A rare opportunity for history and book lovers is coming soon!
On the last weekend of November, the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park will be hosting their special Holiday Photo and Book Sale!
Several local authors will be present for book signings, including:
Elsa Sevilla (Saturday and Sunday) Emmy-nominated journalist, filmmaker, and host of San Diego’s Historic Places on KPBS; author of Camera Ready: From Hardship to the Spotlight.
Dr. Sandra Bonura (Saturday only) Historian and award-winning author of The Sugar King of California: The Life of Claus Spreckels and Empire Builder: John D. Spreckels and the Making of San Diego.
Maria Garcia (Saturday only) Educator and author of We Made San Diego, highlighting Latino contributions to the region’s growth and identity.
Richard L. Carrico (Saturday, possibly Sunday) Archaeologist, historian, and author of El Presidio de San Diego: Alta California’s Lost City.
There will also be the opportunity to purchase frameable prints of fascinating historical photographs, and past volumes of The Journal of San Diego History!
In addition, the San Diego History Center’s big annual Christmas tree made of live poinsettias should be ready to view, too!
The Holiday Photo and Book Sale will take place inside the San Diego History Center at 1649 El Prado (the Casa de Balboa) on November 29 and 30, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Admission is free!
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The House of England in Balboa Park celebrated the 250th birthday of Jane Austen today!
Dressed in Regency attire, members of the Jane Austen Society of North America San Diego Region assembled outside the House of England cottage and listened to beautiful music performed by Amanda Fagan. Many of the ladies were wearing bonnets!
Jane Austen was a major literary figure who wrote such famous novels as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. Songwriter and prolific creator Amanda Fagan (@amandafaganofficial) entertained everyone with original compositions inspired by Jane Austen novels!
I learned that Amanda Fagan is writing a screenplay for a musical based on Austen’s satirical novel Northanger Abbey. I suspect it will include a good deal of humor! See her YouTube page here.
Inside the House of England cottage they were serving Victoria sponge cupcakes and scones with proper British jam and cream, and, of course, a cup of tea. I noticed that a few displays in the cottage pay tribute to Jane Austen and her importance to world literature.
Heading into the cottage…
Back outside. (Did they have smartphones at the turn of the 19th century?)
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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.
In San Diego’s Civic Center Plaza, near the Civic Theatre Ticket Office, you’ll find these words:
Blooming is the wild body unmarred by the limits of this world
Its petals temporary but you’d never know it
The two lines were written by Paola Capó-García, San Diego Poet Laureate 2025-2027. A special City of San Diego webpage provides her biography.
Paola Capó-García lives in North Park. Her accomplishments and accolades as educator, author and journalist are numerous.
The thought-provoking words in Civic Center Plaza are actually the conclusion of her poem Wild, which you can read here. Her poem explains the difference between blooming and blossoming.
Are you blooming?
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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.
The French Market returned to San Diego’s bayfront this afternoon. The fun cultural event, organized by the French-American Chamber of Commerce of SoCal, was held outdoors at Lane Field Park. Its purpose was to celebrate French culture, flavors and innovation right here in San Diego, and to promote vibrant Franco-American business ties and cultural exchange.
I swung by to check it out!
Several vendors and organizations had canopies on the grass, and there was live music provided by Chloe Perrier & the French Heart Jazz Band, too!
Without further ado…
Versailles Café & Pastries had tasty crepes topped with strawberries and chocolate!The Alliance Française de San Diego offers French classes in La Jolla and Vista, and organizes social gatherings. Their French Literature & Arts Festival is coming October 2-4, 2025 in San Diego. More here.The San Diego French American School, in La Jolla, offers bilingual education from preschool through 8th grade.The mobile and online Clotilde French Bookstore had many books at their table!Author Claude Koehl’s book, The American Way of Life: The Foreigner’s Perspective, helps people understand cultural differences, using humor.Some smiling authors!Six Years of Absence is a novel based on French Sergeant Alexandre Rolland’s harrowing experiences during World War II. Written by Alain Rolland, his son.A good time in sunny San Diego.
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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.
Individual free expression took center stage today at the Compressed Zine & Music Fair. The event, organized by Particle FM and Burn All Books, was held at Bread and Salt in Logan Heights.
Writers and artists (and dreamers who are doers) gathered from around the San Diego region to showcase hundreds of their uniquely created zines. (And other printed works of art!)
What is a zine? According to Wikipedia: A zine is a magazine that is a… noncommercial often homemade… publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter.
As you might imagine, individuals printing their own zines can be boundlessly creative. They aren’t limited by the “demands” of societal acceptance or mainstream publication. Anyone with access to a copy machine or modest printer (and perhaps a stapler) can create a zine. It’s a cool way to easily get ideas out there and create something tangible that others can share.
You know those revolutionary pamphlets created by our nation’s Founding Fathers? In essence, they were zines.
Today’s zines can range from philosophically serious or politically satirical, to just plain silly or art for the sake of art. Some zines are love letters to people, places or things by devoted fans. Some are critiques. Many titles include wry humor.
