Shelter Island pier seems to stand on watery reflections.
The above photo of the Shelter Island pier is interesting to me. I like how the angled concrete pilings, reflected on San Diego Bay, seem to project in three dimensions downward into the rippled water.
The light blue structure that you see is vacant. In the past it has been the home of a small fishing store and cafe. To its left you can see an aircraft hangar at Naval Air Station North Island.
Distant Coronado Islands seen beyond the Shelter Island pier.
When you stand on Shelter Island and gaze south beyond the pier, you can spy the distant Coronado Islands on a clear day.
The Coronado Islands (not to be confused with nearby Coronado) are four barren islets just west of Tijuana, Mexico. The home of numerous sea birds, sea lions and sea elephants, they are mostly uninhabited. A few Mexican caretakers live on the largest island and maintain a modest lighthouse.
Life at eye level can be so darn busy that I often forget to look upward. Occasionally I remember there’s a world above me. Here are a few recorded glimpses.
A whale atop Seaport Village’s Pier Cafe swims above a flying gull.Palm trees rise beside high downtown skyscrapers.Downtown skyscraper reflecting early morning sunshine.YMCA sign atop building near Emerald Plaza.Old church bell mounted on roof of Old Town’s Five and Dime General Store.Full moon behind clock tower at 12th and Imperial Transit Center.America Plaza seen through palm trees.Looking up at a shining cluster of condos and office buildings.Old clock on side of John D. Spreckels Building at Sixth and Broadway.Gazing up the curved side of the San Diego Air and Space Museum.Apex of the wood lath Botanical Building in Balboa Park.Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter building behind branches.Plane approaches San Diego International Airport high in sky during sunrise.Looking upward near Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant on Harbor Island.
HO Scale model train travels through Tehachapi Pass exhibit.
I could happily spend many hours at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. Not only is it the largest such museum in North America, but it features some of the coolest, most realistic model train layouts you’ll ever see!
Located in Balboa Park, the model train museum contains five huge sections. The Cabrillo Southwestern exhibit is in O Scale, the same size as Lionel toy trains. The San Diego and Arizona Eastern, and the Southwestern Pacific-Santa Fe Tehachapi Pass exhibits are both in the popular HO Scale. The Pacific Desert Lines exhibit is in tiny N Scale. Finally, there’s a toy train gallery crammed with Lionel-type trains and many amazing moving accessories, including cars and people. One train is mounted with a Choo-Choo Cam which provides an engineer’s moving view of the dazzling layout.
I took lots of pics yesterday afternoon. Many of the shots taken through glass or in darkness didn’t come out so great. But I did get some fairly good ones. Enjoy!
Kids love the San Diego Model Railroad Museum.Windows to the big Cabrillo Southwestern O Scale exhibit.Large O Scale model train exhibit includes many detailed buildings.Rail yard action at the Cabrillo Southwestern exhibit.Tiny human figures at work near some trolley tracks.The elaborate O Scale exhibit is full of train action!Men work on unfinished San Diego and Arizona Eastern exhibit.HO Scale bridges and a detailed mountain scene.Attention to detail makes these model train exhibits lifelike.Tracks under construction climb to Tehachapi Pass Mezzanine.Pacific Beach Club Room with trains, videos and Lego exhibits.The famous Tehachapi Pass HO Scale exhibit is amazing.Train tracks meander through highly realistic hillside scenes.A stretch of desert highway in HO Scale.Model of a desert town at San Diego Model Railroad Museum.These huge train exhibits are a child’s fantasy come to life!Member of Model Railroad Museum attends to derailed train.
UPDATE!
Almost every day this blog post is receiving visitors from Pinterest.
Welcome!
I decided to visit the museum again in May 2017 to get more photos!
The layouts are so huge and detailed it would take some time to describe exactly what the photos depict and from what position they were taken. So I’m just going to insert a bunch of random photos for you all to enjoy.
Feel free to share any of these photos if you’d like. It’s all for fun! And if you ever have a chance, make sure to visit the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in Balboa Park. The place is truly incredible!
