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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Family-friendly fun and games lined Balboa Park’s El Prado the weekend before Halloween.
So what happened today in Balboa Park? Here are some photos!
Sign explains Balboa Park Halloween Family Day.Crowds were huge and many imaginative costumes added to the color.House of Pacific Relations had a booth with cool Halloween stuff.Street performer is a bronze version of Shakespeare, the Bard!Masks and other crafts could be worked on by the creatively inclined.Of course, Halloween is all about kids having fun.Boy emerges from a magical boo-box!Guys creating origami courtesy of the Japanese Friendship Garden.One pumpkin is devouring another in a festive nook in Balboa Park!A studio in Spanish Village has skulls, spider and a skeleton hanging around.Fine glass in the form of pumpkins created by local artists.A puppet-dog on strings prepares for the canine costume competition in Spanish Village.Dog enjoying the festivities in wonderful, colorful Balboa Park.Yum! Look at this basket of Halloween candy!SDSU School of Music and Dance kids perform before the Sunday Spreckels Organ concert.Fiona the Humane Society butterfly mastiff hangs out in Spreckels Organ Pavilion.The House of Scotland performed with their booming drum at the International Cottages.Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater is showing The Polka Dot Ghost.The San Diego Dachshund Club’s Hallo-Wiener Picnic was held in Balboa Park.San Diego Air and Space Museum was the scene of the traditional pumpkin drop!A crowd gathers to watch a pumpkin descend and explode into a million pieces!The pumpkin can’t escape gravity. Will it reach terminal velocity?Yeah. It got terminated. The pumpkin predictably busted apart to the great delight of kids.
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Boy dressed as tin man enjoys Boulevard BOO! Parade in San Diego.
I’ve heard about San Diego’s only Halloween parade for years. Today I checked it out!
The Boulevard BOO! Parade is now ten years old. It takes place every late October on El Cajon Boulevard near College Avenue. The neighborhood, just south of San Diego State University, appears to have really embraced this annual Halloween event!
Hundreds of families turned out to view the fun spectacle. The BOO! Parade is mostly for kids, and many young spectators had trick-or-treat bags and were in costume themselves!
Here are my best pics!
10th annual BOO! Parade took place on El Cajon Boulevard.Two scary zombie kids were seen lurching down the street before the parade began.These pirates were being rascally and rambunctious in the parade staging area!BOO! Parade kicks off a few blocks west of College Avenue in the late morning.
The tall ghostly blue creature is the character Boo!
Super tall Boo is blue, and he seems to blend in with the clouds.Looks like all the regular monsters have shown up for this big Halloween parade!There were a few not-so-scary clowns around, too!Marine Corps marching band gets things rolling near start of parade.One of many creative floats seen during the fun late October parade.Two different Ghostbusters cars were in the parade.Kids get goodies from a ghostbuster patrolling El Cajon Boulevard.Costumed parade participants from San Diego Center for the Blind.Here come some smiling SDSU cheerleaders.The San Diego State University mascot Aztec Warrior gives a high five!Lots of cars in the parade were draped with creepy cobwebs.Kids marching in the parade wore every sort of cool costume you can imagine!Here comes a long line of classic cars with spooky decorations.A witch waves to a passing skeleton!The San Diego Police Department must be hiring guys with evil pumpkin heads!One of two pirate ships I saw. This was most definitely very cool.Little zombies do a dance routine!Several schools were in the parade and everyone was having a blast.Here come the Shriners in their Halloween-themed mini-cars!And here come more clowns out of the woodwork.The second pirate ship rolls along with some waving beauty queens.A beauty queen is wearing a big, golden pharaoh headdress!I suppose these young ladies are the queens of Zombieland!And this beauty queen is dressed up as macaroni and cheese!Looks like the ROTC is recruiting young monsters.Headless parader thrills girls and shocks poor old mom.A whole lot of fun was enjoyed by thousands today, young and old.Utility box on El Cajon Boulevard painted with scenes from BOO! Parade.
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Gentleman heads toward downtown’s Gaslamp with a Spiderman tie.
Except for the very last photo, I snapped these pics today in the early evening as I walked around downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. 2014 San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing!
Cool Adult Swim car seems to offer free rides around San Diego.Mad Hatter guys heading down toward the center of cosplay action.It’s Spidey driving a pedicab and giving me a thumbs up!Lifetime Channel is to hold a Witches event tonight in San Diego.Mobile advertisement for the Sin City sequel, A Dame to Kill For.This colorful shop is appealing to the huge Comic-Con crowd.Gaslamp Reading Cinemas has showings, including Star Wars Rebels.Flash sign is a window wrap near Petco Park.Two hostesses at a local restaurant are dressed for Comic-Con.Lady with gigantic identification card is promoting Community.Lady swings in middle of the cool Assassin’s Creed obstacle course.This happy family belongs to the Justice League.Oh my goodness! That might be the real Dark Knight facing me!Witches were chanting in a circle by the Gaslamp trolley station.One witch hexes me with her spooky red eyes.Superman is down but not out.Is that an angry bird or a happy bird, I wonder.That arm looks downright formidable.Giant Creature catches the attention of Comic-Con fans near the Tin Fish.
This fantastic beast is called the Giant Creature. It’s piloted by a small alien on top. No, actually it contains four people who move the huge limbs from inside. The creature was slowly moving about for the nearby crowd.
