists have also created a bunch of beautiful glasses (see my final photograph) which are for sale for $25 each. Funds raised through the sale of these stunning glasses (and the sale of beer, too) benefit the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
I sat and watched as expert glassblower James Stone created an elegant wine glass. He has years and years of practice, and you can see the excellence of his work. He’s a friendly guy who likes to explain what he’s doing.
James Stone demonstrates glassblowing work in progress. The glass changes color when it is heated.An amazing iridescent bowl created by James Stone.These extraordinary glass cubes were created by Tom Marosz.These fantastic glass sea shells were created by Mariah Armstrong Conner.
Amazing blacksmithing work was displayed as well! A representative from Vista Forge showed me some cool creations.
Blacksmithing and Glass Art classes can be found here. They’re held on the grounds of the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista.
Purchase one of these colorful glasses, blown by a local artist, and you benefit the California Center for the Arts, Escondido!
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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.
The Water Conservation Garden in Rancho San Diego is a special place. Not only is it a very fine botanical garden, but its nearly 6 acres is filled with amazing works of art!
Among the different educational garden displays, bits of art can be spied. Most notable are the garden’s beautiful mosaics. A few days back I posted a blog about work being performed on the mosaic Tool Wall. See those photographs here.
Now enjoy more of the art that I happened to discover during my recent visit!
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 