One reason I like to walk through Seaport Village on a weekend is the live music. There’s always a great local band performing on stage in the Lighthouse District. Today it was The Tradesmen.
The best thing is how random people descend onto the outdoor “dance floor” and completely let loose: moving to the music, swaying, arms lifted skyward, prancing about dizzily without inhibition. What a blast!
I paused for a while during my Embarcadero walk, to tap my toes to Boot Scootin’ Boogie.
No, you couldn’t make me dance like that in front of everybody. I’m chicken.
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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 X.
The 43rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade was held today in downtown San Diego. It’s one of the biggest and best MLK Day parades in the nation. Everyone comes together to celebrate unity, equality and the optimistic vision of humanity championed by civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.
Before the parade began, there was a 5K walk and run along Harbor Drive. Meanwhile, participants assembled in front of the County Administration Building for the big parade. I spotted colorful floats with inspiring messages, school bands and drill teams, cool cars, church groups, local sports teams, politicians, law enforcement, firefighters, and diverse businesses and community organizations who believe in the message of MLK.
The annual paradeis coordinated by the Zeta Sigma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the oldest African American fraternity in America.
In addition to the parade, the MLK Harmony Health Festival at nearby Waterfront Park attracted a big crowd. Helpful resources were available to all members of the community, and families were enjoying entertainment, games and a bite to eat.
I walked around before the parade began and took these photographs, as I have in past years.
The first photo you see above was taken from the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s historic ferry Berkeley, which is docked beside Harbor Drive.
The next photo shows 5K walkers…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The Holiday Bowl was played yesterday in San Diego. It’s a time for family vacations–the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Passengers with rolling suitcases were boarding a cruise ship. No wonder so many people were walking along the Embarcadero this morning.
Wouldn’t you know, I took these photos under a gray overcast sky, and just as my walk ended the sun broke out and the sky turned bright blue. Not unusual in San Diego. Even in winter.
I began by walking north from the Broadway Pier…
I returned from the Star of India to the Broadway Pier, and will now proceed south…
The last old building at Navy Pier is being demolished, making way for Freedom Park. The almost 10-acre public park will be developed on the historic pier next to the USS Midway Museum.
New trees have been planted on the grassy lawn between the USS San Diego Memorial and the Embracing Peace statue of the Greatest Generation Walk.
Late Saturday morning, and the weekly Tuna Harbor Dockside Market was winding down.
A commercial fishing boat loads boxes of frozen bait.
This holiday season’s first ever “Downtown Skate” roller skating rink wasn’t open yet. The action would begin at noon behind the Marriott Marquis and Marina hotel.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Looking for some holiday season fun in downtown San Diego?
Look what I discovered today during my walk along San Diego’s sunny Embarcadero. The first ever Downtown Skate roller skating rink at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina!
The 6000 square foot rink has a beautiful view of the Marriott Marina and sailboats passing on San Diego Bay, and features festive decorations that light up in the evening after dark. There are also tasty treats to enjoy like hot chocolate (and that yummy chocolate chip cookie that I devoured)!
Some of the folks working at Downtown Skate smiled for my camera.
Would you love to “roller dance” under bright, sparkling lights?
Looks like loads of fun!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
I took these photographs this morning while it was still dark. They show new public artwork in downtown San Diego. My camera was placed up against the construction fence surrounding the not-yet-opened Progress Park (at the corner of Broadway and Harbor Drive) at the new RaDD complex.
This very cool sculpture, which is illuminated in the night, is titled Shhh Pavilion: The Hopekeeper.
Yes, that’s an interesting name! Even more interesting is the fact that the sculpture’s geometric structure utilizes Voronoi tessellation.
Huh? What?
Learn more about this sculpture, Voronoi tessellation and this new public park coming to San Diego’s waterfront by visiting a past blog post by clicking here!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Inchcliffe Castle, San Diego, circa 1940, by artist Anton Otto Fischer.
An important new exhibition has opened at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. It’s titled Celebrating the Sea: Exploring the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s Hidden Collection.
Notable works of original art in the museum’s extensive collection have been placed on view. Included are beautiful paintings of ships, local scenes that include San Diego Bay, and coastal vistas. Many of the pieces are by renowned artists, like Maurice Braun and Arthur Beaumont.
Visitors will also marvel at rare artifacts, such as an antique Chinese lacquer cabinet with ivory chess set, circa 1720.
