A daring man does a one-armed handstand on the edge of a high roof!
I had to do a double take during my walk through Coronado yesterday. A man was doing a crazy one-armed handstand up on the Community Center’s rooftop!
After my initial surprise, I realized the man was actually an eye-catching sculpture. Handstand was created by artist Daniel Stern in 2010 and installed atop the building in 2012.
Does the name Daniel Stern ring a bell? The sculptor is also a prolific, well known actor! He’s probably best known for his role as one of the thieves in Home Alone!
I love it!
A surprising sculpture on top of the City of Coronado Community Center turns heads!Handstand, 2010, a sculpture by artist Daniel Stern, became part of the City of Coronado Public Art Collection in 2012.A crazy handstand at the edge of a Coronado rooftop!
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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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An early 1900’s Italian fishing boat looking for tuna off the coast of San Diego.
Some new murals have appeared in Little Italy on a construction site fence along Kettner Boulevard, between Beech Street and Cedar Street. The artwork, created by Elisabeth Sullivan, depicts the history of tuna fishing in San Diego.
The series of images tell the story of an industry that once prospered in our city, and that shaped the colorful downtown neighborhood of Little Italy.
Italian and Portuguese fishermen bamboo pole fishing at the peak of the industry in the late 1920’s.After a lengthy fishing expedition these tuna clippers head home with their catch.Fishing boats docked for the night in San Diego Harbor after unloading their catch.Women of Little Italy fishing families work to remove hooks, stretch dry and mend the nets.The tuna is unloaded at the wharf and delivered to San Diego fish markets and canneries.During World War II many tuna clippers were converted to Yacht Patrols by the U.S. Navy.In the late 1950’s the efficient modern purse seiner began replacing most of the bait boats.The history of tuna fishing in San Diego can now be observed on a series of beautiful murals in Little Italy!
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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!
Windows at The Black contain all sorts of sights that fit right in with the laid-back, unconventional OB lifestyle.
Walk through Ocean Beach, particularly down Newport Avenue, and you’ll pass all sorts of weirdly wonderful shops. Look into some windows and you might think you traveled by time machine back to the 60’s.
I paused for a moment in front of The Black, a store that sells stuff that fits perfectly with OB’s alternative lifestyle. Coming down the sidewalk were surfers, retired hippies, free-spirited youth and sandal-wearing professionals. I looked into one window filled with dragon figurines and small toy robots.
My eye was then caught by a nearby historical sign. It explained that The Black’s rather plain-looking building, dating from 1918, has been home to a variety of more traditional grocery stores and markets selling meat, fruit and fresh produce. But that was decades ago. Long before the counterculture’s rise in the 1960’s.
One fascinating thing about history is that a community can change in ways that seem rather unexpected!
The Black in Ocean Beach occupies a building with a unique history. Greeson Hardware was once here, as were various markets, and the USO.Historical photo on the building at 5017 Newport Avenue in Ocean Beach shows past markets. The Black’s owner won the right to lease in the building after winning a card game across the street.In the window of The Black I see Gumby, Mr. Bill, some drums, guitar strings and a Grateful Dead baby onesie.Smoke shop items and other diverse gifts can be seen in the front windows of The Black in Ocean Beach.I see some fun, nostalgic robot toys!I also see a Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band tin tote and a Super Mario figure.
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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!
Rachel Thompson of the Junior League San Diego introduces District Attorney Summer Stephan during the Fifth Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Rally.
Today I walked up to Balboa Park to experience the 5th Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Rally. The event was organized by the Junior League of San Diego, and brought together most of the key players in San Diego’s fight against human trafficking.
While legislative progress has been made in the fight, the terrible problem of human trafficking persists. I learned San Diego sees far too much of this type of crime because of our city’s proximity to the Mexican border and its status as a popular tourist destination.
Many tables were set up at the event containing literature about how concerned citizens can take action. Everyone was encouraged to spread the word and increase awareness and involvement throughout the community.
I thought my blog could possibly provide a bit of help. Here are eight things that you can do to learn about and fight against human trafficking in San Diego:
1. Learn how to recognize victims of human trafficking. The following three photos contain vital information that you can use and share.
