I enjoyed a stroll through East Village this morning. It was my opportunity to take a few pics of the Padres Opening Day Block Party just north of Petco Park.
Dozens of tents and booths were lined up on either side of J Street. Kettle corn, barbeque on the grill, baseball souvenirs, assorted nonprofits and salespeople and radio shows…all the usual suspects were there. And, of course, baseball fans!
This afternoon I checked out the Spring Busker Festival at Seaport Village. A huge crowd turned out to enjoy the sunny day and some amazing street performers! Enjoy a few cool pics!
Skip Banks was absolutely hilarious. His hyperactive routine, celebrating silly slices of our pop culture, was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long while! His website has some great videos.
Baard Kolstad came all the way from Norway to participate in the Seaport Village Busker Festival. With his dazzling skills, he seems destined to be the next big rock drummer!
Click to follow the Cool San Diego Sights blog on Twitter or Facebook!
San Diego’s Urban Corp is a nonprofit dedicated to providing a high school education and green job training to young adults. Whenever I ride the trolley to work, I usually see a number of youth in green uniforms disembarking at the Old Town station. They’re heading off to begin another day developing new skills, while working to improve San Diego’s environment.
A long, colorful mural was recently painted along Jefferson Street, right across from the Urban Corps. You can find this public art near Rosecrans at Interstate 5.
Here are some pics I took as I walked north!
Major improvements to the North Embarcadero are well underway, and I was able to get some interesting pics yesterday!
Harbor Drive is undergoing a facelift from the Coast Guard Station down to the USS Midway Museum. This area is considered San Diego’s front doorstep, but until this renovation it’s been more parking lot than park.
Many large-scale changes are going to make San Diego even more beautiful! The two ugly parking lots on either side of the County Administration Building are being transformed into grassy waterfront parks; Harbor Drive is being made more pedestrian friendly with pavilions, flower beds and new restrooms; most of the traffic on Harbor Drive will now be diverted onto Pacific Highway.
I’m really looking forward to the project’s completion!
Here are two pics I took on 5/24/14…
And two more pics from 9/20/14…
UPDATE!
I took the following pictures on November 9, 2014. The improvements around the Broadway Pier appear to be nearly finished!
The scene downtown is constantly fascinating. The kaleidoscope of colors, thousands of people on the move, the crazy, seemingly random whirl of activity…
Over the years, the buildings themselves participate in this dance of life. New structures rise into the shining skyline like spring flowers, and old, crumbling derelicts are torn down to make way.
The time-worn Brake Depot is being torn down. Once the pride of the block, it’s being swept away to make room for new development. Here are some photographs:
UPDATE!
Brake Depot is long gone. But look what’s rising in late 2015!
A variety of workers were out on Sunday afternoon preparing Petco Park for Padres opening day, which is less than two weeks away. I got a few pics of the action…
Whenever I take a weekend walk through Seaport Village, I always hope the Catillacs are playing their vintage rock and roll at the East Plaza Gazebo. Because nobody can resist dancing to those classic tunes!
There’s just something magical about the sunshiny, laid-back atmosphere. Everyone loses their inhibitions. Young and old alike are moved by the music, and twirl about like delighted maniacs!
San Diego’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held this morning. It ran along Fifth and Sixth Avenue, on Bankers Hill just west of Balboa Park.
I captured a whole bunch of fun pics just prior to the parade’s start. There’s no shortage of the color green! All sorts of people and pets were gathering and preparing and positioning themselves for the exciting event!
This morning around seven I walked over to the grassy park just south of the USS Midway Museum. I wanted to see The Wall That Heals.
A half-scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the black wall is inscribed with over 58,000 names. Each name belongs to a serviceman who made the ultimate sacrifice during that war.
I’m sure the weekend crowds will be huge, but early on a Friday morning very few people were about.
The Wall That Heals and several thought-provoking displays that accompany it will remain in San Diego through Sunday.
UPDATE…
I took the following photos Sunday afternoon around one o’clock.
Whenever I walk past the Sixth Avenue playground, located among pine trees in the northwest corner of Balboa Park, I wish I were a child again. To romp, climb and swing through this crazy colorful jumble would be a ton of fun!
Cool San Diego Sights! 