The fine exhibition reinforces the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s reputation as a world-famous destination for lovers of both art and the sea!
Coaling Station on the San Diego Waterfront, 1930s, by artist Marie DuBarry.East View of the Coast Guard Station, 1934-1937, by artist Maurice Braun.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Veterans of the Vietnam War are being remembered and honored in San Diego this Veterans Day weekend. A special display created for the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration can be viewed at Broadway Pier, all weekend through Monday during 2024 Fleet Week San Diego.
I came upon the commemoration display while walking inside the pier’s Port Pavilion.
The friendly people you see above told me all about this special recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War. By official proclamation, the nationwide commemoration began on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012 and will continue through Veterans Day, November 11, 2025.
I observed posters and a visual timeline that help one recall a difficult time in world history. I learned that Vietnam Veterans have been receiving special lapel pins as a lasting memento of our nation’s gratitude for their sacrifice during the war. I also learned there’s an extensive Corridor Exhibit inside the Pentagon that tells the story of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. An online virtual tour can be found here.
Importantly, oral histories have also been preserved. Well over one hundred Vietnam Veterans have spoken of their personal experiences during the war. Their video recordings are collected on the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration website. If you’d like to listen to these oral histories, visit this web page. You’ll hear of pain, fear, courage, friendship.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego will be bustling with activity all this weekend. That’s because it’s 2024 Fleet Week!
The public can walk out onto the pier Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Veterans Day) and view a variety of displays by the United States military, in particular the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. The event began Friday afternoon, and I arrived in time to check it out.
The first thing one notices are United States Marine Corps combat vehicles and a gigantic howitzer. As I watched, active service members demonstrated the operation of the howitzer. Funny how operators must physically swab the bore after every shot, just as soldiers and sailors did with cannons in olden days.
Wandering about Broadway Pier, one can find a military working dog demonstration from Camp Pendleton, a robot demonstration, organizations that assist Veterans, and a multitude of food trucks near an outdoor entertainment stage.
The public can also tour a Coast Guard cutter and the USS Germantown, a huge amphibious dock landing ship.
I enjoyed exploring the Fleet Week Innovation Zone inside the pier’s Port Pavilion, where a bunch of booths were set up that promote STEM education. When I arrived, the day was drawing to a close and many of the booths were empty, which was a bit disappointing.
I did enjoy a very cool virtual reality simulation of operations aboard an aircraft carrier! Five visitors don VR headsets and become team members, landing and launching aircraft!
I also enjoyed speaking to friendly folks at the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration table, and viewing graphics concerning Naval history in California.
To learn all about the public ship tours and Fleet Week San Diego activities, which will include a Veterans Day Boat Parade on Monday, click here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Lately, if you’ve walked along San Diego’s Embarcadero past the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum, you’ve probably noticed heavy machinery and a pile of rubble near Navy Pier!
The old Naval Supply Depot headhouse is being torn down, to make way for the future Freedom Park!
I took these photographs on Sunday after jumping off the Coronado ferry. Having walked past the old headhouse hundreds of times over many, many years, seeing its destruction in progress is a trifle jarring.
Early this summer I shared photos when the demolition had barely begun. If you want to see those previous photos and find more information about the landmark Freedom Park project, click here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Have you ever had an eerie experience on the Star of India, San Diego’s world-famous tall ship? The old ship does have a long history of ghostly encounters. Are you curious?
Haunted Star Tales is an experience now available at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, in time for Halloween. Several signs posted around Star of India tell how visitors to the historic tall ship have had possible encounters with ghosts from the ship’s past.
For example, people have reported a mysterious cold chill in the boatswain’s locker, just above the chain locker where a death occurred in the year 1909.
And there are those instances when ship caretakers, night watchmen and others have felt a finger in their back when nobody else is present–possibly by the ghost of one John Campbell, a stowaway boy, who, in 1884, working for his passage, fell 100 feet to the ship’s deck.
Wander the decks and darker areas inside 1863 Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, looking for informative signs that tell of possible hauntings. You will find many human stories and so much fascinating history.
Whether you encounter a ghost–who knows?
Souls lost and mysterious sightings… Come aboard and find out for yourself!The bo’s’un’s locker, where unexplained cold chills have been felt.The chain locker, where a death occurred.Visitors come to the ticket taker or volunteer tour guides and ask… Did someone die here?
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Cool San Diego Sights! 