Symmetrically painted figures practice yoga under crescent moons as the sun rises. Cool street art in downtown San Diego.
Here’s another batch of colorful art. As usual, I stumbled upon these cool discoveries while walking around the city, perhaps on one errand or another. Most of this fun urban artwork was photographed in downtown San Diego…
More cosmic yoga street art on another side of the same transformer box.Boldly painted colors on a row of electrical boxes in Little Italy.This super cool car made of colorful wires recently appeared at The Garden Project of the New Children’s Museum.The Eiffel Tower has magically appeared inside a shop on Sixth Avenue!Fun utility boxes near Pantoja Park feature lots of artistic flowers and birds.Natural scenes painted in a big city.Downtown street art. I love you more than you’ll ever know.I love this carved wooden bear bench! But for the life of me, I can’t remember where I photographed this! I think somewhere near Petco Park . . . maybe.I stumbled upon these rocketing pie slices in Hillcrest! I’m not sure if these spaceships belong to the strawberry fleet, rhubarb fleet, or the cherry fleet. But I’m certain they’re piloted by the good guys!
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Car deep in the water. The flooded lower level of a Fashion Valley mall parking garage in San Diego’s Mission Valley.
Occasionally I post not-so-cool photos on my blog. Here are some that are noteworthy. I took these this morning while walking through a section of Mission Valley on my way to work. Because it lies right next to the San Diego River, the area is notorious for catastrophic flooding.
Yesterday we had a storm that brought intense rain to our region. It was the second winter storm of this El Nino year. Today we’re having our third storm, and it looks to be fairly rainy for many days to come.
Of course, after California’s long drought, we need the water. Unfortunately, the rain that falls in Mission Valley and many other parts of San Diego isn’t captured–it simply runs off into the ocean. I hope there isn’t too much damage caused this winter by El Nino. To my blog’s followers who are affected, take care!
The morning after an early winter storm during an El Nino year. The sun is out as people cross the San Diego River near the Fashion Valley Transit Center.Areas along the San Diego River are notorious for flooding. Yesterday a long deluge raised the water to an unusually high level.A couple dozen cars were spotted flooded at the Fashion Valley shopping mall. This one was stranded not far from Macy’s, which also suffered some flooding inside the store.More cars abandoned in the flood. Many storms are in line to strike San Diego in the coming days during this El Nino year.The bike and pedestrian pathway beneath Highway 163 flooded and was impassable. The nearby river was swollen with the recent rain.A beautiful morning photo of the San Diego River taken from Mission Center Road. This spot floods during severe storms and traffic must be diverted.A barrier stands ready for the next storm. It looks to be a long, watery winter!
A carefree girl rides a scooter on one side of the North Park parking garage.
Here are some fun images I photographed during my recent walk through North Park. A number of murals decorate the multi-level parking garage located just south of University Avenue, between 29th and 30th Streets.
I performed all sorts of internet searches to learn more about this artwork, but have come up with nothing. Perhaps someone out there knows something.
Anyway, I really like these simple, light-hearted graphics! They definitely add to the cool vibe of North Park. It looks to me like a very imaginative artist had lots of fun creating them!
Because these photos were taken from a bit of a distance (and some were faint), I had to adjust their brightness and contrast quite a bit.
UPDATE!
Silly me. The artist’s name is on one of the images.
These were created by Blair Thornley. Sponsored by the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Diego.
A couple of unique characters out for a drive. Fun murals decorate the sides of North Park’s multi-level parking garage.This cool guy is riding in some sort of vehicle painted with the word Paradigm. If it’s a manual transmission, I suppose he must engage in paradigm shifting.Looks like some sort of hip creature carrying a tray of glasses, and some spoons. I like the style of this artwork.This one seems to depict a restaurant hostess taking a call while sitting atop her workplace.Three more fun murals. If I recall, these are on the north-facing side of the garage.A bird in a bib ready to chow down.An amusing box-dog about to eat some letters in a bowl. I love it!
The electric wicker cart Electriquettes are returning to Balboa Park in early 2016!
The wicker carts are returning to Balboa Park! What fun!
The now famous electric motorized wicker carts were introduced to Balboa Park one hundred years ago for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. They were called Electriquettes. They were an enormous success!
Starting in early 2016–perhaps February I was told–visitors to Balboa Park will be able to rent the new wicker carts at the San Diego Air and Space Museum. The test program will run for a year, and I hope it’s successful!
I learned that the carts travel at about 2-3 miles per hour, an easy-going speed appropriate for a pedestrian and family-friendly city park. As I understand it, the carts will be restricted to Balboa Park’s core area. They appear super easy to operate–one just steers and applies power! Perhaps the coolest thing is that these vehicles are a reasonably close representation of the original Electriquettes.
The Electriquettes began running toward the end of March! I even saw a couple driving about the Plaza de Panama, but didn’t have my camera handy! I’ve learned they can be rented right in front of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center!
