The Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park is one of San Diego’s most beautiful places. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has closed the garden to the public temporarily.
It’s spring. The world is newly green. Leaves stretch skyward to drink in bright sunlight. Flowers bloom.
Even though our eyes cannot admire the garden at the present moment, there is absolutely no doubt its great beauty persists.
Let’s enjoy some photographs that I took in past springs at the Japanese Friendship Garden…
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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!
One big reason the park is so wonderful is its many diverse museums. World-class museums. Museums that enhance the culture of our city and document the life of this planet. Museums that educate, entertain, highlight beauty and provide inspiration. Museums that bring our community together.
But these nonprofit institutions are always in need of public support. Especially during the present coronavirus pandemic, when Balboa Park is closed to all visitors. Today many of these beloved museums really need your help.
Would you like to make a donation to one or more of the museums of Balboa Park, or perhaps find another way to give them a helping hand?
I’ve visited each museum’s website and created the following list of links. These links will take you to web pages that explain how you can provide each museum with support.
Well, May is here already. Hard to believe. The coronavirus pandemic continues, as do the government mandated lockdowns, which makes it difficult for a photo blogger who explores the city to find fresh material. Nearly all events are cancelled, many places are closed.
So what is one to do? I thought now would be a good time to once again go back five years!
What was happening on Cool San Diego Sights back in May 2015? Lot’s of amazing stuff! One thing you might notice is that Balboa Park’s big year-long Centennial Celebration was underway!
Click the following links to enjoy lots of photos…
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An amazing bronze sculpture can be found in downtown San Diego, on Ash Street beside the new Carte Hotel. It’s titled Global Proportion.
Created by artist Beverly Penn in 2019, the bronze “topiary sphere” is described as “a journey and destination created from individual bronze leaves cast from live flora at Balboa Park.”
The diverse leaves seem to represent many beautiful lives, joined together in one organic Earth-like object.
Below the amazing bronze topiary sphere, inlaid plaza tiles represent fallen leaves, scattered by the wind.
Whenever I walk by this very unique sculpture I like to pause for a moment and look up. It’s like a small, perfectly beautiful planet that hovers almost within reach.
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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 breathtaking photo of Balboa Park, perfect for your desktop computer wallpaper, courtesy of the San Diego Tourism Authority.
I just made the above photograph the wallpaper background on my desktop home computer. It’s one of seven stunning images that were made available today by the San Diego Tourism Authority. I learned about it because I subscribe to their email list.
The amazing photos were sized to be used as Zoom video communication virtual backgrounds, but the high quality .jpg images also work perfectly as wallpaper on a computer.
Anyone can freely download beautiful images of Balboa Park, Torrey Pines, Cabrillo National Monument and Windansea.
To download these wallpapers, visit the San Diego Tourism blog by clicking here!
Another recent post links to amazing virtual experiences from around San Diego, including many of the city’s most popular attractions. You can access live webcams at the San Diego Zoo and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, go on a virtual tour of the USS Midway aircraft carrier and the San Diego Museum of Art, listen to world-class music by the San Diego Symphony, view clips from some of the Old Globe’s famous productions, and much more.
To check out these virtual San Diego experiences, click here!
The California Tower in Balboa Park is probably the most iconic sight in all of San Diego. I’ve photographed it many, many times.
Built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, the 198 feet tall bell tower, a combination of various architectural styles, rises from the similarly ornate California Building, which is presently home to the Museum of Man. The California Tower invites those who love beauty to come visit one of the most amazing public parks in the entire world.
I’ve taken so many photos of the California Tower over the years, from different angles and during different occasions, that I thought I might have a little fun. Using the GIMP graphic software’s Oilify filter, I’ve transformed some of my images into digital oil paintings!
Here they are!
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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 now temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When it might reopen is anybody’s guess.
I didn’t go to Balboa Park this weekend, the way I usually do. I already miss it.