A flyer from the Office for Victims of Crime provides key information on human trafficking, including warning signs. (Please click this image to enlarge for easy reading.)Information from Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign explains the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling.A checklist of human trafficking indicators. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
2. Support the Alabaster Jar Project. This organization empowers survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. They provide a safe living environment and transitional housing, plus an array of support services and educational opportunities. Located in San Diego’s North County.
3. Become involved with CAT, or Churches Against Trafficking, a network of churches in San Diego that together provide service, resources and prayer to help solve a difficult problem in our community.
Churches Against Trafficking is a network of churches that have joined together to provide service, resources and prayer in San Diego against human trafficking.
4. Support the Lynch Foundation For Children. They are working to prevent human trafficking through education. They also assist in locating and recovering runaway children, and support victims’ services.
5. Learn about and possibly volunteer with the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC), an alliance of government and nonprofit agencies in the United States and Latin America convened along the U.S.-Mexico Border Region to combat slavery and human trafficking. Their 24-hour Emergency Trafficking Hotline is 619-666-2757. The hotline serves victims of trafficking, community clinics and doctors, social service agencies, concerned citizens and law enforcement personnel.
6. Visit the Sex Trafficking Resource Center page of the San Diego Public Library website and learn more facts about this difficult but very important subject. The web page includes a variety of resources, including helpful links specifically for youth.
7. Visit the San Diego District Attorney’s human trafficking online page. It’s a resource that contains a good deal of vital information, including Signs of Human Trafficking, What You Can Do, Community Resources and Safety Tips.
During the event, the FBI offered literature concerning human trafficking. The phone number for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center is 1-888-373-7888.Can you see her? It’s time to open our eyes. Victims of the sex trade, domestic servitude, and forced labor have been invisible, until now.
8. Check out these other local shelters and organizations. They need mentors, volunteers and resources:
Members of the Imahen Taotao Tano-Micronesia Dance Group provide entertainment at the 2018 San Diego Multicultural Festival.
Late this afternoon I ventured down to Ruocco Park to get a taste of the 20th Annual San Diego Multi-Cultural Festival.
Every year the fun, family-oriented event showcases diverse cultures from around the world, and how they uniquely contribute to life in our city.
Many organizations were present that work to improve the community, plus all sort of vendors and great entertainment. Please read the photo captions to learn more about a few of the festival participants! You might feel inspired!
The 2017 Multicultural Festival in Ruocco Park had many diverse activities and interesting things for visitors to experience.Some of the vendors had colorful artwork for sale.Entertainment on the main stage included the Micronesia dance group, Taico Japanese Drums and Soaring Eagles Native American Pow Wow.These nice ladies with EF Education First are looking for local families to host international students. Interested?The San Diego International Sister Cities Association had a couple of cool displays showing our 16 sister cities around the world. Participant cities often engage in cultural exchanges, including sporting events.The Japanese Friendship Garden of Balboa Park had something super fun at the festival. Kamizumo!Kamizumo–paper wrestler–is a Japanese game in which folded paper sumo wrestlers are placed in an arena and controlled by vibrating the platform with finger taps. (Click this image and the next to enlarge for easy reading.)If you make these moves you lose: You accidentally step out of the ring while pushing your opponent! You fall over! You step backward out of the ring!Another exciting kamizumo match is almost ready to begin!Cool guys with the Pazzaz Educational Enrichment Center had some Soap Box Derby gravity cars on display. Kids from the community are encouraged to participate in local races! I blogged about one such race in Sherman Heights a couple years ago!A friendly face painter! Some things never change! I captured this same enormous smile a year or two ago!
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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!
Holiday ribbons among flowers in front of a residence in Little Italy.
The holidays have ended. It’s January 2nd.
Early this morning I walked through Little Italy on my way to catch the trolley for work.
What did I see?
The holiday season is over in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood. Leaves are falling. Time to head back to work.A community Christmas tree is still lit, but abandoned. It stands behind a fence that surrounds the Piazza Famiglia construction site.Classic beauty is always abundant in Little Italy, no matter the season.Little Italy is famous for its restaurants and excellent dining. Even during winter, this establishment on India Street offers locally grown food.The poinsettias might be fading, but other greenery in planters along the sidewalk is bright and fresh.More lingering Christmas lights among colorful leaves.A funny sight in a shop window. The holidays are over! Now we must go back to work! Scream!
