All sorts of public art can be enjoyed at trolley stations around San Diego. In my opinion, the most wonderful example is found at the 62nd Street/Encanto station.
Those who take the Orange Line trolley ride pass by a wildly imaginative, dreamlike vision. A 400 foot mural on the long wall of the south platform takes its inspiration from nearby Chollas Creak. The mural is titled Liquid Harmony.
In 2010 local artists Maxx Moses, Miguel Godoy and Todd Stands were commissioned by the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation to paint the mural. What resulted was completely amazing!
Last weekend I walked along the south platform of the 62nd Street/Encanto trolley station and took photos of the mural. Amid swirls of color I found many birds, insects and plants, and the flowing, ever-present, life-giving water.
I also saw the hands and heart of those who make this neighborhood in San Diego their home.
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A child of San Diego sits in an enormous sculpture of a living seashell, a Growing Home.
Some amazing public art was installed in East Village about a week ago!
Growing Home is an enormous stainless steel sculpture of a sea snail’s living shell. Laser-cut into the upward coiling shell are notable events from San Diego’s history. The sculpture can be found on the east side of Park Boulevard near Petco Park and the downtown Central Library. It stands at the new Park 12 – The Collection luxury apartments.
Growing Home was created by Joe O’Connell and Creative Machines and is made of stainless steel with LED lighting. Creative Machines produces interactive and monumental art for clients around the world. They are based in Tucson, Arizona.
The shell represents the ever-growing city in which we live. As history has progressed, the shell has grown and grown.
I took these photos after a rain shower, so the large wet stones arranged next to the seashell seem to lie glistening on a beach!
Growing Home rises as public art at Park 12 – The Collection, new luxury apartments in San Diego’s East Village.Growing Home, 2018, Joe O’Connell and Creative Machines, stainless steel and LED lighting. A city’s history grows like the shell of a marine mollusk.History becomes an essential part of an ever-growing city–a city that is home to many.Growing Home features headlines of events that have shaped San Diego history.The lattice dome of the San Diego Central Library rises beyond Park Boulevard.Moments in history are preserved as words written in the growing shell.San Diego history become part of our lives. The city is our home.The coiled, elongated shell of a sea snail. Sit inside on a small bench for a fun photo!Growing Home rises at Park 12 – The Collection, in San Diego’s East Village.
UPDATE!
Seven years later(!) I took a photo at night…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! 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 photos for you to enjoy!
Balboa Park is magical at any time, but as nightfall approaches, and the last rays of golden sunlight touch buildings and trees, the magic flames, becomes even more powerful.
I got off work early today and used the extra bit of daylight to walk about the park and take photographs.
These are the best…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Eight enormous boulders form a jaw-dropping 180 ton teddy bear in the Academic Courtyard at UC San Diego. It might look cute and cuddly, but try wrapping your arms around this public art!
Bear, part of UCSD’s fantastic Stuart Collection of art, was created by Tim Hawkinson in 2005. The immense stone sculpture seems to defy gravity as it sits limply on a patch of green grass between three buildings where engineering and technology are taught. According to one thing I read, the San Diego Supercomputer Center was used to design this incredible pile of rocks.
What is the good of science without imagination?
Perhaps an infant troll one day will stride onto campus to retrieve their lost toy. Or perhaps in the distant future, among the ruins of ancient buildings, perplexed scientists will discover Bear and conclude that a race of giants once inhabited our planet.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! 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 photos for you to enjoy!
A bright, happy Christmas tree has appeared inside the Donut Bar.
Many colorful Christmas trees have suddenly popped up all around downtown San Diego!
Step into the lobby of any elegant hotel or large office tower and you’re sure to be dazzled!
This morning and evening I walked through downtown searching for Christmas trees to photograph. A couple of my photos turned out a bit grainy due to dim lighting, but hopefully you get the sense of how amazingly beautiful many of these trees are!
I also got pics of some fun ornaments in shop windows!
One of the slender Christmas trees adding holiday cheer to the north entrance to the 701 B Street office building.A large Christmas tree has appeared in the lobby of the Wells Fargo building. When I dropped by in the morning it hadn’t been decorated yet.A beautiful, shining Christmas tree in the grand lobby of One America Plaza.One of several creative, very elegant Christmas trees in the lobby of The Sofia Hotel.San Diego sand dollar and disco ball ornaments inside the window of Best of Gaslamp.One of the dazzling Christmas trees in the posh lobby of the historic US Grant Hotel.A simply magnificent Christmas tree in the lobby of Symphony Towers.A gorgeous Christmas tree inside the luxurious Westgate Hotel.A snowy Christmas tree inside the west entrance of the 101 W. Broadway office building.A funny surfing Santa ornament in the window of San Diego Trading Company!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Star of India and Californian navigate south down the channel of San Diego Bay, heading out into the Pacific Ocean.
