Tag: beautiful

Dreamscapes of nature’s wonders in San Diego!

Walk through Galleries 14/15 at the San Diego Museum of Art and you might think you’re strolling through a bright dream–a dream of intense beauty that is both real and unreal.

Ruud van Empel: Theatre is an exhibition that opened a little over a week ago at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.

Ruud van Empel is a Dutch photographer and visual artist who makes spectacular digital collages like the ones you see in my photos. He finds beautiful plant forms in nature–in forests, marshes, deserts, and wherever he travels–then digitally combines them into images that look both alien and familiar. To me, the images are of a paradise. He’ll introduce the human form into some of the creations.

When you visit this exhibit, make sure to watch the short film, which describes Ruud van Empel’s creative process. I’m envious. He gets to journey through some of our world’s most amazing natural places while simultaneously creating dreamlike worlds of his own.

If you’d like to view his beautiful worlds, step into the two free combined Galleries 14 and 15. You can access the galleries near the entrance to the courtyard Panama 66 restaurant, located on the west side of Plaza de Panama and the museum. Simply walk through the door that leads to the public restrooms. Ask someone working at Panama 66 if you’re not sure where to go!

Ruud van Empel: Theatre will be on view through July 27, 2025.

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What your heart knows near a Carlsbad beach.

Walk down to the beach in Carlsbad and you might find wisdom.

The walkway at Rue Des Chateaux Beach Access has a bench. Words shine on a plaque above the bench.

Mary Hoffman – In Loving Memory

Listen to the wind, it talks.

Listen to the silence, it speaks.

Listen to your heart, it knows.

The beach is reached in a few steps. The place is beloved by locals, said to offer amazing sunsets.

The Rue Des Chateaux Beach Entrance is located near 2445 Ocean Street, where the street curves inland away from the water. A sign by the sidewalk indicates the public beach entrance.

It’s a beautiful place your heart knows.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Hubbell’s colorful Bird of Paradise in Carlsbad!

Renowned local artist James Hubbell produced numerous works of public art throughout San Diego County. In Carlsbad, his colorful Bird of Paradise mosaic can be enjoyed at the corner of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive.

Bird of Paradise was commissioned by the City of Carlsbad in 1989 for the Art in Public Places Program. The circular mosaic is composed of small ceramic tiles, which together form an almost 15-foot-diameter medallion.

Those walking past the major intersection near the historic Twin Inns building, at one end of the Carlsbad gateway sign, need merely look down toward their feet.

In years past I had vaguely observed this artwork. Until I noted the nearby plaque yesterday, I hadn’t realized the beautiful mosaic was created by Hubbell. So I paused to take a much closer look!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Morning beauty on a Buena Vista Lagoon walk.

The sun had risen above a distant hill. The morning air was warming. Buena Vista Lagoon, separating coastal Carlsbad from Oceanside, was alive with light and life.

This morning I walked a short distance down the nature trail near the Buena Vista Audubon Nature Center. I enjoyed a similar hike several years ago.

This time the looping trail was flooded in at least one spot, so my adventure was a very short there-and-back. But just as peaceful and beautiful as before.

This small walk was part of a much longer, meandering walk today, from the Carlsbad train station to the Oceanside Civic Center. I had the day off from work.

I’ve captured so many photographs from my long walk that Cool San Diego Sights will be including wonderful North County discoveries (including art, historic buildings, and another nature walk) for the next week or two.

To get things started…

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Historic mural inside La Jolla Post Office!

A stunning mural decorates the lobby of the United States Post Office in La Jolla. The historic mural is titled Scenic View of the Village. Completed in 1936 by renowned artist Belle Baranceanu, the 15′ x 12′ oil on canvas painting depicts part of La Jolla, looking down curvy Hillside Drive toward the Pacific Ocean.

Belle Baranceanu lived much of her life in San Diego. She painted several public murals locally for the Works Progress Administration. A past exhibit at the San Diego History Center celebrated her contributions. See my old post concerning that here. I’ve also photographed her mural The Progress of Man in Balboa Park. You can view it on my now inactive blog “Beautiful Balboa Park” by clicking here.

Baranceanu’s work has been exhibited in many of the nation’s finest museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Institute, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Denver Art Museum.

She produced the La Jolla Post Office mural for the Section of Painting and Sculpture, a New Deal project that added artwork to numerous public buildings.

Would you like to see this beautiful mural with your own eyes? The address and lobby hours of La Jolla’s post office can be found 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.

Thank you for sharing!

Rooftop views from San Diego Natural History Museum!

The rooftop of the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park is seldom open to the public. I was lucky that the rooftop happened to be open today, the first Tuesday of the month, when The NAT is free to San Diego residents and active military and their dependents. But I was told that’s not always the case.

The rooftop is indeed reliably open to the public the third Friday of every month, when the museum presents Nat at Night and remains open until 10 pm.

The Natural History Museum’s rooftop not only offers spectacular views, but there’s food and drink and plenty of tables. Today The Craft Taco had their menu available. Later this year, the food will be provided by San Diego’s Restaurant of the Year in 2024 (according to San Diego Magazine): Wolf in the Woods.