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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!
Gazing down at San Diego Bay from Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma.
Here is a modest gift for my readers, and for the city I love.
This small taste of San Diego has been assembled from a variety of photos. A few are recent; others are from the past couple years.
Walk around San Diego and you will never go hungry. Every day presents a new feast for the eyes!
A couple rides bicycles along the Mission Beach boardwalk on a perfect day.Someone reads daily information posted on Mission Beach’s lifeguard station.A big peace sign atop the roof of USA Hostels Ocean Beach.Walking slowly near the surf along Torrey Pines State Beach.A bicycle, a fine way to travel through a sunny city.Diners sit outside the West Coast Tavern in North Park. The building is a former movie theater.Fun street art in North Park, one of many cool neighborhoods in San Diego.Visitors on a tour in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park learn about our city’s unique origin and early years.Colorful, festive Mexican-themed artwork adorns a gift shop in Old Town.A small memorial among fallen blooms on Presidio Hill above Old Town.Guns once used to train Navy sailors. Relics from military history at Liberty Station, site of the former Naval Training Center San Diego.Visitors to Balboa Park enjoy a walk along El Prado, near the Casa de Balboa and House of Hospitality.People play Jenga on the grass near Sefton Plaza in Balboa Park.The iconic El Cortez rises in the blue San Diego sky. I feel very fortunate to live on Cortez Hill, a beautiful corner of downtown.A small produce business in East Village.The historic Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Little Italy.A fountain on the east side of the County Administration Building.Volunteers work on the Star of India, world-famous tall ship of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.A busker and bicycle near the USS Midway Museum and Greatest Generation Walk.Sunset and sailboats on San Diego Bay.People have fun boating out on the water.Feet dangle over the water at Embarcadero Marina Park North.The classic Broadway Fountain and nearby downtown buildings. Photo taken one morning in Horton Plaza Park.The moon in the sky above a historic building in the Gaslamp Quarter.Life and color at Lane Field Park on San Diego’s Embarcadero.Riding recreational watercraft past the beautiful downtown San Diego skyline.
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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!
Rotary Plaza in Coronado includes several interesting features, including a clock, fountain and community Christmas tree.
During my recent walk through Coronado, I paused for a bit at Rotary Plaza to check out the old clock, pleasant fountain and community Christmas tree. I read a few plaques near each of these features and learned a little about the history of the place. I’ve never seen the very tall star pine lit at night during the holidays, but I bet it’s quite a sight!
Coronado Rotary Plaza (sometimes called Rotary Park) is located on Orange Avenue at Isabella Avenue.
A handsome Rotary International clock and peaceful bench await passersby in Coronado Rotary Park.Plaque on the Electric Time clock reads Presented to Coronado by the Rotary Club of Coronado for Rotary International’s Centennial, February 23, 2005.The bubbling Jim Vernetti Fountain in Coronado’s Rotary Plaza, dedicated 2009.A Hanukkah menorah stands in Rotary Plaza during the holiday season. (The trunk of the large Coronado star pine Christmas tree is in the background.)Walking along Orange Avenue toward Rotary Plaza and the high Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree, which is lit at night.In May, 1936, the Rotary Club planted this starpine for the citizens of Coronado. This tree given by Emily T. Thompson in memory of her husband Charles.
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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!
These friendly people with Sea Grant California showed me all sorts of fascinating creatures that thrive off our coast! They encourage using locally sourced food.
During a walk last weekend, I headed out onto the pier just north of Seaport Village where the ever-growing Tuna Harbor Dockside Market is held on Saturday mornings. In addition to the local fishermen selling a wide variety of freshly caught seafood, I noticed one table with an interesting exhibit. Folks were demonstrating a few of the many different sea creatures that can be caught off San Diego’s coast.
I learned this display was created by Sea Grant California, an organization that connects government agencies, California universities, nonprofit organizations, local businesses and residents in our coastal community. Their mission is to conduct impartial research, disseminate knowledge, encourage best practices for environmental stewardship and optimize sustainable economic development.
