Tag: balboa park

The 1915 San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race.

A famous car race was held in Point Loma in 1915. A historical display at the San Diego Automotive Museum recalls how the San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race involved many famous race car drivers of the era and received nationwide attention.

The race promoted the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. It is estimated 50,000 people watched the 305 mile race as it looped through Point Loma’s rather rough-appearing streets. The winning purse was a whopping (for 1915) $5,000. Only five of the eighteen drivers would finish the race.

The race winner would be Earl Cooper in Stutz No. 8. His average speed was a nail-biting 65.3 miles per hour!

A vintage car accompanies the museum display. The 1932 Morgan Super Sports, as much as it resembles some of the earlier race cars, debuted 17 years after the San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race was held. It can go 100 miles per hour–much faster.

When I saw this historical display, I immediately remembered my experience of the 1915 Road Race vintage car show. That amazing event was held in the parking lot by the San Diego Automotive Museum during Balboa Park’s centennial in 2015. See those photos here.

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Making traditional crafts in House of Sweden.

What you see here is a traditional Swedish Dala horse. It’s one of many crafts created by members of the House of Sweden in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

I stepped into the House of Sweden‘s cottage today when I noticed it was open. Even though it’s Tuesday and most of the International Cottages are closed during weekdays, a few were open because school students were having a field trip in the park.

Inside the cottage I was greeted by a group of friendly ladies sitting around a table, hard at work crafting small gifts that will be sold during the House of Sweden’s Midsummer Festival later this year. Among other items, they were creating yarn dolls and flower wreaths!

The ladies call their group Pysselgruppen, which in Swedish means “Craft Group” or “Activities Group.” They invited me to join them, but sadly I had to say no. My efforts would be a disaster!

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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.

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Orchids, staghorns returning to Botanical Building!

If you’ve been inside the newly restored Botanical Building in Balboa Park, you might’ve noticed certain plants seem to be missing. Orchids and staghorn ferns!

I visited the beautifully renovated building today. It’s now so airy and light filled.

I asked a Forever Balboa Park volunteer about additional plantings that are planned. He told me that the orchids and staghorn ferns that have been so popular in the past will be returning soon.

As I understand it, the colorful orchid displays will be just inside the Botanical Building’s front doors, as they were previously. The staghorn ferns, however, won’t be directly mounted to the building’s interior wall. Apparently that had caused damage. They’ll be mounted in a different manner that protects the integrity of the newly restored building.

Picture the beautiful entrance once again filled with orchids…

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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.

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A colorful Easter walk in Balboa Park.

Easter Sunday, for many, is a day full of promise, joy, new life.

As I walked through Balboa Park early this afternoon, I could see in many open faces a love of life. Laughter and smiles. Delighting in the sunshine. Soaking in our world’s beauty and the bright colors of spring.

I wandered about without any destination in mind…

A smile and Easter Bunny ears in the Balboa Park Visitors Center.
Joyful baile folklórico dancing in the Plaza de Panama.
Is there a more wonderful place?
Plenty of flowers for a photographic background.
The Spring Orchids In The Park Show attracts a big crowd inside the Casa del Prado.
A street performer has colorful balloons ready.
Mitchell Walker brought three didgeridoos today!
Spring has turned the park’s trees bright green.
I see golden California poppies along the San Diego Natural History Museum’s new nature trail.
Spanish Village is always colorful, no matter the season.
Abstract artist Lucas Smith is exhibiting in Gallery 21 through tomorrow.
Another weekend in Spanish Village means more live glassblowing!
Plenty of color here!
The San Diego History Center will soon have the official opening of Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys.
What spring looks like between Casa de Balboa and the House of Hospitality.
A couple of the International Cottages were open on Easter Sunday. This very beautiful pendant is displayed in the House of Korea.
Imagination Station is now playing at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater.
A prickly pear blooms in the Kate O. Sessions Cactus Garden.
Colorful umbrellas provide shade during rehearsal before the Sunday two o’clock organ concert.
Talented musicians in a splash of sunshine along El Prado.
An artist has captured some of this world’s infinite color.
Balboa Park’s thriving rose garden attracts many families on Easter Sunday.

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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.

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Help our environment at San Diego EarthFest!

If you read this in time, you might head down to Balboa Park to enjoy San Diego EarthFest. The big environmental festival is being held on the grass near Park Boulevard and Presidents Way today–Saturday, April 19, 2025–until 5 pm.

Numerous organizations are present, providing education and volunteering opportunities to those who want to help protect our environment.

This the third year of EarthFest, not to be confused with the gigantic EarthFair that filled the entire park years ago. A smaller space, but still numerous participants! Non-profit organizations are joined by food trucks, artists, and vendors. There are several stages offering entertainment and education.

Because it’s mid-afternoon as I type this, I’ll quickly share these photographs. That might give you time to head on down!

These friendly guys with two puppets are Magic Jacket Productions! They’re putting on a fun show this and next weekend at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park!

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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.

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Star Wars blood drive at Comic-Con Museum!

“May the Fourth” be with blood donors in San Diego!

The Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park will be hosting a May the 4th Blood Drive, in partnership with the San Diego Blood Bank. The event will take place at the museum from 10 am to 4 pm.

Not only will this event include awesome Star Wars cosplay by local fan groups, but donors will get a free Comic-Con Museum ticket and a coupon for a complimentary Soapy Joe’s car wash!