I miss the sunshine and smiles, the gardens and amazing architecture, the fountains and beautiful art, the dancing and music. Over the years, my Sunday visits to Balboa Park have become an important part of my life.
As the warming spring weather greens the grass and trees and opens bright new flowers everywhere, wouldn’t you love to walk through one of the world’s most beautiful parks?
Come along on a random walk back through time, and enjoy some of many colorful photographs that I’ve taken over the years.
The following photos are all new to Cool San Diego Sights. They were originally posted to one of my other blogging websites, which is titled Beautiful Balboa Park.
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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!
A downtown fast food restaurant has changed its practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today is the first Saturday of the announced COVID-19 pandemic.
I thought I’d take a midday walk in San Diego, to see what I might see.
I headed from Cortez Hill up Sixth Avenue on the west side of Balboa Park, turned east on University Avenue in Hillcrest, then headed south down Park Boulevard. I meandered a little through Balboa Park, before returning to downtown San Diego.
I saw less traffic than usual. Fewer people were about. I suppose many are hunkered down, to avoid possible exposure to the coronavirus. I only saw a handful of older people, which is a good thing. They need to be particularly careful.
Balboa Park was much less crowded than usual.
As you can see in some of the upcoming photographs, various parts of the park have temporarily closed for public safety.
Balboa Park’s West Mesa was much less active than usual for a Saturday around noontime.The Little Italy Farmer’s Market has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and these vendors had moved to a secluded spot on the grass near Sixth Avenue, hoping for some business.An older gentleman waits for a bus on University Avenue in Hillcrest.As I walked over Highway 163, I saw some traffic, but it appeared less than usual for a Saturday.Some folks were out and about in Hillcrest, walking down the sidewalk or dining outdoors.This old Before I Die interactive chalk board might have taken on a little more meaning during the current dangerous coronavirus pandemic.Human thought and endeavor endure in a bookstore window.On a door: Good to meet you. Come in.A lone jogger heads south down quiet Park Boulevard.A mysterious shoe. A moment in somebody’s life.The parking lot at the San Diego Zoo is much emptier than usual. Many are avoiding public places where there are crowds.The Balboa Park Carousel is shuttered on a Saturday afternoon.Closed until the end of March as a proactive safety measure.Many artist studios in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village were closed. This guy told me it’s a good time to do a little maintenance!Sign promoting shows in front of the Casa del Prado Theater is empty.A street performer and his dog on Balboa Park’s normally busy El Prado.Balboa Park was much quieter than usual for a Saturday, but some folks were still out and about enjoying the day.Hand sanitizing stations have popped up around Balboa Park.The House of Scotland at the International Cottages has cancelled its upcoming Tartan Day event.The parking lot in Balboa Park’s Palisades area is almost empty.So is this parking lot on President’s Way. Ordinarily it would be almost full on an early Saturday afternoon.Almost no traffic on Park Boulevard. Very unusual.The hours of this downtown coffee shop have been changed due to the current situation.Almost no traffic downtown on A Street.
Everyone, take care!
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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!
Beauty fills and surrounds the Botanical Building in Balboa Park. As do words that honor those who’ve made our world more beautiful.
Seeds that were planted many years ago live on and on.
Last weekend I saw and read a few plaques.
Alfred D. Robinson, Founding President of the San Diego Floral Association in 1907, originated the use of a “lath house” for displaying plants at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
Ruth C. Smith, founder of the City Beautiful of San Diego, who worked to plant 10,000 trees in San Diego parks, has left a legacy of beauty for all San Diegans to enjoy for years to come.
In Memory of Miss Daisy O. Tompkins, Teacher. This world is a better place because of her.
Barbara Hart McLean. Artist, Scientist, Mother, Friend. She loved life in all of its diversity and color.
Honoring a man whose vision of a “Palace of Lath” became reality, adding beauty to the lives of millions of Balboa Park visitors for over a century.
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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! 