Lots of people on the pier were checking out the live marine creatures on display, and learning which species are most common in the Pacific Ocean off our coast. I was told that most of San Diego’s commercial fishermen are conscientious and highly responsible. There are about 131 commercial fishing vessels licensed in the county. Many are based in Tuna Harbor, which occupies a picturesque stretch of San Diego’s Embarcadero.
In addition, I learned that the Port of San Diego is testing an aquaculture project at the end of one of Tuna Harbor’s docks. The port’s Oyster Nursery Research Project is part of an expanding effort to try out new Blue Economy technologies in San Diego Bay. The concept of a Blue Economy is to use innovative methods to maximize resources that are locally available in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Very cool!
Fresh locally caught fish on ice for sale at San Diego’s Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.The Port of San Diego’s Oyster Nursery Research Project at the end of a dock inside Tuna Harbor.What’s for dinner?
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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!
Crew members of USS Theodore Roosevelt help Boy Scout Maxwell Thomson move logs in the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.
Over the past year and a half, some amazing young men have been working to improve the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove in Balboa Park. These community-minded Boy Scouts, with the help of the San Diego Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, have undertaken projects in the historic grove in order to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.
You might remember the photos that I posted of the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. It’s tucked away in a corner of Florida Canyon, not far from Naval Medical Center San Diego and the Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course. The 66 live oak trees were planted in 1905 to memorialize 66 sailors killed on the USS Bennington on July 21st of that year. The gunboat’s boiler exploded while it was in San Diego Bay, and many men tragically perished.
The efforts of these hardworking Boy Scouts have added beauty, safety and memory to the old oak grove. Four have successfully become Eagle Scouts. They are Joshua Ortega, Sam Kinsey, Frederick Persons and Erik Ortlieb. The projects of two other young men are now underway.
Most of these photographs have been contributed by local historian Kathleen Winchester. She and other members of the DAR’s San Diego Chapter have been instrumental in providing coordination and encouragement as the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove is improved. Please read the photo captions to appreciate the unselfish work of these young men.
I have learned the grove’s kiosk will eventually contain the names of those who perished aboard the USS Bennington. And very soon a flagpole will be raised in the grove-the project of another Boy Scout.
In 2014, the San Diego Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution partnered with the San Diego Park and Recreation Department and the Friends of Balboa Park as part of the latter’s “Adopt-A-Plot” program and adopted the Bennington Memorial Oak Grove.
The local DAR intends to purchase more oak trees to replace dead ones. If anyone wants to help with this worthy endeavor, contact the San Diego Chapter of DAR. All contributed funds will go straight to the purchase of trees.
As you can see in a few of the photos, U.S. Navy sailors from the San Diego homeported aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt have also lent a hand. Their involvement is especially meaningful as Teddy Roosevelt was the President of the United States in 1905 when the USS Bennington disaster occured. President Roosevelt was a conservationist who would have loved this shady grove of majestic oaks.
The sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt, by helping to beautify the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove, honored their fellow seamen from an earlier time.
The USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove in Balboa Park has been improved by some amazing young men working to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.The oak grove’s entrance sign is an Eagle Project undertaken by Erik Ortlieb of Boy Scout Troop 4 in La Jolla.Erik Ortlieb poses with Kathleen Winchester of the DAR by a post of the wooden sign he built on October 16, 2016. The sign welcomes visitors into the beautiful old oak grove. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Boy Scout Sam Kinsey works on the trail that leads into the historic USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove in Balboa Park. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Boy Scout Joshua Ortega finished a footbridge in the grove just days before his 18th birthday. He is now attending Pepperdine University. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Plaque on the bridge reads Eagle Scout Project – Joshua R. Ortega – Troop 299 – June 2016.Boy Scout Frederick Persons poses in front of the new kiosk he built. Around him are volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 295. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Crew members of San Diego aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt lend a helping hand by rolling logs that will border a path though the grove. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Boy Scout Maxwell Thomson and U.S. Navy sailors roll logs into place in the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.Maxwell Thomson poses with friends among logs which now mark the trail through the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.15-year-old Maxwell Thomson takes a short break as DAR San Diego Chapter members cheer him on! Photo courtesy Kathleen Winchester.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 