Coffee mural in Encanto at The Mental Bar!

Check out this very cool new mural, painted in Encanto just a couple months ago! It’s by artist Irieanna Sesma (@SD_IRIE).

The mural very effectively attracts attention to the newly opened The Mental Bar!

The Mental Bar- Coffee, Tea & Wellness, at 6325 Imperial Avenue, is a welcoming place run by two very nice people who greeted me with big smiles.

They offer all sorts of healthy things to eat and drink. I’m afraid all I asked for was a bottle of water. (Walking around in the San Diego sunshine is thirsty business!)

They asked what I liked about the mural. I said I really liked the cool neon vibe!

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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!

Painting the windows of Starbucks for Comic-Con!

Isabel Garcia is painting the windows of Starbucks for 2022 Comic-Con! I saw her today as I walked behind the convention center near the Hilton San Diego Bayfront!

Isabel is a local artist and muralist, part of Arte Atolondrada. Her creative partner is Shirish Villaseñor, who paints the windows of nearby Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt during Comic-Con!

If you’d like to check some of their mural work around San Diego, click here or here or here!

In the past few days, I’ve photographed the progress of Shirish’s windows for 2022 Comic-Con. You can see that here and here!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, 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!

Cars and Coffee outside the Automotive Museum!

Today is the third Sunday of the month. What makes that special in Balboa Park? This morning the San Diego Automotive Museum hosted their monthly Cars and Coffee event!

Dozens of cool cars, of every sort, pulled into the museum’s front parking lot by 7:30 am. Auto enthusiasts socialized, shared stories and looked at rows and rows of polished beauties.

I walked about and was amazed by the popularity of this event!

Check it out!

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!

Photos of art outside 6 Grados Coffee!

Check out these photographs of cool art outside 6 Grados Coffee in Paradise Hills!

I was walking down Reo Drive today when the above mural caught my attention. Then, as I walked around 6 Grados Coffee, I discovered more great artwork! There was a painted cargo container in back and even a SpongeBob trashcan!

I learned that the above mural was painted very recently by @Dentlok, and I noticed that some of the colorful art on the container is by ShoLove, whose work around San Diego I’ve enjoyed in the past…

I found many more incredible murals during today’s walk along Reo Drive, so stay tuned!

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!

Lowrider art outside Esquina in National City.

Check out these three cool works of art painted on the outside of Esquina Vintage and Coffee in National City!

This unique coffee shop has a lowrider, cruising theme that fits with its South Bay setting. In addition to more ordinary coffee shop offerings, Esquina serves up a variety of Mexican specialties.

According to this article, the owners are part of the local lowrider group Viejitos Car Club.

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 few amusing words in the city.

On a Starbucks chalk board: When you feel Depresso... Have a little Espresso!
On a Starbucks chalk board: When you feel Depresso… Have a little Espresso!

During my walks around the city, I’m always searching for anything unusual.

If you’d like to begin your Friday with a smile, here are a few amusing words and phrases that I recently sighted.

Written on plywood by the sidewalk: Help. Lost! Need help finding my mind. Before it's too late.
Written on plywood by the sidewalk: Help. Lost! Need help finding my mind. Before it’s too late.

In a San Diego Reader newspaper box: Reverse Zonies. (San Diegans would understand this.)
In a San Diego Reader newspaper box: Reverse Zonies. (Most San Diegans can deduce what this means.)

In a window: Nerdy Barber.
In a window: Nerdy Barber.

On a t-shirt in a shop window: Dude, did you eat the last unicorn? No.
On a t-shirt in a shop window: Dude, did you eat the last unicorn? No.

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!

Star Trek humor and history in South Park!

Funny comic panels featuring Star Trek characters, standing near Captain Kirk's Coffee in South Park.
Funny comic panels featuring Star Trek characters, standing near Captain Kirk’s Coffee in South Park.

It was hot today as I walked through South Park, so I stopped at Captain Kirk’s Coffee to get an ice cold green tea. And look what I saw and learned!

All sorts of humorous Star Trek imagery can be found on and around this popular sidewalk coffee shack!

The super nice people who served up my green tea explained they’ve been there for many years now. Then they told me something amazing that I didn’t know. Whoopi Goldberg, before she became a superstar, worked at The Big Kitchen just a block south of Captain Kirk’s Coffee! They said she signed her name on a wall of The Big Kitchen, and while the interior has been repainted many times over the years, her signature remains untouched.

Among her many big Hollywood roles, you might recall that Whoopi Goldberg played Guinan in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in the films Star Trek: Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis.

Captain Kirk's Coffee by the sidewalk in South Park.
Captain Kirk’s Coffee by the Fern Street sidewalk in South Park.

Various spaceships have landed or crashed atop the roof of Captain Kirk's Coffee.
Various spaceships have landed or crashed atop the roof of Captain Kirk’s Coffee.

At the front counter. Bean me up Scotty!
At the front counter. Bean me up Scotty!

Big Kitchen Café in South Park, where Whoopi Goldberg worked before becoming a Hollywood superstar.
Big Kitchen Café in South Park, where Whoopi Goldberg worked before becoming a Hollywood superstar.

Star Trek meets Star Wars in these silly panels.
Star Trek meets Star Wars in these silly panels near Captain Kirk’s Coffee.

Whoopi Goldberg as Star Trek character Guinan says: I miss Judy's delicious coffee cake at The Big Kitchen.
Whoopi Goldberg as Star Trek character Guinan says: I miss Judy’s delicious coffee cake at The Big Kitchen.

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!

Funny cats, coffee, books and a teacup!

This black cat likes drinking lattes.
This black cat likes drinking lattes.

Check out these photos of fun street art on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights. A small electrical box just east of the Normal Heights landmark sign is painted with three funny cats.

They are drinking coffee, reading books, or sitting in a teacup!

Coffee. Cats. Books. Sometimes the answers to life's troubles are quite simple.
Coffee. Cats. Books. Sometimes the answers to life’s troubles are quite simple.

Cat in armchair reads Of Mice and Men. On the shelves are Cat's Cradle, The Cat in the Hat, Puss in Boots, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof...
Cat in a comfy armchair reads Of Mice and Men. Books on the nearby shelves include Cat’s Cradle, The Cat in the Hat, Puss in Boots, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof…

This kitten likes oolong tea.
This kitten in a teacup must like oolong tea!

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!