Are you a railroad or streetcar enthusiast? Do you love railway history?
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We’re back in Barrio Logan’s famous Chicano Park with more pics!
The mural featured here is a very long one. It’s painted behind the park’s fenced basketball court, on a low wall that borders Interstate 5. Like the other public murals in Chicano Park, it’s a colorful hodgepodge of figures and symbols that seem to share one general theme: Mexican American pride and empowerment.
The photos move along the mural from right to left.
02 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.03 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.04 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.05 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.06 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.07 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.08 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.09 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.10 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.11 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.12 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.13 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.14 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.15 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.16 Mural behind Chicano Park basketball court.
Fun mural in Barrio Logan shows flag, kids, fruit, a train and birds.
Barrio Logan, just south of downtown San Diego, is bursting with huge, colorful street murals. Several great examples can be found around the intersection of Harbor Drive and Cesar Chavez Parkway. The one shown in these pics is immediately north of the intersection.
This mural is fairly large, so I’ve broken it up into several photos, moving from left to right. The first part depicts kids and playful, animated fruit. This gives way to a scene of a train moving through what appears to be an estuary full of birds. A narrow panel along the side of the train is made of a shiny, reflective material.
I believe this mural was painted by Salvador Roberto Torres, who was one of the founders of nearby Chicano Park.
Happy faces of kids on San Diego street.A big friendly dog painted on building side.These animated fruit are goofing around in this fun Barrio Logan street mural.A train with silvery windows passes through scene of lagoon with water birds.Herons and an estuary in mural on Harbor Drive north of Cesar Chavez Parkway
Morning look toward East Village buildings from trolley station.
These photos were taken a few weeks ago in the early morning. I was on the way to work and feeling energized, so I walked about the 12th and Imperial trolley station to enjoy the views.
Buildings near Petco Park touched by early morning light.San Diego Central Library dome gilded by rising sun.Early morning in San Diego.
Tuna Harbor’s G Street Pier is one of my favorite places in San Diego. The views of downtown and the bay are magnificent. There are birds for company and swaying boats on all sides. There are lobster traps stacked, nets in huge mounds, and heaps of amazing junk.
Take a look!
Ropes and rusted chains in a delightful tangle.Just a bunch of junk on the Tuna Harbor pier.Looking beyond colorful garbage at boats in the harbor.Broken pallets lean against mound of nets covered in plastic.Detached boat structure on pier frames San Diego skyscrapers.Colorful floats scattered on the public pier.Adopt a Beach garbage can overflows on the G Street Pier.A working pier can resemble a chaotic junkyard.A leaf rake lies atop a ball of nets and ropes.A large weed grows out of a small hill of old nets.A beautiful image of sinuous yellow floats on a seine net.
Anthony’s Fishette is empty, closed on New Year’s Day.
It didn’t matter that most places were closed. The Embarcadero was wide open.
On this sunny New Year’s Day people were simply walking or sitting at the edge of San Diego Bay, gazing out at the water and boats.
People simply talk or gaze at San Diego Bay near The Fish Market.Kids climb in trees near Greatest Generation Walk.Street vendor near USS Midway scoops a New Year’s Day treat.Man reads book on Tuna Harbor Pier for New Year’s Day.Gull enters the new year atop pile of yellow floats.
Corn husk roses, crosses, scepters and dragonflies.
A carefree walk with open eyes is a feast. One meanders into endless discoveries. Even cheap wares on the sidewalk or cart are worth a moment’s attention.
These photos of crafts, curios and colorful clutter were taken during an ordinary walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
Dazzled by sunglasses shining in the sun.Painted skulls, beads and assorted Mexican trinkets.Beads are a common product on sidewalks along the Embarcadero.Shells and dangling ornaments for sale on small vendor’s cart near the Midway.A rainbow of colors! Name bracelets alphabetically ordered.Layered dreamcatchers might catch really big dreams.Combination of football helmets and skulls on display for passing tourists.Bright piles of tie-dye shirts for sale on Embarcadero sidewalk.Whiskery, crazy, colorful faces painted on palm fronds.
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