Hand-painted piano at Oceanside Museum of Art!

Do you play piano? Head over to the Oceanside Museum of Art, sit down at this very cool hand-painted instrument, and tickle the ivories!

I saw this piano during my last visit to the museum. It has a name: Henri. I believe it’s named after French pianist Henri Herbert.

Henri was painted by local artist Rene Cosby. It’s the result of the Oceanside Art Piano Project and a sponsorship by the Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation.

There’s a great detailed article concerning this first public piano in Oceanside. To read it, click here!

(Back in 2016, the San Diego Symphony placed ten uniquely decorated pianos around San Diego for the public to play. Most of those pianos have disappeared, but you can see the photographs that I took by clicking here.)

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Visions in downtown as San Diego sleeps.

In the darkness long before sunrise, downtown San Diego sleeps.

I often walk the city streets in the very early morning, when practically nobody is about. There are those times when I have to catch the day’s very first trolley. It can be a strange almost eerie experience. The stillness. The silence.

Here are some photographs I’ve taken during recent night walks.

There are sudden visions behind windows, on sidewalks, rising into the black sky.

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A fence made of giant colored pencils!

Is this the most creative fence in San Diego? The fence “posts” have been made to appear like giant, many-colored pencils!

The super fun pencil fence surrounds a small garden just outside the San Diego Craft Collective.

Look for this surprising artwork in Point Loma, on the southwest side of Liberty Station’s Dorothea Laub Music & Arts Center, as you head from Rosecrans Street down Roosevelt Road.

Love it!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Unhoused students write Odes to Common Things.

Unhoused students at Monarch School in Barrio Logan have written powerful words concerning their life experiences. Their many compositions (each an ode to a common thing) are collected in a series of published books. Several volumes of Odes to Common Things are available at the San Diego Public Library.

Today I noticed that the big video screen near the Central Library’s entrance was cycling through some of these thought-provoking odes. I stood there reading, and lifting my camera to take a few photographs.

The Monarch School serves homeless youth–unhoused kids who live in shelters, motels, single room occupancy housing, double- or tripled-up with other families, at camp sites, in cars, or on the streets. Monarch School is the only comprehensive K-12 school in the U.S. developed specifically to serve unhoused students and their families.

Would you like to read words that might move you–words written from the heart by youth who hope to lead a secure and happy life? Yes? See the availability of the Ode to Common Things books at the San Diego Public Library by clicking here.

Ode to Memories, by Derek. …I carry memories of my life–in my head, my brain, my heart. They can be beautiful. They can be scary…
Ode to Cats, by Fabian. …My cats make me feel happy, comfortable…Cats go to heaven…
Ode to Basketball, by Deveyon. …It makes me better able to work with new people, to make new friends…basketball is what I have.
Ode to Ice Cream, by Jaylen. …What’s good is its coldness, its sweetness, its flavor. It’s as sweet as a championship and as joyful as a party.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Photos of San Diego Tết Festival 2025!

San Diego Tết Festival 2025 is being held all this weekend at Liberty Station. The cultural event celebrating Lunar New Year is free and a whole lot of fun! It’s the Year of the Wood Snake!

The big annual festival is a production of the Vietnamese American Youth Alliance. (In past years, this Tết Festival has been held in Mira Mesa. I went in 2017 and posted photos here.)

As the festival began late in the morning today–Saturday–excited families converged on the wide grassy field of NTC Park, drawn by tons of food, vendors, community organizations, kids activities, photo opportunities in the Cultural Village, a petting zoo and carnival rides. The main attraction, however, was the entertainment up on the main stage.

To begin the entertainment, Naruwan Taiko brought out their drums and boomed thundering, joyful energy out into the audience. This was soon followed by the day’s Opening Ceremony. Sea Cadets were introduced in front of the stage, a color guard advanced, and the national anthems of Vietnam and the United States were sung powerfully by a talented young lady.

A traditional Invocation and Prayer Ceremony followed. Elder members of the Vietnamese community made offerings and prayers for peace.

Then came politicians on stage, then firecrackers to one side, then Hoa Nghiêm Lion Dance! Much more would follow after I departed. (Would you believe it, five different lion dancing groups perform during the epic three-day festival!)

If you’d like to go to the big festival, here’s their website with all the information!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

The new Carlsbad archway sign–ten years later.

