The other day, while shuffling along what seemed to be an unremarkable sidewalk in downtown San Diego, my legs were suddenly arrested and my eyes transfixed by this awesome street art. A fun-loving, imaginative artist did a great job of enlivening this construction site fence, which can be found on 8th Avenue just north of Market Street.
This cool new pedestrian bridge spans Harbor Drive between the San Diego Convention Center and Petco Park.
The unique suspension bridge took longer to build than anticipated. According to media reports I saw, the firm that designed it originally miscalculated how much weight it could hold!
Here are a few more pics!
I recently walked around Barrio Logan to take photos of street art, including the famous murals in Chicano Park. During my fun adventure I passed this building.
I looked at Google Maps and believe this is or was the location of Kippy’s, a fashion design business that has a store in Coronado.
I got some unusual photos of the clock tower that stands next to the transit center at the 12th and Imperial trolley station downtown. The clock is one cool San Diego sight that can be seen from many points in the city.
You can stand inside the base of the tower and look outward!
An electrical transformer box on the sidewalk near Sixth and Robinson in Hillcrest has been painted with surreal images. Here are several colorful pics!
If you ever visit Seaport Village, there’s a good chance you’ll see the fellow on the right and his amazing gallery of balanced rocks. He hangs out behind the wall at the water’s edge, right next to the grassy park. (The park is called Embarcadero Marina Park North, by the way.)
People passing by are encouraged to take photos and try out their own rock balancing ability. This lady was having a lot of trouble. Even a small rock edgewise on a water bottle isn’t easy.
With a little cheating she finally succeeds!
I snapped these photos almost directly into the sun. I assumed they’d turn out lousy. But the effect is actually pretty cool! To me it looks like white sails winging through a brightly shining heavenly space!
Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego Bay on behalf of Spain in 1542. His flagship was a galleon named San Salvador. Today, almost 500 years later, a replica of the historic ship is being built on Spanish Landing, across from San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. The ship is coming alive with the help of hard work from San Diego Maritime Museum volunteers, and it’s scheduled to be launched next year! It will soon be another cool sight on the Embarcadero!
As you can see from this first photo, a great deal of progress has been made on the hull. The detailed San Salvador recreation will be seaworthy and will sail out onto the broad ocean! As it passes Point Loma, it will look like the ghost of Cabrillo has returned! I remember seeing the hull about a year ago when there were only four or five “ribs” visible.
The public can visit the San Salvador build site. You’ll see not only the ship, but various items of related interest, including the tools used centuries ago to construct a large galleon.
The walkway you see on the left runs the length of Spanish Landing, behind Harbor Island.
Several volunteers were working on the galleon. Colorful banners were flying in the gentle sea breeze.
Lots of interesting stuff can be found about the build site. Nobody was visiting at the moment, so this pic looks kind of empty. I was told buses full of school kids often come by on educational field trips.
This is the kind of primitive structure native San Diegans lived in at the time of Cabrillo’s “discovery” of the bay.
This friendly lady greeted me as I walked under the Harbor Drive bridge. She smiled for a photo. She told me she was working on the ship’s spars for the sails. I didn’t hear her words precisely, but I believe she’s coating them with linseed oil.
She asked if I wanted to volunteer. A guy I met later asked the same thing! They’d appreciate any help they can get!
All this wood is being used in various ways by the shipbuilders. It looks like a big lumber yard on the other side of Harbor Drive!
Several weeks ago a cool new small shopping center opened up adjacent to Seaport Village on downtown San Diego’s waterfront. It’s called The Headquarters at Seaport District, and it’s located in the old police headquarters.
I remember visiting the San Diego Police headquarters here back in the early eighties, before it moved. For a couple decades these historic and beautiful buildings sat empty and unused. I’m glad that they’ve finally been restored!
Across Harbor Drive to the north you can find an interesting historical marker. First established as an Army supply depot, this was the location of the San Diego Barracks from 1850 to 1921.
I took the above photo on a sunny Sunday afternoon!
Check out this cool public art! A series of beautiful, detailed scenes from San Diego history decorate ten columns just north of downtown’s Santa Fe Depot, where they can be viewed by trolley riders as they head toward Little Italy. The handmade tiles which form the exquisite sculptural mosaics were pieced together by Betsy K. Schulz in 2008. Located on the west side of downtown’s Sapphire Tower residential condominium, the artwork is titled The Tracks We Leave Behind.
As one proceeds north one moves forward through time, from the earliest days of San Diego right up to the present day. I sorted these photos in such a way that you move backward into the past…
Cool San Diego Sights! 