I will remember this amazing morning for the rest of my life.
Standing on the Bayside Trail of Cabrillo National Monument, near the end of the Point Loma peninsula, I watched as Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, headed out of San Diego Bay into the wide blue Pacific Ocean.
It was a truly historic moment, and magical.
The Star of India, now 155 years old, is sailing this weekend for the first time in five years.
Tall ships Californian and San Salvador, which also belong to the Maritime Museum of San Diego, accompanied the Star of India, as did two other tall ships based in San Diego: America and Cloudia. I saw Bill of Rights, a tall ship that makes its home in Chula Vista, heading out of the channel a bit later in the morning.
Please enjoy these photos.
People walk down Cabrillo National Monument’s Bayside Trail in order to watch a bit of sailing history.The north part of San Diego Bay is visible from the Bayside Trail. In the distance, with other tall ships, Star of India makes its way around Coronado.Star of India is towed past Naval Base Point Loma as it heads out of San Diego’s harbor toward the open ocean.Star of India is accompanied during its historic sail by Californian, San Salvador, America and Cloudia. Bill of Rights would leave the channel a bit later in the morning.Californian and Star of India pass Naval Air Station North Island.The downtown San Diego skyline behind Star of India and Californian.Two beautiful tall ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, Star of India and Californian, head out into the Pacific Ocean.The amazing group of tall ships is almost out of the channel and into the wide open ocean.Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, and Californian enter the Pacific Ocean together.Behind come America, Cloudia and the Spanish galleon replica San Salvador.Pure magic. Like a dream.The beautiful tall ships continue past Point Loma, making their way south.A view of the tall ships from Cabrillo National Monument’s sunny Bayside Trail.155 year old Star of India and its companion tall ships sail across the water on an historic weekend in November, 2018.I and a few other photographers head back up the Bayside Trail to get more photos as the ships head out to sea.Californian and America on the distant water. Mexico lies on the horizon.Five fantastic tall ships together on the peaceful, blue Pacific Ocean.A magical vision of historic tall ships seen from the end of Point Loma. Time’s curtain seems to open for a moment, and we peer into the past.People enjoy the magic near a bench on the Bayside Trail.Star of India crew members can be seen upon its yards. The sails will soon billow in the wind.The ships sail past the end of Point Loma. My old camera can barely photograph them at this distance.Out into the wide, hazy Pacific Ocean.People just below the whale watching overlook of Cabrillo National Monument watch the ships. They gaze past the New Point Loma Lighthouse, which is down by the water’s edge.Among smaller boats, the tall ships are just visible in the hazy distance.Photographers with powerful cameras do their best to get good photos of the tall ships that are now very far away.Light reflects from a passing plane. The distant Coronado Islands poke out of the haze. And the Star of India sails proudly upon the Pacific Ocean.A vision I will remember for the rest of my life.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! 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 photos for you to enjoy!
An amazing, gigantic mural by the renowned artist Wyland cruised into San Diego this morning! The mural, titled Cruising with the Whales, is painted on the bow of the positively enormous cruise ship Norwegian Bliss, which was diverted into San Diego due to Hurricane Willa off Mexico.
Robert Wyland, who is based in Laguna Beach and Hawaii, has several works of marine art on display around San Diego. I’ve photographed a few of them, which can be spotted here, here and here.
Visitors to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park prepare to enjoy a short virtual reality tour around San Diego.
During my random walk through Balboa Park today, I stumbled upon something that is unique and really fun! I wandered into the San Diego History Center and was immediately drawn to a sign at the entrance to one gallery that read: Experience San Diego, The Virtual Reality Adventure.
I wasn’t looking to blog anything after my walk today, but this short VR tour around San Diego is so cool, I definitely want to share it!
After having my VR headset strapped on, I suddenly found myself transported to a wide variety of places and events around San Diego. I was standing atop the California Tower in Balboa Park, turning my head to gaze in every direction . . .
Then suddenly I was floating over Oceanside in a hot air balloon . . . standing among hockey players during a San Diego Gulls game . . . riding a helicopter along our beautiful coast . . . right up close among the dolphins at SeaWorld . . . riding the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster at Belmont Park in Mission Beach . . . flying above the desert in Anza Borrego State Park . . . floating on a boat among sea lions on San Diego Bay . . . and much more–all in virtual reality!
The whole experience is made possible by 4DSCI. A ticket costs just five dollars and the virtual reality tour lasts for perhaps ten minutes. If you want to experience San Diego in a whole new way, head down to the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park and check it out!
