This morning I walked down to the San Diego County Administration Building to view their Day of the Dead altar. Like the one last year, this new altar on some outdoor steps remembers those who’ve died from COVID-19.
When I arrived a gentleman was setting up additional luminarias and flowers.
Baltazar Hernandez, who is also Vice President of the City Heights Día de los Muertos, was busy making the altar more beautiful and meaningful.
He informed me there would be a special ceremony in the evening, so I returned to the County Administration Building after work.
The ceremony began with a blessing of the altar by Baltazar, who wore Danza Azteca garb. A few short speeches followed.
The most powerful words were spoken by someone who had tragically lost a loved one. She told everyone: “That empty place that you have in your heart–fill it with love.”
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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!
The San Diego County Orchid Society had one of their flower shows in Balboa Park today. As I walked near the Casa del Prado, I noticed the Fall Show event sign, and my feet turned toward amazing natural beauty.
I love the many different gardening, art and craft shows that are held nearly every weekend in Balboa Park. But the Orchid Society‘s shows might be my favorite.
Want to know why?
Simply look at these photos from the 2021 “Orchids in the Park” Fall Show!
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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!
Early sunlight made a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero very beautiful this morning.
I snapped these photos between the Grape Street Pier and Broadway Pier.
Gentle ripples moved across quiet San Diego Bay. Golden light reflected from buildings and homes across the water. Birds passed overhead. A ferry departed for Coronado.
Here’s what morning walkers and joggers might have experienced…
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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 community garden at Civita in Mission Valley features beautiful mosaic art and an old tractor at its entrance.
I made this fun discovery during a recent walk through the sprawling Civita residential community.
The agriculture themed mosaics decorate the gated entrance to Civita Gardens. Given the names and dates on the colorful, shaped ceramics, they appear to have been created in 2016.
The nearby tractor has a small sign indicating it’s a 1956 108L Junior Porsche Tractor.
I’ll have more photos taken at Civita coming up shortly.
Enjoy these!
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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!
One of San Diego’s finest murals can be seen in Lemon Grove. Beautifully detailed scenes painted on five large panels represent the history of Lemon Grove.
The impressive 65 by 18 foot mural, which was commissioned by the Lemon Grove Historical Society, was created over the course of several years (2005 to 2013) by artists Kathleen Strzelecki and Janne LaValle. In 2014 the Lemon Grove History Mural won the prestigious Governor’s Historic Preservation Award.
Small plaques indicate the historical period of each panel. From left to right they read: The World of the Kumeyaay 1,000 BCE, The Spanish Conquest 16th Century, The Mexican Empire 1821-1846, The Birth of Lemon Grove 19th century, and Modern Lemon Grove.
If you’d like to experience this remarkable mural with your own eyes, it’s located in Lemon Grove on the south side of the building at 3308 Main Street. The historic building was once home of the Sonka Brothers General Store.
The World of the Kumeyaay 1,000 BCEThe Spanish Conquest 16th CenturyThe Mexican Empire 1821-1846The Birth of Lemon Grove 19th centuryModern Lemon Grove
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Extraordinary new public art has been unveiled in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!
Two benches in the park’s recently opened outdoor expansion, which is called Land of the First People, feature beautiful mosaics that honor the Native American Kumeyaay and the world of nature.
Once you look at the following photographs, you’ll likely agree these ceramic mosaics are exceptional. They were created by local artist Betsy K. Schulz.
The two interpretive benches contain images of the Kumeyaay people in our region, fishing, collecting reeds, paddling boats and living by a river, among birds, fish and other native wildlife.
If you’d like to see more stunning public art around San Diego that was created by Betsy K. Schulz, click here.
These images were captured yesterday evening just before nightfall. I took additional photographs of this newly opened area of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and posted them here.
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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!
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s major expansion has opened!
The beautiful new outdoor area, situated at the north end of the State Park, near the intersection of Taylor Street and Juan Street where an old Caltrans building used to stand, is called Land of the First People. It honors our region’s Native American Kumeyaay.
Pathways wind through native vegetation, beautiful public artwork, and interpretive displays on stones that describe the history and culture of the Kumeyaay, who lived here for many thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. A Kumeyaay village called Kosa’aay existed where Old Town is now, near the mouth of the San Diego River.
I arrived at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park this evening just before sunset and noticed the construction fence circling this new area had finally come down! So I had to investigate immediately!
Artwork I discovered includes numerous disks along the pathways, showing native animals and the Kumeyaay words for each; a circular plaza with a mosaic depicting stars and constellations recognized by the Kumeyaay; and two benches made extraordinary with mosaics by local artist Betsy K. Schulz. Her amazing mosaics can be found all around San Diego. I’ll provide more photographs of these two benches in my next blog post!
Before it became too dark as night fell, this is what my camera captured…
Iipay ~ Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok — Land of the First People.Ha silly hatekarr – sea otterThe Kumeyaay created pottery made of local clay for cooking and storage. A large askay or saakay kept water cool…The traditional Kumeyaay diet was highly diverse, but shawii (acorn mush) was eaten daily…The traditional Kumeyaay cosmology of Maay Uuyow (Sky Knowledge) is extensive and elaborate…Hand tools like those shown here are used with the bowl-like hollows and other indentations in xepiicha (grinding stones) to process acorns, seeds, fibers…This ancestral land is respectfully dedicated to the First People, the Kumeyaay.The people of the Kumeyaay Nation have historically lived in and traveled through the Southern California and Northern Baja California region. This area extended from the Pacific Ocean to the desert…
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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 couple weeks ago I noticed a large mural was being installed on a wall of the courtyard at the newly transformed Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park.
Today I saw the work has been completed!
For many years, Variations on a Gold Theme, created by artists Ellamarie and Jackson Woolley in 1966, could be viewed in Escondido outside the museum’s satellite branch on Maple Street.
Originally this fantastic 12-by-36-foot enamel-on-copper mural made its home in downtown San Diego, at the First National Bank Building.
Now, as you can see in my photographs, the radiant, quite beautiful Variations on a Gold Theme inspires those who sit outside in the sunshine at the Mingei Museum’s new Lucille and Ron Neeley Courtyard!
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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!
For too many years, the exterior of Balboa Park’s historic Federal Building had languished neglected in a state of decay.
Not any more!
This is what I saw yesterday as I walked through the Palisades area of Balboa Park.
The Federal Building, built for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, has suddenly returned to life. What visitors to Balboa Park will now see is something more like the building’s original appearance.
This uniquely beautiful building will be the home of the Comic-Con Museum, which is scheduled to open this coming Thanksgiving weekend.
The repair and painting of the Federal Building’s exterior was made possible in large part by the Balboa Park Committee of 100.
You can see photos of the historic restoration getting underway a few weeks ago and learn a little more by clicking here.
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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!
Enjoy this collection of photographs that I took yesterday evening, as I walked into Balboa Park across the Cabrillo Bridge.
The sun was setting and clouds were darkening as a storm rolled in. The early October storm would produce spectacular lightning all around San Diego.
As I began east across the Cabrillo Bridge, the California Tower was illuminated by the very last rays of sunlight. I periodically turned west to catch sunset color above Bankers Hill.
Knowing that rain was on the way, I debated heading back home. I’m so thankful I didn’t. Because the lightning-filled concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion turned out to be something very rare and special–likely one of the most extraordinary concerts in the organ’s 106 year history. Yesterday I blogged about that experience here!
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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!
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