An old pile once used to support Anthony’s Fish Grotto on San Diego’s Embarcadero is removed with a large crane.
Here’s a quick, fun post . . . about posts!
I got off work early this afternoon, so I took a slow walk along the Embarcadero. By sheer chance, today happened to be the day that old piles from the now demolished Anthony’s Fish Grotto were being extracted.
After watching a large crane on a barge lift one pile skyward, I asked a nearby worker to describe what I was seeing. He explained that the long concrete piles had been installed in 1964, and had supported the old Anthony’s Fish Grotto structure for half a century. I stood for a while and watched the crane do some more heavy lifting.
My friend Carlos, who shows his cool artistic creations near the water, had watched this activity for much of the day. He told me that in the morning some powerful machinery had gripped and violently vibrated each pile for 30 seconds or so, in order to loosen them prior to extraction. I wish I had seen that!
Many extracted piles were already stacked on the barge beside the crane when I walked by.Several construction workers were making ready for a new project. The Portside Pier will include a Brigantine restaurant, several smaller eateries and a public observation deck. I believe the supporting structures you see in the water will remain.My friend Carlos points toward some fascinating activity on the bayfront. I see the Star of India and the Maritime Museum of San Diego in the distance.A gull circles overhead as a long, dripping wet pile is carefully hoisted skyward!
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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!
The fountain at the east end of Piazza della Famiglia.
The new Piazza della Famiglia in Little Italy is finally open to the public!
Yesterday morning I took a slow stroll through this amazing community gathering place. As I snapped photos I was awed by the space’s beauty. The European-style piazza is designed for pedestrians; it connects India Street and Columbia Street at Date Street. The delightful setting includes a tile fountain and lots of welcoming tables with umbrellas.
I noticed the apartment homes on either side of the Piazza della Famiglia aren’t quite completed. Construction workers were busy applying the final touches. I’ve also learned that eateries and other businesses along the piazza will be opening later in the year. Once the entire project is finished, the Piazza della Famiglia is sure to become one of the most popular destinations in downtown San Diego!
The illuminated fountain and nearby planters add touches of beauty to the European-style piazza in Little Italy.Construction workers were busy as I passed by with my camera.Someone walks through the piazza on a late March morning. There’s still construction fencing for one of the new buildings.One of many seats at the tables in Piazza della Famiglia.Flowers, warmth and beauty await one and all in Little Italy.Someone else enjoys the peaceful, sunlit piazza.Another very cool sight has debuted in downtown San Diego!
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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!
Magic in this world is abundant. I sensed some of it this evening during my walk home.
As I headed west along Broadway, slanting sunlight touched downtown buildings in unexpected ways, as if cast by a wizard with a flashing wand. The sun rolled away and the moon brightened. And then a few city lights blinked on.
The magic was plainly visible to anyone with lifted eyes.
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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 tour group has entered the Spreckels Theatre from the Grand Lobby of the Spreckels Theater Building in downtown San Diego.
Several years ago I wrote a short blog about the Spreckels Theater Building on Broadway. I took a few photos of the six-story office building’s exterior and Grand Lobby. You can see those here.
During the San Diego Architectural Foundation 2018 OPEN HOUSE event last weekend, I enjoyed a tour of the Spreckels Theatre, which is found inside the large mixed-use building. Our group met in the building’s Grand Lobby near the original old box office, which for many years had been hidden and forgotten behind a wall. We then ventured into the theatre’s smaller elegant Baroque lobby.
After learning some fascinating history, we headed down an aisle through the theatre, up over the orchestra pit and right up onto the stage! By tilting our heads back we could gaze six floors straight up at the stage’s complex workings, and by walking a few steps off the stage, we could poke our noses into the three “Star” dressing suites.
Our group was provided with all sorts of cool information, but sadly I didn’t write it all down. We did learn that the Spreckels Theatre and the building that it’s housed in was built by San Diego entrepreneur and philanthropist John D. Spreckels, and was designed by Harrison Albight. The structure is built of concrete and steel–it actually contains more steel than nearby modern high-rises. The Grand Lobby outside the theatre entrance contains a vast quantity of beautiful onyx that was shipped in from Mexico.
When the theatre opened in 1912 it was the largest theatre of its kind west of New York City. The theatre originally had 1915 seats, to celebrate the 1915 Panama-California Exposition which would be held in Balboa Park. The theatre has been operating continuously for its entire existence–well over a hundred years. To this day, the theatre has one of the best acoustic ratings anywhere in the world.
Everyone in our tour group smiled when we heard about a 1923 production of Ben Hur, which included horse-drawn chariots actually racing across the Spreckel Theatre’s stage! Apparently the chariots raced in a circle through the lot behind the building, and would periodically come into the building to thunder across the stage!
The interior of the theatre was fairly dark during our tour, so many of my photographs didn’t come out very good. Please read the captions to learn some more about this very cool old theatre.
One additional thing! When questions were posed to the theatre’s manager, I asked whether Conan O’Brien would be returning to the Spreckels Theatre for 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. The answer was he almost certainly will!
