It must be around two o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. Time for the weekly free concert at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion!
Crowds gather in the sun under colorful umbrellas to listen to the majestic sound of the Spreckels Organ, one of the largest outdoor organs in the world. The city of San Diego employs an official Civic Organist, none other than Dr. Carol Williams, one of the top performing organists in the world! Each Sunday she plays classical music, jazz, marches . . . and occasionally one of her excellent original compositions. The Spreckels Organ Society helps to raise funds to keep the tradition of free public concerts alive. It’s a tradition that has lasted a hundred years!
The beautiful Spreckels Organ Pavilion is used for various concerts and events throughout the year, including the yearly December Nights festival around Christmas. It’s also a favorite venue for wedding photography. The ornate, elegant architecture makes it interesting to visit even when the stage and benches are empty.
The Gaslamp Quarter is not only the Historic Heart of San Diego, as the iconic sign proclaims, but it has become the center of entertainment and dining for downtown’s burgeoning nightlife. The popular Hard Rock Hotel, seen in this photograph, is but one of scores of cool attractions lining bustling Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Avenues between Broadway and Harbor Drive. Pouring even more life into the Gaslamp is nearby Petco Park, the San Diego Convention Center and Horton Plaza.
This area of town, a few decades ago, had become the home to vacant old buildings, half-deserted warehouses and seedy bars attracting lonely sailors homeported in San Diego. Many say the catalyst for its modern transformation was the establishment of Croce’s restaurant and jazz bar on Fifth Avenue in 1985. The popular Croce’s was created as a tribute to legendary singer Jim Croce by his surviving wife Ingrid. As of 2014, Croce’s has moved to a different location on Bankers Hill.
Just a typical view of city life in the always lively Gaslamp Quarter.Fun, elaborate architecture can be seen all over the historic neighborhood.People dine at a restaurant in the heart of the Gaslamp district.Bar patrons watch a soccer game in style.People stop to enjoy a treat at Ghirardelli’s.Colorful stuff for sale in a touristy store window.Plaque tells a bit about the Louis Bank of Commerce Building.The legendary Louis Bank of Commerce Building attracts much attention!San Diego’s first granite building shows Baroque style architecture.
The two photos above show the Louis Bank of Commerce Building. In the late 1800’s it became home to the Oyster Bar, one of four saloons and gambling halls operated by Wyatt Earp when he lived in San Diego.
Canopy reads: Wyatt Earp’s Historic Gambling Hall and Saloon.Nesmith-Greely Building was built in the Romanesque Revival style.Greely Building contained office of the first woman attorney in California Bar Association.Elegant doorway of the 1888 building.I.O.O.F. Building’s cornerstone contains a stone from Solomon’s Temple!The 1882 Independent Order of Odd Fellows building.Closer view of the Classical Revival style I.O.O.F. building in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.San Diego’s historic Old City Hall is an 1874 Florentine Italianate building.Two floors were added to Old City Hall to accommodate San Diego Public Library in 1887.The delightful entrance to Old City Hall.The Yuma Building was one of downtown’s first brick structures.The distinctive Yuma Building also dates from 1882.Looking down Fifth Avenue one early weekday morning.Grand Pacific Hotel was built in 1887 at this location.The distinctive old Victorian Grand Pacific Hotel in San Diego’s fantastic Gaslamp.Worker scrapes old paint as the years roll on.Old Town Trolley Tours bus exits the popular Gaslamp Quarter.
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I took this photo while strolling down El Prado, Balboa Park’s breathtakingly beautiful central promenade. Lined with fountains, fine museums and Spanish Colonial Revival buildings designed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, it is one of the most scenic walks in San Diego.
I caught this man taking a stroll with his dog in front of Casa del Prado, one of the spectacular buildings along El Prado.
This closeup photo was taken on a different day:
Ornate plaster elements add elegance to the Spanish Colonial Revival building.
And here’s one more pic!
Casa del Prado facade photographed as evening approaches and lights turn on.
Here we are strolling eastward across the Cabrillo Bridge into Balboa Park as the sun rises. To the left we see the California Tower, directly adjacent to the domed Museum of Man. During the day, the tower’s carrilon can be heard throughout the park marking time every 15 minutes. At noon the electronic chimes play a medley of beautiful music.
Many walkers and joggers love the peaceful morning atmosphere of wonderful Balboa Park.
Visible in this photo, taken from the walking path at the south end of the Marriott Marina, are two prominent hotels on San Diego’s picturesque waterfront. To the left is the elegant Manchester Grand Hyatt, and in the center are the two curved, shining, sail-like buildings of the Marriott Marquis. On the far right you can see the north end of the long San Diego Convention Center.
After gazing awhile at the hundreds of sailboats and small yachts docked in the marina, you might head a short distance west to enjoy views of the grassy Embarcadero Marina Park South and its fishing pier on San Diego Bay.
