The holidays have arrived at San Diego’s Greatest Generation Walk. Beautiful poinsettias now encircle the Homecoming sculpture.
Homecoming, which depicts a sailor embracing his wife and child, was created by renowned American sculptor Stanley Bleifeld. It is one of many military monuments on San Diego’s Embarcadero just south of the USS Midway Museum.
I took these photographs early this morning, two weeks before Christmas.
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Look at those two big shark cages! I spotted them during my early morning walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
The Sharkwater marine research vessel of the organization Fins Attached is now docked in San Diego!
I didn’t see any crewmembers on deck, and when I looked at their social media this evening, I couldn’t tell whether they’re in San Diego for a particular reason. I did see on their website that a special online fundraising event is coming up.
The mission of Fins Attached is primarily the study of sharks and their preservation. If you’d like to help this cause, visit their website to learn more!
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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!
Early sunlight made a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero very beautiful this morning.
I snapped these photos between the Grape Street Pier and Broadway Pier.
Gentle ripples moved across quiet San Diego Bay. Golden light reflected from buildings and homes across the water. Birds passed overhead. A ferry departed for Coronado.
Here’s what morning walkers and joggers might have experienced…
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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 huge, very colorful event was held today on San Diego’s Embarcadero at Waterfront Park. Taste of the Philippines, presented by the House of the Philippines, offered food, culture, entertainment and fun galore!
After walking through Balboa Park (incidentally passing the new House of the Philippines cottage), I headed down toward San Diego Bay to check out this event.
I was amazed by the huge crowd! I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising, given how San Diego is home to the second largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines.
I recognized various organizations that I’ve seen at past House of the Philippines lawn programs at the International Cottages. But at this epic event there was much, much more, including a big stage, beer garden, endless choices of food, and a kids play zone!
Enjoy some photos…
I learned that the PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company will be hosting a Parol Lantern Festival on December 13, 2021 at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park. It’s now on my calendar!A parol is a Christmas lantern in the Philippines. These star-shaped lanterns are hung along streets and outside homes. They are an expression of shared faith and hope.All these poster displays concerning culture and history in the Philippines were created by students at Southwestern College.A fascinating collection of old photos. Image of the Pilipino: 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.A San Diego Paré fan!Photos of folk dance at the Samahan Philippine Dance Company table.Traditional entertainment at the big stage during Taste of the Philippines.Live mural painting at the festival.Cecelia Linayao, local chalk artist, created this portrait of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who is part Filipino! You’ve seen her art many times on my blog.Dane’s a super cool guy who paints custom longboards! His page on Instagram is @Kinjo_arts.
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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!
I was walking along the Embarcadero past the Maritime Museum of San Diego when I noticed the hull of their badly rusting old Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine, B-39, was partially wrapped with orange material. I asked at the ticket booth for the latest news concerning this historic Russian sub, and I was told it’s being prepared for one last journey. It is to be towed away from the museum next month.
During the Cold War this particular diesel electric submarine, which was commissioned in the 1970’s, might have lurked at times off the West Coast, tracking United States Navy ships. Its final destination will be the Pacific Ocean off Ensenada, Mexico. There it will be sunk to create a new underwater reef!
UPDATE!
Oh, the perils of a blogger whose website, through mysterious algorithms, is considered by some a news site. I make a lousy journalist!
The gentleman I relied on for the preceding information was only partially correct–and very wrong concerning the main matter. The submarine will indeed be towed to Ensenada (at an as yet unknown time) to be disassembled for its valuable metal components. But will it become a reef? I’m told, no.
I heard this a couple days later from a much more reliable source during another visit to the Maritime Museum.
I also took the following photographs. You can see strips of orange safety fence wrapped around a portion of the rusted outer hull.
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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!
Some passengers who embark on a cruise aboard the Disney Wonder don’t realize there’s another “Disney ship” that makes San Diego its homeport. And it’s docked just a stone’s throw (or cannon shot) away!
HMS Surprise, of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, was one of the ships used in the filming of Disney’s 2011 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The museum ship portrayed Captain Hector Barbossa’s HMS Providence.
HMS Surprise, a beautiful replica of the 18th century Royal Navy frigate Rose, spent three months off Long Beach during the Pirates of the Caribbean filming.