An Electriquette is displayed in Balboa Park, in anticipation of the vehicle’s reintroduction. The unique wicker carts will be rented by visitors at the Air and Space Museum.Old photograph of an original Electriquette in San Diego’s Balboa Park a century ago.Introduced at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park, the historical wicker Electriquettes are making a comeback! Very cool!
People at the annual Plastic Fantastic check out cars of the North County Corvette Club.
Here are some cool pics!
I was walking along San Diego’s waterfront today, with no destination in mind, when I stumbled upon a huge gathering of car enthusiasts! Members of the North County Corvette Club had come together for a fun day at Embarcadero Marina Park North, right next to Seaport Village. Their annual car show, dubbed the Plastic Fantastic, is said to be the oldest and largest all-Corvette show in the Southwest. There had to be well over a hundred perfectly gorgeous Corvettes gleaming in the San Diego sunshine!
This cool event benefits the club charity, the San Diego USO, an organization that serves active-duty, reserve, guard and military families. If you’d like, you can donate to USO San Diego here!
The San Diego USO benefited from the all-Corvette car show near Seaport Village.The King Lives–but he must be laying off the donuts, because it seems he’s shrunk a bit.Shiny metallic American flag inside the hood of a cool Chevy Corvette.Artwork on this slick sports car includes flames and a checkered flag.A racy paint job and a beautiful downtown San Diego backdrop.Lots of Corvettes were on the grass of Embarcadero Marina Park North, right next to San Diego Bay.Another colorful photo, with the Marriott Marina in the background.Corvette owners wait to hear which cars won show awards.It’s two o’clock and time to head home. Drivers are graciously thanked for attending!
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Art Deco relief work shows female flying above propellers of airplane.
“Through science and the toil of patient men, the nation’s thought traverses land and air and sea.” Those are the words inscribed along the top of downtown San Diego’s Post Office, on E Street between 8th and 9th Avenue. Beneath the words are nine terra-cotta panels created by Archibald Garner in 1937. The Art Deco images include a car, train, ship and airplane, the means by which mail has been delivered over many decades, transmitting the written word across the nation and around the world.
Titled “Transportation of the Mail,” Garner’s handsome panels were the result of a Department of Treasury competition. Like most Post Office public art created during the New Deal, the work was funded through the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture, also known as The Section of Fine Arts. The post office itself was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and stands across the street from the now closed old Central Library. You can see a few interesting photos of the library here.
View of San Diego’s downtown Post Office from Ninth Avenue.Steamship cuts through ocean waves on its way to deliver the mail.Distinctive Art Deco train can be seen near roof of San Diego’s old Post Office.Historically interesting panels, which appear at the top of high windows.Classic automobile in Art Deco public artwork in downtown San Diego.
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Kid checks engine of vintage car at Balboa Park show commemorating 1915 race.
One hundred years ago a famous road race took place in San Diego. Many of the world’s greatest race drivers took part. The 1915 San Diego Exposition Road Race was a thrilling, dangerous 300 mile race around the streets of Point Loma. Those streets still exist today.
This morning, dozens of vintage cars took part in a rally along the old race route. The event was part of Balboa Park’s Centennial celebration, which is being held all year long to remember the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
Before the rally, the participating cars gathered in Balboa Park in front of the San Diego Automotive Museum for a special car show. I walked up to the park this morning to check things out.
Wow! Double wow!
Please enjoy these photos. While I love looking at classic cars, I’m very far from being an expert. If you detect an error in the captions, or have something interesting to add, please leave a comment!
Guy drives his classic automobile through Balboa Park, heading to a special car show.Old race car is pushed into position. San Diego Automotive Museum is in the background.Vintage cars from era of Point Loma road race that began 1915 Panama-California Exposition.Someone checks out Fiat racing car at special Balboa Park Centennial event.Wooden dashboard full of knobs looks almost prehistoric compared to modern cars!Engine of 1914 Tahis Special that competed in many races!Collectibles from 1915 road race in Point Loma that kicked off Panama-California Exposition!People can still ride in style in this elegant Pierce-Arrow.Pierce-Arrow luxury automobiles in early 1900s were owned by many movie stars and tycoons.So many amazing cars were lined up in the parking lot it was hard to take it all in!1910 REO Model D Touring car has a very classic look.Check out this awesome vintage Cadillac!1909 Pope Hartford on display at Balboa Park Centennial special car show.This isn’t your father’s Buick. But it might have been driven by your grandparents!Walking around, I felt like I’d stepped back in time one hundred years!Here’s the grill of a cool Ford. License plate is for a Horseless Carriage.Colorful Ford is painted orange and green. Awesome!Red and green signal light near spare tire on back.1910 Velie Model D Touring cars were popular. Velie race cars were also successful.Many of these beautiful old cars contain lots of wood, brass and leather.Dozens of classic cars were out on public display!Inspecting another Velie, made early last century in Moline, Illinois.Very cool 1911 Ono, a vintage chain-driven race car.Someone nearby joked: It’s a motorcycle chain!And here’s a guy checking out the engine of an Italian Isotta Fraschini.Makes my own extremely modest car look downright futuristic!Chests full of tools that car mechanics would use back in the old days.Kid checks out a 1912 Packard race car in Balboa Park.Many refurbished motors were open for people to investigate.A large crowd enjoys many super cool cars in front of San Diego Automotive Museum.News cameraman gets a shot of young girl in pink pretending to race a vintage car.Racing goggles lie ready on leather seat. The road rally will begin in a few minutes!I’ve never seen so many cameras taking so many photographs in one place!Fun historical costumes were everywhere you turned.This fellow is ready to go! It’s a perfect Saturday morning for a road trip!It might have a dent or two, but it still runs!One guy checks out the steering wheel, another the unusual wheels on the asphalt!Getting the engine started with the old hand crank!Gentlemen, take your seats! We’re about to get started!Don’t touch this fancy car unless you are nude! (And showered, presumably.)I love this shiny oval grill on a Pope-Hartford.Not sure how this old horseless carriage would fare in a race.That’s as primitive a motorcar as you’re likely to ever see.Folks are shooting the breeze and having a whole lot of fun!This guy is getting ready to climb aboard a gorgeous classic Hudson.Car show disbands and crowds have scattered to make way.Here they come! That’s the San Diego Air and Space Museum in the background.Many drivers and onlookers wore fashion styles from early 20th century.A long line of beautifully restored hundred-year-old autos rumbles past.Heading out of Balboa Park for Point Loma, where historic 1915 race will be commemorated.