Two San Diego bayfront hotels seen through trees.View of Hilton San Diego Bayfront behind tall masts and trees.
You’ll find the Hilton on the other side of the San Diego Convention Center.
Hilton hotel seen beyond San Diego Harbor Excursion ticket booth.Marriott Hotel as seen from the bayside walkway.Looking north from the silvery Marriott toward the sandy Hyatt.One more look at the two Manchester Grand Hyatt towers.
Stairs head up into Horton Plaza. Lyceum entrance is below.
Just a few quick pics. In the above one you can get a glimpse of the underground entrance to the Lyceum Theater, home of the San Diego Repertory Theatre. In the photograph’s center are the main stairs that sweep upward into the Horton Plaza shopping center. The red building to the left has walkways on each level that provide fantastic views of the mall’s colorful, surprising interior.
During my walks I’ve taken many pics inside Horton Plaza. I’ll blog about that one day!
Near the colorful main entrance of Horton Plaza.Broad stairs ascend into San Diego’s unique Horton Plaza shopping mall.Gazing down into the unique underground entrance of the Lyceum Theater.
Here’s a bonus pic I happened to take many months later…
Here’s a much better look at the obelisk in question. (See my last blog post.) It thrusts out of the ground right in front of Horton Plaza, marking the underground entrance to the Lyceum Theater. Animals of the water, land and air, fashioned out of colorful tiles, frolic together in a mosaic beneath a smiling crescent moon!
This playful work of art and the beautiful architecture of the building behind it is just a small hint of the fun that awaits visitors inside the Horton Plaza shopping mall!
Looking down at the obelisk and underground entrance to Lyceum Theater.A closer view of artistic fish on the Horton Plaza obelisk.
The lady in this ticket booth in front of Horton Plaza seems unconcerned that a dark silent person looms ominously beside her! That person, in the form of a statue, is Ernest Hahn. He’s a famous San Diego developer and the driving force behind the popular Horton Plaza shopping mall.
What you see in the first pic is a colorful scene near the entrance of Horton Plaza. An obelisk with a tile mosaic juts out of the underground entrance to the Lyceum Theater, which is home of the San Diego Repertory Theatre. The domed building in the upper left corner of the photograph belongs to the Balboa Theatre.
Ernest Hahn statue by Horton Plaza.
Across from the statue of Ernest Hahn is a bronze representation of Alonzo Erastus Horton, a gold miner, shop owner, and finally an influential real estate developer in the second half of the 19th century. He purchased cheap land for development adjacent to San Diego Bay where ships docked, well south of the established settlement below the old Spanish presidio. Alonzo Horton’s New Town had supplanted Old Town in importance by the beginning of the 20th century.
Statue of Alonzo Horton, whose ambitious business plans helped to steer the course of San Diego’s history.Alonzo E. Horton established his New Town where downtown San Diego exists today.
The third statue stands a bit to the west, on the other side of Horton Square. You can find it in the shade of a tree. The figure is Pete Wilson, who served as San Diego mayor from 1971 to 1983. He went on to serve as United States Senator and governor of California.
Statue of Pete Wilson, a popular San Diego mayor and prominent political figure.
UPDATE!
Many years later I took a photo of a plaque at the feet of Pete Wilson…
San Diego’s success stems from the foresight of optimistic and dauntless leaders…Downtown redevelopment is one of his proudest achievements.
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The historic El Cortez Hotel, now converted into condominiums, has been an iconic landmark in San Diego since 1926. Decades before gleaming skyscrapers rose to shape our modern skyline, the El Cortez dominated Cortez Hill and was the city’s tallest building.
The large sign on top, illuminated at night, brightly flashes the sequenced letters of “El Cortez” like a beacon out of the past. The El Cortez years ago had the world’s very first outside glass elevator. Known as the Starlight Express, the elevator brought visitors to the hotel’s penthouse restaurant, which featured amazing views of the growing city and the bay below. The hotel also had the world’s first motorized moving sidewalk!
I live several blocks from this wonderful building and love to gaze at it whenever I walk or drive past!
I like this photo…even though an optical illusion makes it appear a bit tilted!
This was taken in the early morning from the short walkway that passes over Balboa Park’s shimmering reflecting pool. You are looking toward the splendid Spanish Colonial Revival buildings on El Prado.
Later in the morning, when the world has yawned, stretched and put on its shoes, people will be sitting on the white benches. Children will be standing at the pond’s edge, gazing down at Japanese Koi and myriad other critters in the water. An older gentleman will probably be heard nearby, playing Mariachi music with his guitar. And dozens of photographs will be taken. Each as beautiful as this one!
Here are some additional pics taken at various times…
View of the entire reflecting pool from the Botanical Building.
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