HMS Surprise is better known for its leading role in another film. The tall ship co-starred with Russell Crowe in 2003’s epic, multiple Academy Award nominated Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Going on a Disney cruise out of San Diego? Are you a fan of the popular Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise? Walk a short distance along the Embarcadero and step aboard a cool Disney movie ship!
Learn more about HMS Surprise at the Maritime Museum of San Diego website here.
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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!
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I’m sure somebody out there knows the story behind the above art. Even after extensive searches on the internet, it’s a mystery to me!
Two identical artworks are mounted on the north and south side of San Diego’s 1938 County Administration Building. Whenever I walk near the building, I look up at these medallion-like discs and try to figure out what is depicted.
This morning I finally took zoom photos. Now that I can scrutinize the design up close, I’m still baffled. The anchor suggests the design has a maritime theme.
If I had to guess, the art combines a 1930’s era flying boat splashing down on nearby San Diego Bay with the sail of a Chinese junk. The latter type of fishing boat was commonly seen on the bay in the early days of San Diego.
Or I might be completely wrong!
The best source I can find that describes the County Administration Building’s external ornamentation is a San Diego County government publication titled Bridging the Centuries: The Jewel on the Bay. Read it here. Check out page 20. Everything on the building’s exterior is described . . . all except this mystery artwork!
It appears to me this colorful disc might have some sort of mechanical action. Why is there a lever of some type projecting from the sun? Does the plane tilt upward as if taking off?
Please leave a comment if you are knowledgeable. I’m sure many are curious!
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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!
Around noon today there was a unique outdoor celebration of Memorial Day in downtown San Diego. The spectacle could be viewed in San Diego Bay and the sky above the USS Midway Museum!
A small crowd that had gathered by the iconic “Kiss” statue saw a Harbor Police patrol boat water cannon salute and a parade of personal watercraft arriving from across the bay bearing large American flags.
Then, after the patriotic parade had gathered in the water between the USS Midway and The Greatest Generation Walk, four vintage World War II aircraft belonging to Air Group One of the Commemorative Air Force flew twice overhead, and departed with the missing man formation.
Much of the event was at a distance from where I stood, but my small camera managed to get a few good photographs…
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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!
At the Embarcadero’s picturesque Tuna Harbor, photography is easy. Aim your camera in almost any direction and you’ll capture light, life and fascinating complexity.
I walked around Tuna Harbor late this afternoon and pointed my camera at workers loading equipment onto Gutsy Lady 4 (near a cool vintage truck), the usual crowd of commercial fishing boats docked side-by-side, and youth fishing on the pier by Seaport Village.
(In the final photograph you can glimpse three active aircraft carriers in the distance. Docked across San Diego Bay at North Island are the USS Carl Vinson, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt.)
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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!
Take a look at this enormous ship! I saw it today docked at San Diego’s B Street Pier, across from the Cruise Ship Terminal. The vessel, with what appears to be a helicopter pad high above its bow, is so huge I spotted it several blocks from San Diego’s Embarcadero!
The Normand Energy is a Pipe Layer vessel built in 2007, sailing under the flag of Norway. I was curious why such an unusual ship is visiting San Diego, so I searched the news.
It turns out the Normand Energy was chartered by Global Sea Mineral Resources (GSR) to test the Patania II, a deep-sea mining prototype. But on April 25 Patania II became detached from its 5 kilometer (over 3 miles!) cable and became stranded on the Pacific Ocean floor!
According to this article, the “25-tonne mining robot prototype was trialed in the Clarion Clipperton Zone in the Pacific since April 20. The machine was supposed to collect nodules rich in cobalt and other battery metals…such minerals would be used to supplement in-demand electronic products and energy storage such as smartphones, laptops, solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles…”
According to this article, a recovery mission successfully retrieved Patania II on April 29.
Environmentalists including Greenpeace oppose deep-sea mining and the damage to the ocean bottom that would result, but ironically the rare earth elements that could be extracted are required for various components in clean energy technology.
If you’re curious about the whereabouts of the Clarion Clipperton Zone and what this “geological submarine fracture zone” is exactly, here’s a fascinating Wikipedia article.
Check out additional photographs of the Normand Energy that I took from various angles. The next two are from the Broadway Pier…
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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!
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