Until I read a plaque attached to the Carlsbad archway sign, I hadn’t realized the “new” sign was already ten years old.

Starting in the 1930s, people have passed under a Carlsbad sign while traveling through this coastal city. In 2015 the original sign was replaced with a replica–the one you see in my photographs.

The landmark sign straddles Carlsbad Boulevard at Carlsbad Village Drive.

During previous walks, I hadn’t noticed two bronze plaques describing the sign. The plaques are identical. They’re attached to the posts that support the sign on either side of Carlsbad Boulevard.

These photos were taken a week ago.

This sign is a gift from TaylorMade and the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the important role business has played in the City of Carlsbad’s success. It is a replica of the iconic Carlsbad sign installed in the ’30s.

DEDICATED ON JANUARY 8, 2015

(Leading sports equipment manufacturer TaylorMade has its corporate headquarters in Carlsbad.)

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Help solve a Carlsbad mural mystery!

I’ve no doubt someone out there has the solution to this mural mystery in Carlsbad!

I’ve done some online research but can find nothing about this old-fashioned mural on a wall beside the 2742 State Street building, which is home to Lofty Coffee Company.

The mural is very faded and partly obscured. I’ve greatly increased the contrast of the above photograph to help bring out the design and colors.

The painted mural centers on the historical Carlsbad train station and shows a steam locomotive on the nearby track. A horse is hitched to a cart advertising Village Limousine Service. Was that an actual business in Carlsbad?

Who created this nostalgic mural? When?

How much of the artwork is hidden by the adjacent building? Why is the standing wall that it was painted on seemingly preserved–the wall appears to be separate from the buildings on either side.

Please leave a comment if you know anything! I’m sure many readers would love to learn more about this engaging old public art!

UPDATE!

James R Dean on my Facebook page stated:

Its our guess that the lady who owned it prior (antique store) would know. The entire building was once all part of same mural. Very cool lady, shes still around. In the early 90s my mom found my toy chest there. (one of 3 made for family by my grandfather). I bought it and later had children who used it. My guess is this was painted in 80s and they left the one to keep some of the art.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Let Go Lightly at Mission Valley YMCA.

Let Go Lightly is a sculpture that stands near the entrance of Mission Valley YMCA in San Diego. It was created by artist Matthew Welter of Kings Beach, California and donated by Bruce Hazard.

I took photographs of the wood carved sculpture during my last visit.

I noticed a plaque set in concrete that provides a description.

The plaque reads:

The sculpture honors the relationship between parent and child. Based upon the tradition of Native American lore, the YMCA’s Indian Guide, Indian Princess and Indian Maiden programs foster this relationship. Let us remember our surviving local Native Americans that still live in the vicinity of the San Diego River. They are known as the Kumeyaay/Diegueño tribe or in their language Ipai/Tipai (meaning people). This sculpture faces in the direction of the spirit of the ancient Kumeyaay village site of Cosoy.

(Google AI explains: In the late 1980s, Native American lobbyists and individuals asked the YMCA to stop using the “Indian” theme because it was often stereotypical. Those old programs, which encouraged fathers to connect with their children, have evolved into Adventure Clubs.)

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Journey among poems, walking in City Heights.

When I visited the Lunar New Year celebration in City Heights last weekend, I was surprised to find hundreds of words affixed to a stretch of 44th Street behind Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park. (It’s the alley-like street between the City Heights Library and Recreation Center, and the sports fields of City Heights Park to the east.)

I hadn’t recalled seeing this public art before.

I found a detailed article concerning the unique outdoor installation. The project is titled Memoria Terra and is intended to last for five years. The art debuted last summer.

Artist Shinpei Takeda and five young writers composed poems that tickle passing feet. The poems regard the history of this very diverse community (with its substantial immigrant and refugee population), social issues and gentrification.

As residents make their personal journey, they are also encouraged to gaze down at the abundant words to create their own poem.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

A fun bronze leapfrog in Carlsbad!

I love this super fun Leapfrog bronze statue. It stands by the front entrance of the Army and Navy Academy Recreation Hall in Carlsbad. Two kids are at play, one leaping over the other with exuberant joy!

I was walking up Ocean Street north of the academy’s chapel when I spotted the sculpture. I took a couple photos!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!