The Grand Lobby shines with onyx brought in from Mexico. I learned this original box office was hidden for many years behind a wall and forgotten.A sign describes the Spreckels Theatre story. In the 1920’s, it was transformed into a grand movie house, hosting Hollywood premieres and the leading stars of the day.We’ve stepped into the lobby of the theatre. The amazing glass artwork above the entrance was created in 1983 by Yaakov Agam, commissioned by theatre President, Jacquelyn Littlefield. Check out its very different reflection in the mirror!The very elegant concession counter in the theatre, still in use today.Old photos in glass displays behind the lobby’s counter show the historic building, past movie stars and John D. Spreckels.Spreckels Theatre. Opening Night: August 23, 1912.Looking up at light fixtures, one at the theatre lobby and one up some stairs at the Mezzanine.Portraits of Hollywood stars left of the front counter.Early movie stars on the right side.Resolution by San Diego City Council honoring Jacqelyn Littlefield Day, owner and operator of the beautiful Spreckels Theatre since 1970.Cool poster from Conan O’Brien’s appearance at the Spreckels Theatre during 2015 San Diego Comic-Con.Now we’ve entered the dark theatre where my old camera struggles. Here’s an idea of what you will see.Balcony seats surrounded by fantastic Baroque elegance.One of two plaster sculptures by Charles C. Cristadoro, who would go on to work for Walt Disney.Looking out toward some seats from the theatre’s stage.The distinctive Spreckels Theatre design at the end of every seat row.A quick peek into a modest suite to the side of the stage. A mirror, sink and restroom are reserved for the biggest stars.Our tour group learns some of the fascinating history of one of San Diego’s most treasured places.
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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!
Here are photos from different walks the past couple of weeks.
It’s odd–how every living experience instantly vanishes, becomes intangible: an insubstantial memory. I look at these photographs and my days seem so ephemeral. Our walk through life is very much like a dream.
Garbage truck lifts dumpster in front of the San Diego Symphony’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Music Center.Guys working on the street near Sixth and Broadway.Someone rides a dockless rental bike down the sidewalk after an early morning shower.Wichita State band members by downtown hotel, getting their instruments ready for an NCAA basketball tournament game held at SDSU’s Viejas Arena.Having a friendly chat while walking the dog on the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.Picking up litter on railroad tracks.A tree’s mysterious, golden reflection in windows.A gull soars above downtown San Diego buildings.A TV news van is parked by the Hall of Justice one evening.Holding hands in the Gaslamp Quarter near Bub’s.Homeless man walks through life with his stuff.Man in kilt, smoking a pipe, relaxes in Seaport Village on St. Patrick’s Day.Fishing in the Marriott Marina. A friendly smile and thumbs up from folks who work at Hookup Baits, my work neighbors.Looking down from the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge at the train and trolley yard.People linger high above the city on the 9th floor of the Central Library.A view over East Village construction toward mountains in San Diego’s East County.Feeding birds at the library one fine day.
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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!
Visitors enter the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s OPEN HOUSE 2017.
This weekend the San Diego Architectural Foundation is having their big annual Open House event!
For 2018, an amazing 84 locations will participate, each building or urban site recognized for its unique contribution to San Diego’s architectural history. Many different architectural styles will be highlighted, at locations in Balboa Park, Bankers Hill, downtown, the Gaslamp, East Village, Barrio Logan and Point Loma. Some locations will offer guided tours or special talks; at many others the public is invited to take a self-guided tour.
To find out more, including days and times of tours this Saturday and Sunday, check out the SDAF website here.
In 2017 I took full advantage of this event and visited a range of interesting places. The following are links to photographs that I took:
Paintings in Balboa Park Conservancy Board Room. (I took these photos during a 2017 Open House tour of the House of Hospitality. Unfortunately I joined the group midstream and took few useful notes.)
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!
Two super nice volunteers pose for a pic inside the cool Friends of the Central Library Bookstore!
There are many outstanding things about the Central Library in downtown San Diego. One great thing is their internet lab, where I can easily post to my blog when my home internet is temporarily down. Another is the used bookstore just inside the public library’s front entrance!
I can’t count all the awesome books, CD’s, graphic novels and other cool stuff I’ve stumbled across while browsing through the Friends of the Central Library Bookstore. Every time I go there seems to be a new crop on the shelves. My hungry eyes harvest the bounty. Fertile row after fertile row sprout with fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, science fiction, biographies, cookbooks, religion . . . you name it!
Are you looking for the coolest used bookstore in San Diego? Head downtown! The proceeds from every purchase help support the Central Library. In so many ways the library provides neighbors with opportunities, improving our community.
You never know what you’ll find in this used bookstore. Perhaps someone would like to learn about The Practice of Palmistry.I was shown this amazing pop-up book! Every page becomes a different habitat which plays realistic sound effects from nature!Someone pauses near the front desk of San Diego’s Central Library to browse a few of the many incredible used books!
Yesterday for one measly dollar I purchased one of the best resources ever written for identifying local flora.
I went on a long walk yesterday between rainstorms. It was St. Patrick’s Day.
Many carefree people were heading into downtown to celebrate all things Irish: to attend the big Shamrock event, drink green beer, listen to music, dance a jig and party. Others were not thinking about St. Patrick’s Day.
There are countless participants in San Diego’s life.
One day in the city is infinitely complex. So many feet–moving forward in time–crossing paths, weaving a mystery.
Trees at Tuna Harbor Park have turned golden just before sunset.
Here are a few photos from my walk along the Embarcadero early this evening. The images I’ve selected were taken between Navy Pier and Seaport Village.
Every walk in San Diego is magical.
A happy smile greets my camera at the foot of Navy Pier!Two people exit the USS Midway Museum.Playing the fife beneath the Grand Union Flag near the Greatest Generation Walk.A reflection of man and fishing boat in Tuna Harbor.A gull ready to alight upon a mast.Lobster traps in Tuna Harbor reflected in ripples of early evening water.The U.S.S. San Diego Memorial attracts walkers. Another day is nearing an end on San Diego’s Embarcadero.A fisherman and sea lion regard each other.People watch another magical sunset across San Diego Bay.
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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 San Diego Sights! 