Downtown on Beech Street there’s a glass building with zigzagged sides. The varied reflections of nearby buildings make for a very cool sight!
A few odd reflections on Beech Street.
Tag: downtown
Colorful scenes from San Diego’s MLK parade.
This afternoon I enjoyed watching a good portion of San Diego’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. Every January, MLK’s dream of racial equality is celebrated downtown in one of the largest parades of its kind in the United States. The parade route runs down Harbor Drive on San Diego’s waterfront.
I got a whole lot of photos. Please feel free to share and enjoy them!
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Little Italy street banners celebrate Oscar winners.
Banners celebrating Italian American Academy Award winners are on display up and down India Street in San Diego’s Little Italy. Here are some photos…
Fantastic murals on India Street in Little Italy.
One great thing about Little Italy, a lively neighborhood in downtown San Diego, is the abundance of public art. Should you ever walk down India Street past the many coffee shops, restaurants and art galleries, you’ll almost certainly find yourself lingering in front of a colorful mural. They seem to be everywhere.
I recently strolled down India Street and took these photos:
Bust of war hero in Little Italy’s Piazza Basilone.
This handsome bust is the central feature of Piazza Basilone, a small urban space with tables, umbrellas and a fountain at the corner of India and Fir Street in Little Italy.
A plaque beneath the bust begins with the following words:
GUNNERY SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE
NOVEMBER 4, 1916 – FEBRUARY 19, 1945
SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ENLISTED MARINES TO BE AWARDED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR OF WORLD WAR II. HE WAS ALSO POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE NATIONAL CROSS.
HE WAS BORN TO ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS, SALVATORE AND DORA BASILONE, IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK. HE AND HIS TEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS GREW UP IN RARITAN, NEW JERSEY. RESTLESS AND ADVENTUROUS BY NATURE, JOHN ENLISTED IN THE ARMY AT THE AGE EIGHTEEN AND WAS ASSIGNED TO GARRISON SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES.
AFTER HIS HONORABLE DISCHARGE FROM THE ARMY, BASILONE RETURNED TO RARITAN. AS THE STORM CLOUDS OF WAR GATHERED, JOHN BELIEVED HIS PLACE WAS WITH THE FIGHTING FORCES. IN JULY 1940 HE ENLISTED IN THE MARINE CORPS.
IT WAS ON GUADACANAL THAT SERGEANT BASILONE ACHIEVED HIS PLACE IN MARINE CORPS HISTORY, BECOMING ONE OF THE FIRST ENLISTED MARINES TO BE AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR OF WORLD WAR II; THE NATION’S HIGHEST AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM AND CONSPICUOUS GALLANTRY IN ACTION.
During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Basilone held off 3,000 Japanese troops after his unit was almost entirely destroyed. He was later killed in action on the first day of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
This unique fountain is just a few feet away.
A few glimpses upward around San Diego.
Life at eye level can be so darn busy that I often forget to look upward. Occasionally I remember there’s a world above me. Here are a few recorded glimpses.
Early morning light touches East Village.
These photos were taken a few weeks ago in the early morning. I was on the way to work and feeling energized, so I walked about the 12th and Imperial trolley station to enjoy the views.
Cool street art on construction site fence.
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.
History at Horton Plaza Park construction site.
A large area between Broadway and the Horton Plaza shopping mall is fenced off for construction. One end of the downtown mall has already been demolished and leveled to the bare ground. The long-neglected Horton Plaza Park is being enlarged!
On the fence surrounding the construction site are a number of interesting old photographs showing the park’s history.
When real estate developer Alonzo Horton built the Horton House hotel (now the U.S. Grant Hotel) in his “New Town” in 1870, he included a small plaza on the hotel grounds. In 1895 he sold the half block plaza to the growing city of San Diego, stating his objective was “to provide a central, commodious and attractive place for public meetings, public announcements, public recreation and for any other proper public purposes, a place where all public questions might be discussed with comfort, where public open-air concerts might be given, where the people might rest, and where children might play in safety.” In 1909 the first fountain in the United States to feature electric lights was installed in the park.
Over the years, the small park has seen a whole lot of history, as the following photographs at today’s construction site demonstrate. Horton Plaza Park was designated a historical landmark by the City of San Diego in 1971.
The streets were crowded with a spontaneous celebration when World War II finally ended.
On November 2, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy spoke at Horton Plaza Park, seeking votes in the upcoming presidential election. A huge crowd turned out.
The beautifully renovated park will include lots of space for public events, including outdoor concerts!
Here’s a pic I took on January 31, 2015…
No urinating allowed at The Beer Company!
The diners at this downtown San Diego brewery and restaurant must suffer a good deal of bladder discomfort. Because according to this sign in their window, no urinating is allowed! Don’t guzzle too much of that tasty handcrafted brew!
But there’s so much to drink!
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