This holiday season, the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park features beautiful Christmas trees in its spacious atrium. Not only has the 15 feet high Christmas tree made of blooming red poinsettias returned, but several smaller green trees twinkle nearby.
The more traditional Christmas trees were decorated by the San Diego Floral Association and are an extension of their Festival of Trees, a favorite December Nights attraction inside Room 101 at the Casa del Prado.
One of these trees I really like. It’s filled with old images from San Diego history!
I took a few photographs…
Kate Sessions’ Christmas Tree of 1915.Panama California Exposition San Diego, California 1915.Streetscape in front of the Hotel Del Coronado.Dearest Kate, Here is a picture of your “Blank Canvas.” Your plants are growing beautifully. Your friend, Anna Marston. (Photo of the Marston House.)Botanical Building in Balboa Park.
…
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.
Preparations have begun for San Diego’s free, epic December Nights event this weekend. Workers and volunteers were in various parts of Balboa Park, erecting structures, stringing holiday lights, and building the huge Christmas Story Tree that is a beloved tradition at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.
I walked through Balboa Park a little before sunset and photographed some of the activity. Today is Monday. December Nights in 2024 runs this coming Friday, December 6 from 3 pm to 11pm, and Saturday, December 7 from 11 am to 11 pm. Over 300,000 visitors are expected!
As I crossed the Cabrillo Bridge, I noticed red ribbons on lamps now line El Prado…
Here’s one of the holiday decorations that will welcome thousands of pedestrians who cross the bridge into the park…
The Old Globe’s “Grinch tree” had its lighting ceremony last month. As usual, it will be a popular family destination during December Nights.
A cheerful candy cane striped structure went up today in the Plaza de Panama. Lights strung outward from its top will create a magical scene after dark.
At the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, the joyful hub of December Nights, volunteers and members of the Christmas Story Tree organization were putting together the towering tree,
Learn about the Christmas Story Tree by visiting its website here. A choir, that is made up of many local churches and community members, and an orchestra tell the story through familiar Christmas hymns and carols along with a narrator. They could use donations and more volunteers!
A spotlight structure goes up in the rear of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.
When I walked through the International Cottages, I saw two of the cottages were busy getting ready for December Nights. I didn’t get a photo of boxes being carried into the House of Mexico, but the following photo was taken outside the House of Germany.
This Breakfast With Santa notice was posted outside the Municipal Gymnasium. Toys For Tots says: Come meet Santa and have breakfast on Saturday, December 14th at 9 am.
I learned the interior of the Municipal Gymnasium will become Santa’s magical North Pole home, much like last year. The building will close on Wednesday to begin its transformation!
Meanwhile, as I listened to the sound of bouncing basketballs, I found some fun stuff on the gym’s bulletin board…
…
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.
An excellent exhibition by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild is now showing inside Gallery 21 at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center.
The exhibition, curated by Alex DeCosta of the Hyde Art Gallery, features fine works by some of our city’s most outstanding artists. These eclectic pieces, all of which are for sale, would be valuable additions to any art collection.
I wandered into Gallery 21 late this afternoon and enjoyed viewing all the artwork. I took a few photographs so you get an idea of what you’ll find when you visit.
Make sure to swing by in the next few days. The 2024 SMMAAG Membership Exhibition will be on view in person through December 2, 2024. If you can’t make it by then, view the exhibition online here until the end of the year.
…
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.
Many of the studios in Spanish Village Art Center in San Diego’s Balboa Park are ready for the holiday season! Other artist studios will be getting ready soon!
I walked through Spanish Village late this afternoon and found wreaths, ornaments, and other fun decorations inside studios, on doors and in windows!
Need a unique Christmas gift for a special person? This is the perfect destination!
Peeking into Studio 41 the day before Thanksgiving.Come on into Studio 34.Wreath near art outside Studio 23, Southwestern Artists Association.Santa says Believe when you step into Glass Blowing Studio 19.Holiday wreath on yellow door of Studio 18, the Spanish Village office.Wreath and silver stockings hang on door of Studio 10.Welcome to a snowy forest scene.At Studio 6, which jolly old elf is the REAL Santa Claus?A beautiful little Christmas tree in Studio 2.Studio 2 has several white snowy wreaths with red cardinals!Come visit colorful Spanish Village Art Center during the holidays. Make sure to drop by during December Nights!
…
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.
A brilliant performance by San Diego Ballet was enjoyed this afternoon at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. Two selections from The Nutcracker–Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz of the Flowers–were the highlight of the two o’clock Sunday organ concert! The outstanding guest organist was Mark Herman.
The company dancers of the San Diego Ballet soared powerfully above the outdoor stage with ease and grace. I don’t know how they defied gravity, dancing on air, moving lightly through space as if by magic.
For a moment, to my mind, they became flowers swaying in a light summer breeze.
I hope these images convey that grace. That feeling of exuberant joy.