The San Diego Blood Bank could really use your life-saving donation. You can schedule an appointment here. Walk-ins are also welcome!

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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.

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Virgin of Guadalupe miracles fills the Mingei!

In 1531 the Blessed Virgin Mary was said to have appeared miraculously in Mexico. You can read that history here.

Today, images of the Virgin of Guadalupe (a Catholic title of the Virgin Mary) can be seen throughout Mexico, and San Diego, too.

A standard image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, filled with symbolism, hangs in homes and churches. It is painted on murals, on cars and appears in tattoos. The Virgin of Guadalupe seems everywhere.

Not surprisingly, the iconic image also appears on textiles. An important part of the Virgin of Guadalupe story includes her likeness appearing miraculously on the inside of a cloak.

The Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park recently opened a sensational exhibition titled Fashioning an Icon: Virgin of Guadalupe Imagery in Textile Design.

The exhibition features outfits worn by women and men, traditional huipiles (handwoven tunics largely worn by indigenous peoples in Mexico), jackets, shoes and more. Many of the crafted pieces are very colorful, as you can see from my photographs.

Signs throughout the exhibit explain why the Virgin of Guadalupe became a religious and cultural phenomenon–how, in Mexico, invading Catholicism eventually melded with indigenous sensibilities, producing the divine but grounded symbolism one sees in the now beloved image.

The Mingei International Museum has presented many outstanding exhibitions, and this one is right up there. I was surprised to see so many different objects, and such variety. I was excited to see so much life.

Each work seems a miracle of human faith and creativity.

Fashioning an Icon: Virgin of Guadalupe Imagery in Textile Design is on view through September 7, 2025.

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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.

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The amazing Doctor Who exhibit in San Diego!

How do I convey how awesome the Doctor Who exhibition is at the Comic-Con Museum?

If you’re a Doctor Who fan or anyone in San Diego who loves science fiction, it’s an absolute, positive must see!

I haven’t been a regular watcher of the long-running BBC show, but when I visited the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park today, I was blown away. The museum has hosted epic exhibitions in the past, but this one, Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction, might have the most wow moments.

The exhibition celebrates all fifteen Doctors and displays their distinctive costumes. A variety of props can be viewed up close. Best of all, visitors come face to face with dozens of life-size robots and creatures that have been used in the making of Doctor Who!

Most of the alien creatures are utterly bizarre. Some appear to have been hatched in a nightmare. (See my previous blog post about the exhibition’s awesome Monster Vault by clicking here.)

As fans know, scary-looking creatures in the show can actually be allies of the Doctor. When you travel by TARDIS across time and space, you never know who or what you’ll meet!

The exhibition, like the show, is mostly about wonder. Displays explain how Doctor Who story ideas are often based on actual scientific and technological advancements. Concepts like artificial intelligence, evolution and multidimensional reality are utilized in fantastic ways. Indeed, the show began in 1963 as an educational program. Curiosity is an essential element of Doctor Who.

I took a few sample photos. There’s so much to see, you could spend a good hour exploring Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction.

Visitors begin by stepping through a TARDIS…

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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.

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Deadly monsters of Doctor Who in San Diego!

Should we all be worried? Many of Doctor Who’s most dangerous adversaries have materialized in San Diego!

Fortunately, most are confined inside the Monster Vault at the Comic-Con Museum. People can safely observe the deadly creatures and robots while moving through the museum’s epic exhibition Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction.

A huge collection of props from Doctor Who, the world’s longest running science fiction television show, is possibly the coolest part of the exhibition.

Today, as I visited the Comic-Con Museum, I noticed many Doctor Who fans entering the Monster Vault and remembering some of the show’s most terrifying episodes. Some of the detailed, life-size props are super scary. I wouldn’t care to meet real-life versions!

There are menacing Daleks–the Doctor’s arch-enemy: a hateful, genetically-modified species bent on conquest. There is mad scientist Davros, creator of the Daleks. There are different versions of the deadly cyborg Cybermen.

There is a mutated Dreg, a Sea Devil and a Silurian (both evolved reptiles), an armored Sontaran warrior, an Ice Warrior, a parasitic Weeping Angel that moves when you’re not looking, a bug-eyed Wrath Warrior, and more!

As a nearby sign explains: When designing monsters, sometimes the show’s creators explore different options that don’t make it to the screen… The possibilities of alien life are only as limited as our imagination.

The Monster Vault is one of my favorite parts of Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction. But there’s a lot more to see!

I’ll be blogging more about the Comic-Con Museum’s fantastic (and educational) Doctor Who exhibit in my next post!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Fashion Redux 2025 at San Diego History Center.

Fashion Redux 2025 will soon be opening at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park!

The extraordinary exhibition will include opulent garments created by renowned designers (including Hollywood’s legendary Irene Sharaff) worn between 1940 and 1988 during iconic San Diego events. They will be displayed along with unique creations by San Diego Mesa College students, who were inspired by the past styles and elegance.

I was wandering through the History Center yesterday when I noticed the exhibition is being set up in one gallery. I snapped the above photo.

Fashion Redux 2025 will be ready to go on April 10th–that’s this coming Thursday!

If you’ve never been to the San Diego History Center, located near the center of beautiful Balboa Park, why not go check it out? It’s a museum full of history, culture and amazing, important works of 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.

Feel free to share!