Spring is less than three weeks away. And signs of the coming season are “springing” up in San Diego’s amazing Balboa Park!
I walked through the park today and took a variety of photographs…
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Two dozen Christmas carols were sung early this afternoon near The Old Globe, accompanied by Balboa Park’s carillon!
The Ramona Community Singers and the Tremble Clefs joined with members of the public singing beloved carols like Deck the Halls, The First Noel, Silver Bells and Silent Night.
The “Carol-along With the Carillon” was a unique opportunity to sing Christmas favorites while accompanied by the Ona Mae Lowe Carillon, whose bright notes descended from the California Tower. The carillon was played by Gina Seashore, who has programmed the noontime Balboa Park concerts since 2009.
An audience collected near The Old Globe’s Grinch tree. Young and old listened or sang as they chose. It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas!
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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!
The Juniper Staircase is located near the southwest corner of Balboa Park, just north of Marston Point. The rugged “staircase” descends toward a dirt trail that runs through Cabrillo Canyon along the west side of State Route 163.
Ninety eight stone steps that were built by the California Conservation Corps descend from a paved pathway that winds through trees on Balboa Park’s West Mesa. Google Maps refers to the several paths in Cabrillo Canyon as Bridle Trail.
You can locate the curving stairs on a map if you follow the line of Juniper Street east past the intersection of Balboa Drive and 8th Avenue.
I took these photographs walking down the rocky steps. I continued north along the dirt trail by the freeway and passed the place where one can turn to walk under the historic Cabrillo Bridge. I then completed this relatively short and easy hike at Nate’s Point Dog Park, on El Prado, just west of the bridge.
If you’re curious to see what it looks like standing directly under the Cabrillo Bridge, I took some really interesting photographs one day and posted them here!
Be sure to watch your step! The loose dirt and leaves can be slippery.
The Juniper Staircase is a destination for local joggers and runners seeking a workout.
A very peaceful spot, if it weren’t for the noise of nearby freeway traffic.
Looking northeast across Cabrillo Canyon, one can see Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower!
Make sure to wear good shoes. The trail is rough and eroded in spots.
Approaching a split in the trail, where one can walk down under the Cabrillo Bridge.
I was tempted to walk under the bridge again, but decided against it the particular day I took these photos.
Soon arriving at the fence around Nate’s Point Dog Park where happy dog’s can run freely off leash.
El Prado, the road that crosses the Cabrillo Bridge into Balboa Park, is to the right, just a short distance up the hill!
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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!
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!
Bright, dramatic clouds crowned Balboa Park this evening!
I took this series of photographs before sunset, as I walked through San Diego’s world-famous park.
The first photo you see below was taken in front of the Casa del Prado Theater. I then headed west down El Prado, aiming my camera right and left, as the distant California Tower came ever closer.
I finally passed through the California Quadrangle and headed over the Cabrillo Bridge, before making my way home.
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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 colorful, truly stunning mosaic greets visitors arriving at the North Island Credit Union building in Kearny Mesa!
The large circular mosaic in the entrance plaza was created in 2008 and is titled Icons of San Diego. It was designed by artist Wick Alexander and installed using the LithoMosaic process.
The artwork pays tribute to iconic sights in San Diego, including the Coronado Bay Bridge, Balboa Park’s California Tower, the Santa Fe Depot and the Hotel del Coronado. Kids make a sandcastle on the beach, a surfer rides a wave, and hot air balloons float overhead!
If you’d like to read about the making of this very fine public art, click here!
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!
This week the California Tower in Balboa Park will be lit purple and gold at night. It’s part of a nationwide celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote.
The Forward Into Light campaign has asked that monuments across the nation be lit up to mark this important anniversary, which officially takes place tomorrow. The 19th Amendment was certified on August 26, 1920.
In addition to the California Tower, every night this week the San Diego Convention Center’s sails and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument will be turned purple and gold.
This morning I walked from downtown up to Balboa Park to see the tower just before sunrise. The California Building’s elaborate facade was illuminated with soft purple light, and a golden Museum of Us was splashed upon the tower. The Museum of Us is the new name for the Museum of Man, which occupies the iconic building that was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
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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 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!
The decade is off to an exciting start in Balboa Park! I discovered lots of big news during my afternoon walk!
After years of delay, new structures on the southwest side of the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages are finally rising! Three structures on this side and two on the International Cottage’s northeast side will provide future homes for nine nations or cultural units: Mexico, India, Colombia, Lebanon, Palestine, Peru, Panama, Turkey and the Philippines.
If you want to see photos of the big groundbreaking event that took place over three years ago, click here!
A new Community Christmas Tree was recently planted! It replaced the diseased, old, misshapen tree that Balboa Park stopped decorating many years ago.
I learned from a friendly lady who works for the Balboa Park Conservancy that the new tree was planted around Christmas. It will be allowed to grow and become established before being decked with lights and ornaments. Look for it during future Holiday Seasons!
Here’s an old photo of that misshapen tree, which was finally removed:
Finally, the scaffolding has been removed from the California Tower! The iconic building’s Seismic Retrofitting Project is almost complete!
I was informed by two Museum of Man employees that the tower will reopen to the public on February 15!
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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!
This morning, at 11:00 am, the carillon bells of Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower chimed twenty-one times. These symbolic Bells of Peace marked the centennial of Armistice Day.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, exactly one hundred years ago, World War I finally came to an end.
In the United States, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday that honors American veterans who’ve served their country in war and in peace. So this morning, when the clock struck eleven, on what might be called the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day, a special ceremony accompanied the ringing Bells of Peace. Flags were presented and voices lifted in front of the Museum of Man.
These photographs relive that ceremony…
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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!
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