Titles I spied while walking around the Compressed Zine & Music Fair include Copy Machine Manifesto, Shotgun Seamstress, Respawn Archive, Typical Natural Disaster, We Miss Jerry Garcia, This is a Critique of the X-Files, and My Feelings Are Not Wrong.
It appeared to me that the best part about making a zine is the simple joy of creativity.
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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.
The San Diego Writers Festival was held today in Coronado. Hundreds of writers, podcasters, publishers, aspiring authors and eager readers came together to enjoy inspirational talks, panels and workshops, not to mention book signings, entertainment, tasty food, and a chance to engage with San Diego’s extensive creative community!
The event was held at both the Coronado Public Library and Coronado High School across the street.
I had a great time and learned a whole lot, plus met a variety of interesting people!
A highlight for me was a performance by the Voices of Our City Choir, which is comprised of homeless and formerly homeless singers. Countless unhoused San Diegans have had their lives uplifted by connecting with this group. Their joyful music was possibly the most inspirational part of the whole event!
Here are some of my photographs. Check out the captions and click some of the links and perhaps you’ll be inspired, too!
In the Coronado Library’s Winn Room, an audience listened to a panel of authors and podcasters. They talked about Building a Following: How to Create Meaningful Connections. Some ideas when it comes to social media and marketing: engage with your readers by answering comments, be yourself, be human. Build trust, be persistent, have fun. Participate in book clubs, build email lists, encourage online reviews.Marni Freeman talks about How to Unblock and Become a Creative Force of Nature. She explained that unleashing your creative genius requires mindfulness, being in the moment, quieting a distracted mind. That’s when inspiration mysteriously arrives. Shut down the daily stress, be quiet, be aware of the world around you, be introspective, be self-confident, don’t fear failure or compare yourself to others. Take slow, rhythmic, deep breaths. Find your flow!The Voices Of Our City Choir perform at the 2025 San Diego Writers Festival. They just completed their first ever recording session! Perhaps you’ve seen their incredible, inspirational performance on America’s Got Talent. To view it on YouTube, click here!Lots of tables outside at Coronado High School during the 2025 San Diego Writers Festival!Two of many authors doing book signings.Organizations helpful to writers were present at the festival, including the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild.One of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Mathew Riek, after many difficulties, made his way to San Diego. He has co-written the children’s book At Least I Wasn’t Eaten By A Lion! His book inspires young readers to believe in the power of perseverance and kindness. He was at the Shaping Bright Futures table. They are a charitable organization dedicated to raising awareness of educational disparities found throughout the world. Check out their website here.Jacob Hubbard wrote Sounds of Yesterday, a novel. It concerns love, loss and empathy in a neurodivergent world. Neurodivergent means having a brain that forms or works differently, which Jacob personally understands. He’s a writing teacher who is not afraid to explore challenging, emotionally driven ideas about the human condition.Two big smiles! On the left is Esther Avant, author of To Your Health. To the right is Bookish Flights podcaster Kara Infante, who reviews and recommends books. To your continued success!I listened to this cool guy reading powerful poetry in Balboa Park almost 7 years ago! Chris Vannoy is the US National Beat Poet Laureate! Check out my old blog post concerning that past encounter here.San Diego Poetry Annual is one of the longest running poetry anthologies in the San Diego region. It features renowned poets and artists alongside emerging local voices. Learn more about it here!That’s Heather James Pond, yoga teacher, painter and author, smiling on the right! Her debut novel, MOXY, is about unspeakable pain, fortitude and healing. It’s an incredible true story of resilience and transformation! Thank you for sharing your bright smile and making the world a better place!
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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.
In 1940, a year after publishing his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck went on a scientific expedition to the Sea of Cortez with marine biologist Ed Ricketts. The 4000 mile, six week journey, made famous in Steinbeck’s books Sea of Cortez and The Log from the Sea of Cortez, utilized the Monterey fishing boat Western Flyer, a 77-foot purse seiner that had been used in the sardine fishery.
On their way to Baja California, Steinbeck, Ricketts and the small crew of the Western Flyer visited San Diego. Eighty five years later, the storied fishing boat returned!
Yesterday the Western Flyer was docked at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and museum visitors had the opportunity to tour her!
I was one of many who stepped aboard the historic vessel that is called the most famous fishing boat in the world. I took photographs, of course!
The first thing we were shown was the head! Yes, what you see in the next photograph is where John Steinbeck himself sat! During the Sea of Cortez expedition, he developed the idea for his future novels Cannery Row and The Pearl. Perhaps he did some brainstorming here…
We then went forward to the pilot house…
All the instruments are modern–the Western Flyer during its long complex history sank and was submerged for six months. The boat was restored to look and feel as it did originally. Ninety percent of the hull and ten percent of the wheelhouse was replaced.
When we turned around, we discovered a small room with a single bed. This is where Steinbeck’s wife, Carol, slept. Even though she was part of the marine specimen collecting expedition, she was never mentioned in Steinbeck’s books concerning it.