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Unusual street sign on Park Boulevard shows the road in someone’s hand.
A dozen very unusual, artistic street signs line Park Boulevard in the vicinity of Balboa Park. Drive north and you’ll see them standing at intervals, all the way from Presidents Way up to Upas Street. For many years I’ve noted them.
I’m not sure how passing drivers respond to all the crazy artwork. I’m pretty sure these unique signs aren’t included in the Department of Motor Vehicles driving test! I hope not!
UPDATE!
I’ve learned this installation of art is titled Night Visions, by artist Roberto Salas. They first appeared in 1988, a year our city hosted the Super Bowl. According to what I read, in 1989 Night Visions was the very first acquisition of public art by the City of San Diego.
This funny sign shows a magician pulling a rabbit from hat.Drivers might think the speed limit here is 11 miles per hour!Odd, speckled sign stands beside Balboa Park’s rose garden.This crazy sign is a meteoric explosion of creativity.Car near San Diego Zoo entrance heeds artistic street sign, I’m sure.Does this sign indicate that a lizard is crossing?This unofficial street sign is open for interpretation.
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Canyon in Balboa Park to be site of San Diego Zoo employee parking structure.
When I recently went on a special tour at the San Diego Museum of Art, my new docent friend expressed concern about an upcoming construction project. We were standing at a window that overlooks Old Globe Way, a short, winding access road that follows the edge of Jungle Trail Canyon directly behind the museum. The road starts behind the San Diego Junior Theatre, passes the rear of the Botanical Building, and finally leads to the back of the Old Globe Theatre. We gazed out the window at many colorful hummingbird feeders dangling from a nearby tree, at trees by the road that were marked with green paint, then beyond the narrow canyon to the back of the famous San Diego Zoo. The small canyon, I learned, was to be converted to parking!
After doing a bit of research for news on the internet, I learned the canyon would be the location of a six level parking garage for zoo employees. The idea is to free up a large amount of space from the zoo’s main parking lot on Park Boulevard. Employees arriving by car usually start their shifts in the early morning, and depart at different times, so traffic problems in the park would be kept to a minimum. The new structure has been in the planning stage for a long time.
Yesterday my journey through Balboa Park included a stroll down Old Globe Way. I saw that the work had already been started. Fortunately, those green markings on larger trees indicated they were to be saved.
A tree at canyon’s edge is mercifully saved.Canyon between Old Globe, art museum and zoo has been mostly unused.San Diego Zoo amphitheater where exotic birds and other animals perform.Trees cut down, making way for new road to a long-planned parking area.Hummingbird feeders in a tree directly behind the San Diego Museum of Art.
Here’s one of several identical signs that appeared nearby in November…
Sign posted in Balboa Park explains the Old Globe Way Renovation.
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I enjoyed checking out lots of cool cars at the Fifth Avenue Auto Showcase on Sunday morning. The event filled several blocks of downtown San Diego’s historic Gaslamp District.
High-performance and rare vintage automobiles were all over the place. I saw a row of Ferraris, some Porsches, a DeLorean, Vipers, Corvettes, Camaros, Mustangs, Thunderbirds and even a group of mint condition Model A antique cars. Many of the exhibits were courtesy of the Mopar Club of San Diego.
Here’s a wide shot that shows some cool buildings along Fifth Avenue.
This Isetta 300 is a tiny bubble-like Italian-designed car that was once was produced throughout Europe. The front of the car swings up, serving as the driver’s door!
Here’s a Ford Mustang identical to the car used in Bullitt, that Steve McQueen movie with the classic chase scene.
Cool San Diego Sights! 