It’s the morning of Opening Day for the San Diego Padres, and the excitement has begun!
Reporters are in the Gaslamp Quarter commentating and interviewing fans. The Ben and Woods sports radio show is broadcasting from Baja Rick’s to a crowd of Padres fans!
Let’s go Pads! Beat the Detroit Tigers!
The 2026 Major League Baseball season is about to begin! The Home Opener for the San Diego Padres is next Thursday!
I noticed, while walking near Petco Park today, that the latest set of Padres player banners have been put up on street lamps in East Village.
This year there’s a huge addition: Mason Miller! He’s arguably the best closer in all of baseball. Did you watch him pitching for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic? He’s got a flamethrower arm. Wow!
Go Pads! Let’s make the playoffs again this year, and go all the way!
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This weekend, San Diego is going bananas . . . again! The Savannah Bananas have returned to Petco Park, to play two banana ball games against one of their rivals, the Loco Beach Coconuts!
The Savannah Bananas’ popularity continues to grow, with their crazy, kid-friendly on-field antics during “banana ball” games and between innings. It’s like a non-stop circus, all the while playing a baseball game with unusual rules, that include fan participation. (If you catch a foul ball, the batter is out!)
The games have become so popular that there is a league of six teams traveling around playing each other. By the way, the Loco Beach Coconuts are 2-0 versus the original Savannah Bananas team so far in 2026!
Both games this weekend are sold out. Today I walked through the festival atmosphere just north of Gallagher Square, where families (often clad in yellow) were lined up for fun banana ball merchandise.
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A new exhibit was recently introduced to the Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center on the 8th floor of San Diego’s Central Library. Filling two display cases are a bunch of Padres player bobbleheads!
How cool is this?
There are Padres past and present, including Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Jackson Merrill and many more. The one exception I noticed is a bobblehead of Hamilton (Ham) Porter from the classic baseball movie The Sandlot.
The figures on display, I was told by a librarian, are only a small part of the extensive bobblehead collection owned by Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) member Oscar Murrieta.
Head up to the 8th floor of the Central Library for a better look!
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Walking this morning through downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, I photographed these two fun sights!
First is the F Street entrance sign for the old Horton Plaza parking structure. A playful jester welcomes motorists to what used to be a unique and very popular shopping mall!
Next, a sidewalk vent structure was painted to appear like Star War’s R2-D2!
You can spot this fun street art in front of Kutthroat Downtown barber shop at 437 Market Street.
Anyone walking in downtown San Diego can see how the city is preparing for another Major League Baseball season. With signs, banners, loads of merchandise in shop windows–everyone is getting ready to enjoy exciting Padres games at Petco Park!
Can you believe it? Last year, the San Diego Padres had the second highest ballpark attendance in all of Major League Baseball. Not only do we have the best ballpark, we have the best fans!
I took these photos in East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter yesterday morning. With a month to go until Opening Day (March 26), more fun downtown sights will certainly materialize.
It looks to be another great season! Let’s make the playoffs and fight for a World Series appearance!
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The annual Local Author Showcase of the San Diego Library is now on display on the first floor of downtown’s Central Library!
It’s exciting to see dozens of newly published books every year by diverse authors. Our city has so many creative and talented people! The Central Library is an ideal place to showcase their achievements.
Today I moseyed past the glass display cases and peered at different titles and covers.
A few examples…
At one end of the exhibit, I found a colorful work of art by Judith Parenio! It’s titled Words.
Books are portals to open minds…
Good old San Diego Trolley car number 1001 is running in downtown today. It operates along the Silver Line loop during holidays–and today is Presidents’ Day!
The red light rail vehicle was the first modern trolley car to operate, back in 1981. Today families and excited kids were riding the iconic car. Me too!
Today was the very first free resident day at the Gaslamp Museum!
On the second Thursday of each month, San Diego residents, active military and seniors now receive free admission to the museum. The Gaslamp Museum is located at 410 Island Avenue in the historic Davis-Horton House.
I last visited the house nine years ago and took some interior photos with an inferior camera. To see those dark photographs, click here. You can also read more about the museum and the house’s rich history.
Today I took a few more inside photos. Visitors can see various rooms as they might have appeared in the 19th century.
If you love history–in particular the history of early San Diego–you should visit yourself!
Perhaps take a peek inside on free residents day!
I love these fanciful paintings of neighborhood eateries! They were created by San Diego artist James Watts (@jewattso) as part of his ongoing 100 Paintings project.
I happened to walk down the sidewalk in front of his downtown studio today and he was there outside in the sunshine with his two cats, working with a smile on painting #93. Read about his 100 Paintings project here.
I ventured into his amazing studio, and he showed me some of his latest work. Among many great new paintings, he showed me these three colorful pieces. You might recognize the restaurants they depict!
James Watts is a creative dynamo who is a true San Diego treasure. He’s a super cool friendly downtown neighbor, too!
Read the photo captions. (More on his paintings in my next blog post!)
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Cool San Diego Sights! 