Experience San Diego, The Virtual Reality Adventure. You will see many cool sights as if you were there in person!Around the corner is the VR Theater…The fun, kid-friendly room where the experience is enjoyed. Chairs swivel so visitors can easily turn and experience the virtual reality in every direction.Cabrillo National Monument is one of the beautiful places that will surround you–as if you are there!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Someone watching the Swoop Freestyle FAI World Championship on San Diego Bay points to a competitor skimming across the water!
This afternoon I headed down to Embarcadero Marina Park South to watch the 2018 Swoop Freestyle FAI World Championship! What an exciting sport! Even with my little camera, I managed to get these fun photos!
Swoop Freestyle is a relatively new extreme sport. Competitors skydive, parachute toward the ground with increasing speed, then swoop right above the ground–in this case the blue water–while performing a variety of poses and tricks. The daring athletes swoop at speeds up to 90 mph! Successfully landing on the floating (and slippery) platform is one of the keys to a high score.
I was told this is only the second World Championship event–the first was in Copenhagen–and that this thrilling professional sport is still in its infancy. I can definitely see how it could blow up and become something really big!
I lingered for perhaps an hour and watched much of the First Round action. I’m no expert when it comes to Swoop Freestyle so you’ll have to please forgive my obvious lack of knowledge. I did see dramatic crashes, wild, careening maneuvers, Superman swoops, and some amazing, absolutely miraculous landings atop the floating platform!
Technically brilliant swoops and perfect landings raised a loud cheer from the enthusiastic crowd!
Take a look at these photos and you’ll get an idea of what the event was like…
Here comes another competitor. Helicopters took parachutists high above the water, and the crowd shielded their eyes from the sun to see them descending.Vying for the World Championship of Swoop Freestyle, this competitor approaches the floating platform, just off Embarcadero Marina Park South.One of the athletes is cheered by the crowd after making their dramatic swoop!A banner at the event shows the weekend schedule. The amazing Masters of the Sky wowed lots of excited Swoop Freestyle fans.I was told Swoop Freestyle athletes came from 13 separate countries to vie for the World Championship.Testing a parachute in a section of the park where Swoop Freestyle contestants prepared and boarded a helicopter.Lots of fans in attendance had a special interest in skydiving. They came to watch this unique sporting event from far and wide.Some people were enjoying a VIP section.Here comes another canopy. In mere seconds there will be another daring swoop!Members of a Rescue Team were out on the water, but during the time I watched, they weren’t needed.Crash! This competitor let everyone know he was okay right away.Here comes another swooper!Flying with feet skimming the water’s surface, approaching the floating platform. I don’t recall the result of this swoop.Will this swooper make it to the platform? Some contestants, unfortunately, miscalculated and came up short.More great Swoop Freestyle action out on San Diego Bay.Sometimes two swoopers would come in simultaneously. There was a lot of exciting, intense drama!After sitting on a hard rock for a long time, I wandered around to stretch my legs. Here’s the entrance to the VIP section.Several sponsors and vendors had booths around the park, including Skydive San Diego.Here come a couple of paragliders doing a demonstration during a break in the Swoop Freestyle competition.Paragliding slowly toward the platform. I always enjoy watching paragliders soar along the cliffs above the beach at the Torrey Pines Gliderport.The live music guys were taking a break when I walked by, but did a rocker pose for my camera!There was a fun demonstration by two daredevil water jetpack guys.Entertaining the crowd!Flying through the air without a parachute!Now that really looks like Superman! Where’s the cape?Three guys demonstrated zooming through the San Diego sky in wingsuits. They looked to me like flying squirrels. Unfortunately, I got my photo after their chutes deployed.Here they come. Splash.A couple helicopters were flying back and forth across the bay during much of the event. The Swoop Freestyle competition is about to resume.Here comes one swooper. This competitor angled in really close to the crowd.Flying inches from the water.Here comes another. As you can see, it was a typically perfect San Diego day for the event.Swooping on in. I think this contestant was too far from the platform and came up short.Here comes another Swoop Freestyler. Nice form!A perfect landing! This guy received a high score and with his performance became a contender for world champion.Excitement at a great athletic achievement!Some fans were waving a national flag for one of the Swoop Freestyle international athletes.As the crowd watched the action, behind the scenes the athletes were preparing parachutes and getting ready for their competitive jump.A huge tent contained lots of parachutes. I’m not sure if these were drying out, awaiting use, or what.Will this be the next World Champion of Swoop Freestyle?Heading off in a helicopter to take another flying swoop.Here’s a distant action photo into the sun from a spot near the Hilton, behind the San Diego Convention Center.Didn’t quite make it onto the platform! Close but no cigar!But he still gave me a smile and thumbs up!Excitement is nonstop at the 2018 Swoop Freestyle World Championship!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 