The winter solstice occurred early this morning. The days will now begin to grow longer. Christmas is nearly here.
On the beach by the Hotel del Coronado, Bill Pavlacka, The Sandcastle Man, created a unique sand sculpture today that pays tribute to the 2024 winter solstice!
His fun sand sculpture, and another that rises a few steps away, also celebrate the holiday season! Season’s Greetings!
This is the 17th year that The Sandcastle Man has been making sand sculptures in Coronado. Whenever I walk along the ocean side of the Del, I always look for his latest creation!
Some photographs…
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A beach scene mural that shows the Oceanside Pier, a woodie and three girls with a surfboard on the sand has appeared in downtown Oceanside. You can view it on the parking lot side of Finney’s Crafthouse restaurant. Postcard-like words read: Greetings From OCEANSIDE.
The artist is Jerry Ragg. The mural was painted in 2024 in memory of JT Ragg.
I spotted the cool artwork during my weekend walk in Oceanside and took these photographs into the sun. Consequently, I had to increase the contrast of each image quite a bit.
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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.
A gigantic sand sculpture now stands near the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier. The “Back 2 IB” retro sculpture, created using 80 cubic yards of sand, celebrates nostalgia from the 1980s. It’s the centerpiece of Imperial Beach’s family friendly 2024 Sun & Sea Festival!
Carved into the massive sculpture are images from the 1980s that many will recognize. Pac-Man. Ghostbusters. MTV. Rubik’s Cube. Cabbage Patch Kids. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Back to the Future. Nintendo Entertainment System. A video game arcade. A boom box. Music on cassette tapes…
Is this the coolest sand sculpture ever, or what? Why was it built? Each summer, during the annual Sun & Sea Festival, Imperial Beach is also known as Sandcastle City!
When I visited the festival late this morning, the local sand artists, including members of the Imperial Beach Posse Sand Carvers, appeared to be nearly finished. They’ve been working on their monumental work of art for several days.
I walked around the “Back 2 IB” sand sculpture and took these photographs of the sand sculptors hard at work…
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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.
The Sun & Sea Festival returned to Imperial Beach for 2024, attracting a good crowd as usual. And, as always, the annual event beside the Imperial Beach Pier featured sand sculptures!
A monumental sand mega castle was being finished by a group of local artists late this morning when I walked through the festival.
The “Back 2 IB” sculpture celebrates nostalgia. Carved into the sand are fun retro images that bring back fond memories of the 1980s, from Back to the Future, to Ghostbusters, to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, to Cabbage Patch Kids, to Rubik’s Cube, to Pac-Man. (I’ll be sharing more photos of the amazing sand sculpture in my next blog post!)
The festival also featured a Kids-n-Kastles competition, with 15 team entries built on the beach north of the pier. There was no adult competition this year. Sadly, there weren’t enough sponsors.
The COVID pandemic and sewage coming from the Tijuana River polluting the ocean off Imperial Beach have visibly hurt this long-running event, not to mention the Imperial Beach community and local businesses. Nobody was out in the water, apart from several surfers who were seriously risking their health.
I spoke to people at a Surfrider Foundation tent. They said very slow progress is being made to solve the sewage problem. The ocean here has been off limits for about two years now. It’s a problem that seems to have no end.
In spite of this, however, there was plenty of fun to be had at the 2024 Sun & Sea Festival! Lots of food! Live music! A fantastic location and SoCal beach vibe!
Here are my photos…
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Check out three colorful murals that I discovered last weekend during a walk down Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. All three were painted in the past year or so.
The bird mural at Pacific Beach Tattoo, above, is titled The California Least Tern Mural. It was created by artist Todd Murphy. According to a tiny sign that I spied while preparing these photographs, the beautiful mural is dedicated to the community of Pacific Beach on August 12, 2023 with the purpose of promoting conservation and awareness of this local endangered species.
The next photograph shows the latest Guru Tattoo mural. It’s by Bowen Bramwell (@illustrationbybo). Other spray painted Guru Tattoo murals have decorated this same wall in the past. You can see two of them (and other examples of street art in PB) here and here.
Finally, check out this beach scene mural beside the Broken Yolk parking lot. (Is that sandy Coronado Beach with the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in the distance?)