Rooftop views are to the east and south. To the east, one can see Balboa Park’s beautiful Desert and Rose Gardens, Morley Field and Florida Canyon, and in the far distance, the Cuyamaca Mountains. To the south is the Bea Evenson Fountain, the Fleet Science Center, and glimpses of downtown San Diego skyscrapers through treetops. In the distance one can recognize a slice of South Bay, and, on a clear day, one can see all the way to Mexico.

Okay! Time for today’s photographs!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Murals at Solana Beach Gateway Business Center.

You’ve possibly seen these large murals while driving along Interstate 5 at Lomas Santa Fe Drive. The beautiful artwork decorates several walls of the Solana Beach Gateway Business Center.

I took a very long walk through Solana Beach several days ago and made it a point to check these out!

The murals were painted by Encinitas resident Kevin Anderson. They are obviously inspired by local coastal scenes. Looking at the artist signatures, I see they were completed individually over the course of years.

Here’s the artist’s website. You’ve enjoyed photographs of Kevin Anderson’s art previously on Cool San Diego Sights. Here and here and here.

As you approach the Solana Beach Gateway Business Center building via its main driveway, you see this:

The next mural was completed on 9-25-20:

It appears that the next one, with the mermaid, was completed in 2021:

The next one showing a family walking down to the beach was painted in 2022. Is that Fletcher Cove?

I found no date for the last one. It’s my favorite. I see a Coaster train passing under the bridge at Torrey Pines State 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.

Thank you for sharing!

Hotel del Coronado’s amazing old Christmas ornaments!

Dozens of amazing Christmas ornaments that were created through the years for the Hotel del Coronado are now on display in the hotel’s Ice House Museum!

Beginning in 1993, the Hotel del Coronado has offered an Annual Collector’s Ornament with a holiday theme. Most of the ornaments contain a sparkling image of Coronado’s historic Victorian beach resort.

Visitors to the hotel’s Ice House Museum can now peer into several display cases and see the jewel-like beauty of these ornaments!

I was pleasantly surprised to discover the seasonal exhibit yesterday. I took a few photographs.

(The following photo is of a 2007 Commemorative Set containing interpretations of past ornaments…)

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Festive holiday sights from a Coronado walk!

Several days until Christmas, and the holiday spirit is on full display in Coronado!

Yesterday I took the ferry from downtown San Diego to the Coronado Ferry Landing. I walked down Coronado’s central Orange Avenue, circled the world-famous Hotel del Coronado, then turned back east along the opposite sidewalk.

Look at all the festive holiday sights!

The Coronado Ferry Landing is decorated for the holidays in 2024.
Tall nutcrackers on either side of the front door of Cocina 35.
Santa Claus stands beside a Christmas tree at the Coronado Ferry Landing.
A fun holiday display in a front yard on Orange Avenue.
A beautiful Christmas tree inside the Coronado Public Library.
The classic movie Christmas Vacation playing at Coronado’s historic Village Theatre.
Beautiful Christmas theme plates in a shop window.
A festive wreath in a shop door.
Poinsettias surround the Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree.
The enormous Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree rises beside Orange Avenue.
A small Christmas tree and decorations inside the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Historical museum display includes this Merry Christmas menu from the Hotel del Coronado in 1974.
Hotel del Coronado Holidays book displayed at the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Back out on the sidewalk, I meet a giant blue M&M candy in a Santa hat!
Lamb’s Players Theatre is now showing Respectfully Christmas, A Musical Celebration.
Frosty the Snowman and friend inside a shop window.
The big red poinsettia Christmas tree outside the Hotel del Coronado.
Beachside Igloos at the Hotel del Coronado.
A Christmas tree at the Hotel del Coronado’s outdoor ice rink.
Skating By The Sea at the Hotel del Coronado.
A wreath on the historic Power Plant door at the Hotel del Coronado.
Holiday lights and sights greet those arriving at the Hotel del Coronado.
Fun wreath contains sea shells and a bit of Hollywood. Some Like It Hot was filmed at the Hotel del Coronado.
a Christmas tree outside the hotel’s lobby entrance.
The gorgeous Christmas tree in the lobby of the historic Hotel del Coronado.
Back out on the Orange Avenue sidewalk, now starting back toward the ferry landing, I encounter a smiling Old Town Trolley Tours guide!
Elvis in front of MooTime Creamery is sporting a Santa hat, too!
Can Santa sit on this Christmas cow?
No, I see Santa Claus has already found a nice seat in front of Wag’n Tails!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Blazing sunrise photos along Harbor Drive!

Enjoy these photographs, taken early this morning around sunrise.

I walked through downtown San Diego along Harbor Drive, then on down Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade, which parallels Harbor Drive. The sun would rise almost directly in front of me behind thin clouds.

You can see how dramatic the blazing sunrise was!

These photographs taken by my old camera are unaltered, except for some cropping. (I’m feeling lazy. Yes, I could’ve sharpened a few of them.)

What a beautiful day! What a beautiful 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.

Thank you for sharing!