Tag: embarcadero

San Diego’s very big America 250 party!

When hundreds of thousands of people come together for a good time, that’s a very, very big party. An epic party of that size was held around San Diego Bay today, as folks from all over converged on the waterfront to watch the Big Bay Boom fireworks display and celebrate the 250th birthday of America! Not your everyday Fourth of July!

I’ve never seen so much humanity crowded onto the Embarcadero. Even as I left, shortly after nightfall, people were still arriving from seemingly every direction–filling the boardwalks, Embarcadero Marina Park South and North, the steps of the San Diego Convention Center, Seaport Village, the USS Midway, nearby piers, Waterfront Park…

These America 250 photos were taken as I walked south from the Grape Street Pier to the Rady Shell (where a concert featuring all-American music was being held).

People are more interesting than fireworks to me, so my photos mostly focus on those who came down to San Diego Bay for a patriotic party like no other…

As you can see, the new Ringer’s roller skating rink in Seaport Village is now finished. It opened yesterday!

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Ringer’s roller rink pours concrete in Seaport Village!

Today Ringer’s began pouring concrete for their new roller skating rink in Seaport Village!

I happened to walk by this afternoon and noticed the construction activity. The Ringer’s Seaport storefront is already open and offers all sorts of roller skating gear and cool gifts.

I’ve been told the new open air skating rink will be open by late July!

Histories of the Black Pacific at Maritime Museum.

Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific is an extensive exhibition that recently opened at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Spread over two levels of the museum’s steam ferry Berkeley, the exhibit celebrates 500 years of Black Mariner legacies in whaling, fishing, surfing, swimming, sailing, exploration, and defense shaping the U.S. Pacific.

Historical photographs and nautical artifacts transport visitors from the earliest African maritime traditions right up to the present day. The exhibition has been created with the help of UC San Diego curator Dr. Caroline Collins, so every aspect of Black history in connection with the Pacific Ocean is thoroughly covered.

You will learn about history that is too often overlooked.

Did you know that Juan Garrido, an Afro-Spanish conquistador, was the first documented Black person in what is now the United States? Or that by the mid-19th century, men of color made up to 30 percent of whalers? Or that African American blacksmith and abolitionist Lewis Temple invented an improved harpooning instrument called the Temple toggle iron? Or that thousands of African American women worked in the Pacific shipyards during World War II? Or that in 1942, Captain Hugh Mulzac became the first African American merchant marine naval officer to command an integrated crew during the war?

You’ll learn all this and much more when you visit Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific.

In addition, with your general admission ticket, you get to explore all of the historic ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, including world-famous Star of India!

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Toyota Racing’s NASCAR festival in San Diego!

An awesome festival in advance of the big NASCAR race at North Island was held today at Waterfront Park in San Diego.

The Garage, presented by Toyota Racing, featured race cars and cool vehicles, racing simulators, a Tundra covered with 143,021 rhinestones, music, food trucks, photo ops, merch, art and even a skateboarding half pipe with Team Toyota athlete Jordyn Barratt!

The Padres happy mascot Swinging Friar gave me a high five! I said hello to Phoebe Nelson of (@pandrdesign), a local muralist whose work I’ve photographed around San Diego over the years! I tried out a video game simulator and took 40th place!

Loads of NASCAR fun!

My photos…

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Preserving a world treasure in San Diego.

San Diego is home of a world treasure. Star of India is one of the most important historic ships in the entire world.

The Maritime Museum of San Diego maintains 1863 tall ship Star of India, which is not only the oldest active ship in the world, but a United States National Historic Landmark. The beautiful sailing ship, an iconic sight on the Embarcadero, is one of our city’s brightest crown jewels.

Local museums are facing a future of difficult funding. Now imagine a maritime museum that must care for and preserve historic ships that are outdoors in the weather and on the water, including Star of India. Ships are expensive to maintain. To preserve a world treasure like Star of India takes a lot of funds, volunteer work, and love.

A few days ago I noticed one volunteer working on the wood deck, repairing the inevitable cracks that come from exposure to sun, rain and changing temperatures. He explained that he was sealing cracks with a special marine sealant and adhesive. I also learned the expansive main deck of the Star will have to be replaced in the future. No small or inexpensive task!

If you take pride in Star of India, why not help her by becoming a member of the Maritime Museum of San Diego like myself? Or you can become a volunteer, or make a donation!

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Checking out Top Secret exhibit on USS Midway!

Top Secret: Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence is a fantastic exhibit that opened on the USS Midway Museum last year. I finally checked it out a few days ago.

The exhibit takes visitors through the Carrier Intelligence Center, which is contained in a surprisingly large area (1,500 square feet) under the USS Midway aircraft carrier’s flight deck, spanning its entire width. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the Carrier Intelligence Center served as the nerve center for intelligence gathering and analysis, mission planning, and strategic decision-making.