The mural was created by artist Emily Fallon in 2024, in collaboration with San Diego Paint and Stain.
If you’d like to see even more cool street art in Pacific Beach, I’ve photographed a lot of it over the years. Additional examples can be found here and here and here!
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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.
The Switchfoot Bro-Am was held today on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. The popular surfing and live music Beach Fest celebrated its 20th anniversary!
Back in 2005, internationally famous rock band Switchfoot, whose members grew up in San Diego surfing and making music, held their first Bro-Am on the beach. They started Bro-Am to help local, at-risk youth, and lift them up.
Since then, the surf competition and musical offerings have grown. I saw thousands out enjoying the day today, sunbathing on blankets before the main stage, wandering about the sand, playing, watching surfing action, and checking out the booths of various charities that benefit from this wonderful event. I saw folks from Rady Children’s Hospital, Feeding San Diego, the Monarch School and the Challenged Athletes Foundation! (Just a few.)
At heart, Bro-Am is about celebrating kids. They represent our future. And lots of kids were out on the sand, having a blast!
The Rob Machado Bro-Junior surf competition was for younger athletes. A second smaller stage featured youthful performers from the School of Rock.
I didn’t hang around long enough to hear Switchfoot perform–as I left for the Coaster train station to head back home, the great group Jettee was up on the main stage rocking the beach!
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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.
Chet Kinzelberg has embarked on an important Eagle Scout project. He will be creating an Ocean Safety Awareness booth on June 22nd and 23rd at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.
Today he and other Scouts from Troop 766 were offering cookies and tasty treats to raise funds for the project. I got a cookie and these smiling photos as I walked down a sidewalk, just before entering the Switchfoot Bro-Am surf and music event on Moonlight Beach. (Photos from the big event coming up.)
At his Ocean Safety Awareness booth, Chet will be handing out free cards that provide information for beachgoers. You can see one side of the card in my next photo. There will also be a prize wheel and a raffle for AirPods.
It’s great to see young people cheerfully working to make this world a better place! Those chocolate chip cookies were great, too!
If you’d like to learn how to have a safe beach day in Encinitas and the conditions right now, click this link. Then bookmark that page for your next beach trip!
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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.
An extraordinary event was enjoyed by a good crowd today at the Hotel del Coronado! The Seaside Victorian Carnival entertained hotel guests and the public with old-fashioned carnival games, food, jugglers, magicians, plate spinning, aerial silks, tightrope and other circus acts!
Tents on the beach featured nostalgic games like ring toss and penny pitch. Kids were having a blast trying to win a prize. Funds raised benefited a variety of charitable organizations in Coronado.
Several sand sculptures could also be enjoyed. And flying high above the sand were students from San Diego State University. Check out my photos of their amazing feats!
On the boardwalk, people lined up for caramel apples, chocolate kettle corn, giant pretzels and other yummy treats!
The main attraction was a slate of circus acts. I stayed awhile, watched several jugglers (one on stilts), an amazing chair stacker/balancer/juggler, and an aerialist smiling and spinning above a rapt audience!
Another perfect day at Coronado’s world-famous Victorian beach resort!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
There’s more than a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean at the Moonlight Beach Overlook in Encinitas. There are a few bits of art, too!
Two trashcans are decorated with colorful tiles painted by youth.
The parklike Moonlight Beach Overlook isn’t large, but it’s a great place to relax, gaze down at the beach below, or perhaps enjoy a picnic on the grass.
The following overlook sign can be spotted just south of the main Moonlight Beach parking lot.
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
An extraordinary mural depicting life in (and above) the ocean can be found on Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. Titled The Pacific Playground, the mural, composed of stained glass, stands next to the Moonlight Beach Marine Safety Center tower where lifeguards are stationed.
The 7 1/2 foot-by-15-foot mural was made possible by the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project and installed in 2018. The original design was conceived by artist Peggy Sue Zepeda; the mural was built by Don Myers and Manny Corona with the help of hundreds of volunteers from the community. Here’s an article about The Pacific Playground, published shortly after its installation.
The stained glass shines brightly in the Southern California sunshine. The words SAVE THE OCEAN crown colorful images of sea life. This inspired public art makes Moonlight Beach even more special.
I thought you might enjoy a few photographs…
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 