Tag: cool

Cool photos of Star of India in dry dock!

Here’s something few people see!

The oldest active sailing ship in the world, Star of India, built in 1863 in Ramsey, Isle of Man, is presently resting inside a dry dock at San Diego’s BAE Systems shipyard!

I snapped a few photos during a harbor tour today!

I learned from a docent at the Maritime Museum of San Diego that the Star of India must periodically enter dry dock for a hull cleaning and inspection. After the cleaning removes algae and other material from the iron hull, the beautiful old merchant ship, stripped of excess weight, will float higher in the water!

I took these photos at a distance, but you can see the very unusual contrast: one of the world’s most famous tall ships, its masts soaring high above a huge dry dock, between modern Navy vessels!

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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 photo memories from February 2015.

Cool San Diego Sights has recorded many memorable events.

Five years ago, in February 2015, I photographed a performance by members of the musical von Trapp family, whose great grandparents were made famous by the movie The Sound of Music.

That month I also enjoyed a rare public tour aboard one of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s amazing research vessels!

To revisit a few photos from February 2015, click the following links:

Von Trapp family sings live on stage like angels.

Bold, colorful street art in Sherman Heights.

San Diego Padres load up, head to Spring Training!

World War II vets honored at Spirit of ’45 event.

Photos aboard Scripps research vessel Melville!

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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!

Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts.  If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!

To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.

The Stones, Monster Jam and The Shell.

The Rolling Stones are returning to San Diego this year!

Monster Jam is coming to Petco Park next weekend!

The Shell, the San Diego Symphony’s new performance stage at Embarcadero Marina Park South, will be completed in time for this year’s Bayside Summer Nights!

I saw evidence of all this during my morning walk near Petco Park and behind the San Diego Convention Center…

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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!

Cool PARK BLVD mural in University Heights!

I recently noticed a new spray painted mural in University Heights on the south wall of Park Boulevard Liquor and Deli. It has replaced another mural which I posted several years ago here.

The artists for this very cool street art appear to be: HASLER, SHARK, BRAVE and T-BONE.

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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 collection of creative, artistic benches!

An idea struck me after viewing some new youth art in the breezeway at the Santa Fe Depot!

As you can see in the first two photographs, the artwork depicts different benches and different people sitting on benches. This cool art was painted by 10th Grade students from the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, after viewing an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

The particular concern of the students was how interaction with everyday objects affects human behavior. The common object that was considered was the bench.

After viewing this artwork, it suddenly occurred to me that I’ve taken many photos of benches around San Diego, including some that are quite unusual or thought-provoking. And many that are super creative and artistic!

So I decided to search for a variety of these past bench photographs and share them again all at once!

How would you interact with these benches?

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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!

Step into El Cajon’s super cool Arts Alley!

At first glance the place might seem unremarkable. Just another alley in downtown El Cajon–north of Main Street, between Magnolia Avenue and Sulzfeld Way. And just south of the Olaf Wieghorst Museum and Western Heritage Center, which is located on Rea Avenue.

But should you step into El Cajon’s surprising Arts Alley, you’ll suddenly find yourself surrounded by delightful murals and fantastic works of imagination! The alley is so full of creativity, some of the super cool artwork has overflowed right out of it at the east end!

And what is an alley without cats?

You’ll also find a few wise quotes written on walls concerning the nature of beauty.

(You might notice in my photos that Arts Alley is located behind a couple of art galleries–plus a variety of other El Cajon shops and eateries that line a historic segment of Main Street.)

Hope For the Flowers, 2019, by @KlineSwonger.

To be accurate, those two large Olaf Wieghorst Museum murals I posted aren’t in Arts Alley, but both can be seen from it! (I believe there’s another Western-themed mural that I failed to photograph. Oops.)

In case you’re curious, Olaf Wieghorst was a popular painter of the American West, whose work once appeared all over, including Zane Grey’s Western Magazine and the open titles sequence of the John Wayne movie El Dorado. He lived in El Cajon, where the museum is located, the second half of his life.

One day I hope to swing by the museum when it’s open and blog about the experience!

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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!

More street art at Fenton Marketplace!

I was pulling into the parking lot at Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley when I spied two large electrical boxes painted by local artist Brise Birdsong!

In the past I’ve photographed other examples of Brise’s fun street art. You can recognize her work on a couple of boxes along nearby Fenton Parkway. See those here!

About a year ago I briefly met the artist in City Heights. She helped to mentor new muralist Mimi Gonzalez Martinez. Read about that 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!

Cool photo memories from January 2015.

Many bloggers periodically “reblog” their own material from years gone by. That way new readers have a window into the past.

Now that Cool San Diego Sights is well over six years old, I thought it might be fun to do something similar!

Starting today, once every month I’ll feature photos taken five years in the past. I’ll select material that is particularly interesting, unique or unusual! Keep in mind, some of my photographs from back then are less refined. They weren’t framed quite as carefully, or adjusted for contrast or sharpness.

Following are six links to select blog posts from January 2015…

Click for some fun!

Our Silences and precious freedom of speech.

Priest sprinkles startled pets with holy water!

Grass grows again at historic Lane Field!

1915 Road Race vintage car show in Balboa Park!

Timeline shows history of San Diego’s Embarcadero.

Historic reopening of California Tower in Balboa Park.

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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 art at Nozaru Ramen Bar!

I love this cool artwork out on the sidewalk in front of Nozaru Ramen Bar in Normal Heights!

Makes me want to eat there!

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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!

Cool street art throughout Carlsbad Village!

This weekend I took a long random walk through Carlsbad Village to see what I might see. And I discovered lots of super cool street art!

Carlsbad Village is the downtown part of Carlsbad, situated right near the Pacific Ocean. As you might imagine, many of the images depicted in the street art are of surfing, the beach, sea life, and the laid-back Southern California lifestyle.

My feet turned corners randomly, so these photos aren’t in any particular order. Because my thoughts were far away at the time, I’m afraid I didn’t gather a whole lot of information concerning all this artwork. But you can see artist signatures on a few of the murals.

Which do you like? I think my favorites are the surfing Mario and the two tigers under colorful dripping paint!

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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!