Tag: beautiful

Dreamy ocean photos beyond Point Loma.

Today was an almost perfect day to head out into the Pacific Ocean beyond Point Loma.

For a mid-February day, the water was amazingly smooth and the cloud cover thin. The chilly wind was not unexpected.

I and many others, wrapped in jackets, enjoyed a four hour trip aboard Flagship’s whale watching ship Marietta.

We saw a mother gray whale with her young calf and followed the two from a respectful distance. In two of the upcoming photos you can see a spout. In my previous blog post, I gazed down upon some of the hundreds of dolphins we encountered very close up.

Enjoy a few hazy, dreamy photos I took from the deck of Marietta. There are sailboats, a line of pelicans flying, downtown San Diego, Point Loma, and the Coronado Islands of Mexico off in the distance.

I haven’t edited these photographs at all, except to crop the one photo where the whale spout is most evident.

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Dolphins leap near bow of whale watching ship!

This morning a whale watching excursion off the coast of San Diego intercepted an unusually large pod of 200-300 dolphins.

I stood at the bow of Flagship’s vessel Marietta and marveled at how the Pacific white-sided dolphins raced before us, conveniently riding the water pushed forward by our ship.

A crew member aboard Marietta explained we were traveling 10 miles per hour. The dolphins are capable of going four times that speed!

Pods of dolphins are frequently encountered during trips in the ocean beyond Point Loma. Every time I’ve gone whale watching, no matter the season, we’ve spotted them.

The tightly knit pods move about while using their echo location ability to search for schools of fish. Adult dolphins have to eat about 5% of their body weight in food every day!

We were fortunate to be accompanied by such an unbelievably huge pod.

Every so often dolphins would playfully leap through the air in front of our ship!

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 Twitter!

Flowers planted in downtown San Diego!

Clean and Safe workers were out and about this morning planting fresh flowers and succulents in downtown San Diego!

During my morning walk through the Gaslamp Quarter I noticed planters along Fifth Avenue were bright with new color.

Thank you to the folks at the Downtown San Diego Partnership who strive to make the heart of our city more welcoming and attractive.

Those flowers are a reminder that spring will be here before we know it!

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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 Twitter!

Nautical Neighbors swim through Oceanside!

An exquisite stained glass mural titled Nautical Neighbors was installed last summer in the heart of Oceanside.

All the abundant sea life swimming through the mural was designed and created by Don Myers and assembled by the citizens of Oceanside.

You can see this very beautiful public art at the intersection of Mission Avenue and Ditmar Street, across from the MainStreet Oceanside downtown information center.

Enjoy these photos!

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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 Twitter!

A green February walk at Mission Trails.

Today was the perfect day for a walk at Mission Trails Regional Park.

It’s February. The sun was out . . . a pleasant breeze . . . temperature low 70’s.

The trails were almost dry after our recent winter rain. The footing was neither muddy nor dusty.

Best of all: plenty of green!

Most of the year the native vegetation covering San Diego’s undeveloped landscape is dry and drab. But in the spring or after winter storms there’s a transformation. Today, the grass near much of the trail was bright green!

My walk started from the paved Father Junipero Serra Trail at the trailhead south of the Kumeyaay Lake Campground. I headed up the Kwaay Paay East Trail, which skirts private residential property before sharply turning and commencing a fairly steep climb. At a junction with the main Kwaay Paay Peak Trail, I turned back down toward the original trailhead, to complete a loop that’s a little less than one mile long.

Here’s a trail map.

I’ve called this a “walk” even through it’s really a wilderness hike. I’d say in places the hike is moderately difficult. You can see in my photos what the trail is like.

You can also see how beautiful it is!

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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 Twitter!

Balboa Park’s ornamental pear trees in bloom!

It’s late January. Balboa Park’s ornamental pear trees are in full bloom!

Like a dream, or an Impressionist painting, clouds of white flowers now fill El Prado. The ornamental pears in both Plaza de Panama and Plaza de Balboa are putting on their winter show!

Delicate blossoms fluttering down from the trees appeared to me like gently falling snowflakes…

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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 Twitter!

Korean Heritage Celebration at San Diego Library!

A super fun event was held today at San Diego’s downtown Central Library. Lunar New Year was kicked off with the Korean American Heritage Celebration!

The library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium was filled with a large audience as several organizations provided the free cultural entertainment.

It’s the Year of the Rabbit, and energetic, traditional Korean dancing and drumming had everyone hopping with happiness! Loads of kids were in attendance, and they got to come up on the stage and drum, too!

Beautiful, colorful fan dances brought oohs and aahs, and the drumming was like an exuberant heartbeat beating with the joy of living. A crazy cool drum performance that received loud applause was to the tune of Gangnam Style!

Performers included the San Diego Korean American Folk Dance Association and the San Diego Korean Pungmul Institute. The program was organized by the San Diego Library and the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles.

I just happened to be walking through the library before the program began, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!

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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 Twitter!

Oil painted beauty at Torrey Pines.

During my walk through Torrey Pines State Reserve today, it occurred to me that my photographs of trees, sandstone bluffs and the distant ocean might be the foundation for beautiful oil paintings. Simulated oil paintings, that is!

As I do occasionally, I’ve used graphic editor GIMP’s artistic Oilify filter to transform my photos into something mysteriously different . . .

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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 Twitter!

Stones, water and light at Torrey Pines.

Our recent winter storms in San Diego thrust small stones high up onto the beach in places. At Torrey Pines State Beach, smooth stones covered much of the pedestrian pathway that runs down to and under the bridge near the north parking lot.

The stones, combined with a high tide and descending sun, made for some silvery photographs this afternoon! Bands of reflected light approached the shore with every crashing wave. Newly wetted stones gleamed like magic.

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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 Twitter!

A visit to the San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center.

The San Elijo Lagoon Nature Center in Cardiff-by-the-Sea is a very special place.

Inside the Nature Center visitors can learn all about the nearby wetland and its wildlife. Outside, the building’s organic, curving lines seem to flow through the natural environment around it.

At every chance, I’ll poke my nose into any nature center. When I walked through San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve and saw this beautiful structure, I was eager to walk all around it and explore inside.

The 5,600 square foot, multi-award winning building, completed in 2009, was designed by Zagrodnic + Thomas Architects. It is light-filled, spacious and visually stimulating.

The construction is environmentally friendly. The building is made out of recycled materials and has irrigated roof plants, solar panels and recycled water.

A big observation deck allows visitors to look out over the lagoon. Excited kids were exploring easy trails winding near its front entrance.

Approaching the Nature Center from the parking lot.

Board near front door announces Arrivals and Landings of resident and visiting birds.

Many informative exhibits greet visitors inside the Nature Center.

Coyote stands atop map of the watershed. Pollutants including trash threaten wildlife that depends on this habitat.

An explanation of San Elijo Lagoon’s biodiversity. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Silvery Legless Lizard.

Piece of sandstone from Annie’s Canyon Trail in San Elijo Lagoon.

Outside light from the sunlit world touches the light of learning.

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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 Twitter!