We then proceeded down through the deckhouse past more equipment and bunks and entered the galley. The Western Flyer Foundation takes students out on educational trips, performing ocean research. The young people are privileged to gather around a table where Steinbeck and his friends sat…
At the table, I was shown a remarkable shot glass. It retains marking from barnacles that attached to it while the boat was submerged. The shot glass is dated from the 1930s. It’s quite likely that John Steinbeck drank from it!
Back out on the boat’s weather deck, we descended into what originally had been the vessel’s fish hold. It was converted for the Sea of Cortez expedition into a laboratory, where small marine specimens–urchins, crabs, chitons, snails, clams, starfish and more, gathered mostly from the intertidal zone–were preserved using formaldehyde and other chemicals. Steinbeck and Ricketts discovered that the old fish hold was so damp that it quickly corroded much of their equipment.
Historical photographs of Western Flyer, and from the Sea of Cortez expedition, cover the large table for our tour. You can see in the next photo some of the modern research equipment used by ocean-going college students today…
This is how Western Flyer looked before its 7 million dollar restoration by Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op…
The image of the Baby Flyer is one of only two known photographs showing Steinbeck and Ricketts together. John Steinbeck is in the striped shirt, and Ed Ricketts is sitting next to him…
We then proceeded through the crowded engine room. You can learn about the Western Flyer’s original Atlas-Imperial diesel engine here. Today’s diesel/electric engine is quite useful for scientific research, allowing the boat to maneuver silently. I took no photographs of it–sorry.
We then peeked into the boat’s forepeak, where there are more bunks. John Steinbeck and the Western Flyer’s engineer Tex slept here and certainly held many interesting conversations.
Up some steep steps and we’re back out on the main deck. That is HMS Surprise of the Maritime Museum of San Diego straight ahead, and their iconic Star of India–oldest active sailing ship in the world–to the right.
The Western Flyer Foundation had hats, shirts and stickers available for purchase. They are a nonprofit and would appreciate your donation!
Some more looks…
After departing the Maritime Museum of San Diego, the restored Western Flyer heads south to Ensenada, Mexico. They’re embarking on a recreation of the historic Sea of Cortez expedition. Instead of collecting marine specimens, however, they will be making new friends and educating the curious.
Follow the Western Flyer’s journey online! Experience it all virtually on the Western Flyer Foundation’s Facebook page here, and their Instagram page here!
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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.
Western Flyer, the world’s most famous fishing boat, will be visiting San Diego on March 26, 2025, and you have the opportunity to tour it!
If you’ve read John Steinbeck‘s famous book Sea of Cortez, you’ll recognize the name of this fishing boat. In 1940, Steinbeck and his friend Ed Ricketts explored the Gulf of California in this very boat.
For decades the boat was lost, then it was found and restored by the Western Flyer Foundation. It now operates as a floating classroom, educating youth about the intersection of science and literature.
With a General Admission ticket, visitors to the Maritime Museum of San Diego will be able to step aboard and tour the legendary fishing boat as it makes its visit to our city!
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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.
The 59th Annual Local Author Showcase can now be visited at San Diego’s downtown Central Library.
Books and ebooks written by San Diego authors that were published in 2024 are featured. The published works are displayed on the library’s first floor during the month of February.
One of the display cases caught my eye. It contains words of inspiration for our local authors.
“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” –Louis L’Amour“I think writing is another form of thinking, and story telling is not only a way to remember, but a way to create something new that is a part of us.” –Tommy Orange“No song or poem will bear my mother’s name. Yet so many of the stories that I write, that we all write, are my mother’s stories.” –Alice Walker“You can’t wait for inspiration…You have to go after it with a club.” –Jack London“Description begins in the writer’s imagination but should finish in the reader’s.” –Stephen King“Toda mi vida he tenido miedo en el momento en que me siento a escribir.” (All my life I have been afraid of the moment I sit down to write.) –Gabriel García Márquez“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” –Terry Pratchett“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” –Jodi Picoult
One of the books in the 59th Annual Local Author Showcase contains the writing of homeless young people. Hopeful students who attend Monarch School have written about things they know.
More Odes to Common Things, Volume VII is by the Monarch Seven Collective. I posted a blog concerning the book two weeks ago. Read a few of those odes and learn more by clicking here.
I, myself, write fictional short stories. If you’re curious, you can read them here.
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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.
On Sunday, January 5, 2025, the public has the rare opportunity to meet professional children’s book writers and illustrators. The free event takes place in the Community Room of the La Jolla-Riford Library from 3 to 5 pm.
If you can’t make this very special event, swing by La Jolla’s library during its open hours to see artwork by these creators. They’re all members of the San Diego Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Dozens of their pieces are now displayed on the walls of the Community Room.
You can view this wonderful library exhibit, which is titled Stories Imagined, through February 24, 2025. All of the pieces can be purchased, too!
I checked out the imaginative art yesterday and took photos of several pieces I liked…
Orb Weaver’s Tightrope Dance, by Cheryl Boeller.Beaver Hydrologist, by Michelle McCunney.Distracted, by Livna Genchel.Parental Unit (Betty Builds It), by Julie Hampton.
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 