The holiday season is a few days away! San Diego Ballet will be presenting The Nutcracker on December 21st at 1 pm and 5 pm, at the Magnolia in El Cajon. Learn more at their website here.
…
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.
Check out all these fun holiday decorations! They fill the House of USA cottage in San Diego’s Balboa Park!
The cottage is typically full of artifacts and images that celebrate American history and culture. When you place Santa Claus in the company of George Washington, visitors to the cottage might blink with surprise!
Are you ready for December Nights in 2024? San Diego’s epic holiday event in Balboa Park is coming up in less than two weeks–on December 6 and 7!
…
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.
Have you seen this very cool mural in Hillcrest? It’s painted around a corner of the California Bank & Trust building at 3737 5th Avenue, a bit away from the street. I hadn’t noticed it until my most recent walk through the neighborhood, about a week ago.
The artwork celebrates San Diego!
Images in the mural include the downtown San Diego skyline (including the El Cortez and Coronado Bay Bridge), Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower and Cabrillo Bridge, the San Diego Zoo, Mission San Diego de Alcala, and the Hillcrest landmark sign!
The art was created by @AustinGosswiller and @JackStrickerArt. Looking at the latter’s Instagram page, it appears to have been painted in 2023.
Awesome!
…
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.
Did you know Hawaii has it own unique cowboy culture? Hawaiian cowboys are called paniolos. You might be surprised to learn that the origin of paniolos in Hawaii has a direct connection to San Diego’s early history, when our nascent city was part of Mexico and cattle ranches flourished!
An extensive new exhibit at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park has the unusual title Aloha Vaqueros. It recalls how several Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) from San Diego moved to Hawaii to help control an exploding population of cattle!
I’ve read Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, and I do remember how sailors from the Sandwich Islands (later called Hawaii) participated in the cattle hide trade up and down California’s coast. Several Sandwich Islanders also lived on the beach near the hide houses in Point Loma at La Playa.
I was unaware, however, that in the early 1830s, Joaquín Armas, a soldier and vaquero born at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, was hired by Hawaiian King Kamehameha III as an advisor on how to control thousands of wild cattle that had multiplied on the islands. Armas would then recruit three other Mexican vaqueros from the San Diego region, helping to establish vaquero traditions in Hawaii!
The thousands of environmentally destructive wild cattle had descended from long-horned cattle that were given by British Captain George Vancouver to King Kamehameha I in 1793. The wild cattle, evading hunters and traps, came under control about half a century later as vaquero-inspired ranches popped up on Hawaii’s islands. The cattle were valuable for the tallow and hide trade. Skilled ropers and riders were in demand, so many native Hawaiians would learn cowboy skills!
The paniolo experience would eventually become ingrained in Hawaiian culture. Take music, for example. One important development was Hawaiian open-tuning for the guitar called kihoʻalu, or slack-key.
Why are Hawaiian cowboys called paniolos? One theory is that the word is derived from español–the language spoken by the Mexican vaqueros.
If this very unique history fascinates you, go visit the San Diego History Center!
A few photos to provide a taste…
…
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.
A special Veterans Day program was held this afternoon at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. The annual event was brought to San Diego by the House of USA.
I arrived a bit late. Guest speaker R. Ann Bush, University of San Diego professor and author of WAVES on the Potomac, was talking about the numerous contributions of women during World War II. Over 400,000 women helped the war effort in a wide variety of important ways.
Highlights of the Veterans Day program included a Dance Tribute of Vietnam, and a Fan Dance Tribute of Korea. Special tribute music was provided by Oceanna, a San Diego singer and songwriter. She sang “Be Strong, O Brother of Mine” in honor of the Veterans of WWII Bataan Death March and their families.
I took a few photos during this emotionally moving event.
R. Ann Bush speaks about the sacrifices made by women during World War II.A beautiful Vietnamese cultural dance concerns American sailors.Sons of the American Revolution was present for the Veterans Day event.Biographies of individuals who’ve been awarded the Medal of Honor.Heroes remembered.Veterans of Foreign Wars, District 1, Department of California was on hand. To those who’ve fought for Freedom, thank you for your service.VFW poppy pins.Three members of organization Military Women Across the Nation. Thank you for your service.I learned you can find these female military figurines, including Rosie the Riveter in her classic pose, on Amazon.Learn about San Diego’s own Roberta “Randy” Tidmore, one of the original Rosey Riveters and World War II Veteran, by clicking here.
…
Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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.
Attention holiday shoppers! The big annual Balboa Park craft sale is fast approaching!
San Diego’s AgeWell Services Craft Sale will be held at the Casa del Prado next weekend, November 16 and 17, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm each day.
Senior crafters (age 60 and better) will be displaying handmade goods inside Room 101 and on the two outdoor patios.
The family friendly event is free to the public!
So mark your calendars! Then make sure to come on down to Balboa Park to discover beautiful crafts and works of art made with loving hands. You’ll find heartwarming Christmas presents for loved ones–or for yourself!
You’ll be rewarding creative seniors in our San Diego community, too!
…
Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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! 