Today visitors can enjoy interactive displays that demonstrate how, years ago, in a less technologically advanced era, naval intelligence was gathered and analyzed, to aid combat operations, search and rescue, and humanitarian missions.

Walking through the exhibit, I observed how Intelligence Specialists worked like detectives. It was interesting to see how analog instruments were used to analyze gathered information. Imagine my surprise seeing an old-fashioned slide rule, which was used to calculate the size of structures in photos taken from a great distance! Some of the original, restored equipment includes teletypes and radio receivers.

I learned that specialists who gathered, analyzed and acted upon critical information included Air Intelligence Officers, Aerographer’s Mates, Photographers Mates, Cryptologic Technicians, Squadron Aviation Intelligence Officers… In combat, when every moment might mean life or death, everyone must work quickly and efficiently as a team to achieve success.

Top Secret: Inside the High-Stakes World of Naval Intelligence is so amazing it earned the MUSE Gold Award in the Experiential and Immersive Exhibition category!

If all this sounds interesting to you, head over the USS Midway Museum in downtown San Diego and check it out!

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Brilliant Lady arrives in San Diego!

Brilliant Lady has made her debut in San Diego!

The impressive 17 deck, 2770 passenger cruise ship, which launched in September last year, arrived in San Diego this month to begin operations on the West Coast. The adults only Virgin Voyages ship will be cruising down to Mexico and up to Alaska. It’s the fourth ship in the Virgin Voyages fleet.

I saw the new cruise ship this morning docked at San Diego’s Broadway Pier.

A mystery behind the San Diego Convention Center!

These metal benches line the boardwalk behind the San Diego Convention Center. They face San Diego Bay. They were commissioned in 2008 and created by noted artist Nance O’Banion.

As her website explains: Nance produced 13 original designs, each of which was fabricated, once in its original form and once as a ‘mirror image’, in plasma-cut powder-coated steel. The installation of 26 art benches was titled Reverie.

I took these photos yesterday…

Today, a plaque can be seen embedded in the boardwalk near the benches, very close to the entrance to the Fifth Avenue Landing Superyacht Marina. It resembles the Reverie plaque shown in the gallery on Nance O’Banion’s website. The plaque includes her name and the same 2008 year.

But the title of the current plaque is different!

Why is the title Caesure, and not the original Reverie?

At some point, was the name of the installation changed to Caesure? The Latin word caesūra means “a cutting” or “a separation,” which might apply to the mirrored bench designs, or possibly how these benches were made.

Or . . . does Caesure concern another work of public art somewhere nearby? If so, what and where?

It’s a mystery with no solution that I can find!

If you know more about the history of this art bench installation, and why there have been different plaques with two different titles, please leave a comment!

UPDATE!

During a later walk along the boardwalk, I spotted a plaque titled Reverie. So that leaves the question: What was/is the public art titled Caesure?

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Reinforcing Navy Pier for Freedom Park.

If you’ve walked past the USS Midway Museum lately, you might wonder about that construction activity on Navy Pier. What you’ve observed are workers reinforcing the old pier, site of future Freedom Park, which is scheduled to open in 2028.

The Navy Pier Freedom Park Structural Pier Reinforcement–as a nearby sign proclaims–is being undertaken by the Port of San Diego and the USS Midway Museum.

The old Navy headhouse on the pier’s east end was demolished about a year ago. Now the work is to reinforce the pier with concrete by jet grouting along approximately 380 linear feet of retaining wall. What, you ask, is jet grouting? Here’s the Wikipedia page that explains.

According to a press release from last summer, this reinforcement phase is scheduled to be completed by February 2026.

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Big dreams at 2026 Holiday Bowl Parade!

Dreams were absolutely gigantic this morning in San Diego. That’s always the case during the annual Holiday Bowl Parade. In 2026, those watching the balloon parade along Harbor Drive were dreaming very big things.

There were the dreams of college football fans, who’d gathered in San Diego for the evening game between the Arizona Wildcats and SMU Mustangs. The booming sound of their marching bands would stir dreams of a victory at Snapdragon Stadium.

There were the dreams of young and old, viewing beloved characters soaring overhead. Garfield, Mr. Potato Head, Horton the elephant, the Grinch, Mother Goose and Humpty Dumpty were like marvelous visions, parading past the eyes of thousands as the sun broke through morning clouds.

There were the dreams, as well, of those who are more philosophical. If so many different people can gather together for a fun and harmonious celebration, why can’t the people of the world live together this way?

I walked around and took photos before the Holiday Bowl Parade began, then positioned myself on San Diego’s iconic tall ship Star of India, to enjoy the “best seat in the house” for the big parade!

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