Giant Creature is promoting a new fun phone app called Blippar.Pedicabs become pirate ships and carriages for Once Upon a Time.This tough vehicle is from the upcoming Brad Pitt movie Fury.Dead Island 2 ad on back of enterprising pedicab.Here comes Wonder Woman from the convention center across street.This guy is Green Goblin of Mordor.Crazy people wearing shark heads were promoting Sharknado 2.Young Princess Leia has a Sharknado 2 chainsaw.Just a whole bunch of fun cosplay up and down the crowded streets!Boy shows cool costume as I cross street in Mission Valley this morning.
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I got a few pics of another Sunday afternoon lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. This weekend it was Austria’s turn!
Dancing, singing and food were abundant for the entertainment of anyone interested in Austrian culture. Many in the crowd wore traditional folk costumes. There was a beauty queen and opera performances and it all concluded with many participants singing the popular favorite Edelweiss.
Austrian beauty queen smiles for my camera!Folks watch lawn program of House of Austria.Food tent has sausage and other tasty Austrian food.Everyone applauds a fantastic operatic duet.
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Mothers in different native costumes perform a large round dance.
Yesterday my wandering feet led me to a Pow Wow in the south end of Balboa Park. What a colorful, amazing event! The Native American Heritage Pow Wow featured a large grassy stage with a variety of costumed dancers. I lingered for a bit and got a few pics.
Making a dash for Mother’s Day goodies scattered on the grass.Adjusting colorful costumes before performing a dance.Native American art for sale at the Balboa Park Pow Wow.Big crowd checks out Native American food and culture.Young dancer at San Diego Pow Wow.
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At Seaport Village yesterday, the Halloween Bash on the Bay brought out legions of costumed kids and their families. Trick or treating, music, food, dancing, crafts and fun were found all over the place.
A colorful costume contest for kids and dogs was held at the central fountain.
A mask making station attracted a whole bunch of creative kids.
In this photo we see kids dancing and showing off their cool costumes. The fun theme song from Ghostbusters and bubbles from a bubble blower filled the food court as I walked through. Not sure what caused the smoke. Not sure about that blue tarp, either. The Seaport Village carousel twirls in the background.
Even the adults dressed up. Or is that wrestler really Macho Man Randy Savage?
This real life hot dog was a favorite at the costume contest. Everyone wanted to take a pic!
Here’s another batch of photos from yesterday evening’s cool Zombie Walk. The downtown San Diego event began at Childrens Park and proceeded down Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. As it grew dark, the hungry creatures swarmed up Fifth Avenue through the Gaslamp, where the spectacle entertained Saturday night revelers.
Oh my goodness, here they come now! Teletubby zombies lead the frightening assault!
Yikes! There are hundreds of hungry zombies shuffling along! They’re unstoppable! Seeping blood and torn clothing seem to be the main theme.
I hope the humans over in the Gaslamp are ready to take on more than zombies. I see a werewolf!
Dilbert thought his coworkers were mindless zombies. Then one day Dilbert became one.
The walking dead include a bloody Superman. If the Man of Steel couldn’t stop the zombie plague, then I guess there’s no hope.
Another zombie with an axe searching for a victim…
Hoardes of walking dead are now very close to San Diego’s Gaslamp. It’s not going to be pretty.
Well, I guess the zombies aren’t hungry for the red sauce served at the Spaghetti Factory. They’re after something else! Bye–gotta run!
The San Diego Zombie Walk took place last evening. The spooky Halloween season event was staged at Childrens Park, across Harbor Drive from the Convention Center. I got some photos!
Zombies could be seen converging on the park from every direction. There seemed to be no stopping them.
Here comes an undead bride in her blood-splattered bridal gown. Pedestrians have fled every which way!
This towering, bloody butcher has nearly captured a helpless victim. Everyone in downtown San Diego surely heard the lady’s blood-curdling scream of terror!
The walking dead, some of them terribly decayed and disfigured, gathered in the park with a singular purpose. To feast on flesh!
Some of these zombies might smile, but don’t let it fool you. The one in the cowboy hat is about to get a surprise!
It might be a good idea to NOT kiss these zombie chefs. Looks awfully unsanitary.
What a nice zombie dad, zombie girl and zombie mom. The latter can’t seem to take her zombie fingers from her zombie phone.
This sweet, loving couple would like to meet new friends. And so would their chainsaw.
No, that isn’t really a ghost. At least, I don’t think so!
This cool photo shows a fellow dressed like an early resident of San Diego. I spotted him walking through Old Town first thing in the morning, before the daily throng of tourists began to filter in.
You can walk with a costumed tour guide and learn all about the early history of San Diego, back when the tiny, seldom-visited town belonged to Spain, then Mexico, then finally the United States. The hour-long walking tour is free and begins at the Robinson-Rose House at the northwest end of the large central plaza. Several historic buildings and interesting museums are visited during the leisurely tour. Whether or not you see a ghost might depend on your imagination! The walking tours begin at 11 am and 2 pm.
Tour guide shows native Lemonade Berry near Casa de Estudillo in Old Town.Friendly volunteer tour guide sums up San Diego’s early history at end of a fascinating one hour tour.
Cool San Diego Sights! 