Tag: embarcadero

Cool photo memories from April 2019.

San Diego never disappoints. So many cool events were held in April five years ago that I had a difficult time selecting which ones to revisit as this new month begins!

Back in April 2019, my camera recorded knights in shining armor battling in Balboa Park, the inside workings of a Peruvian Navy tall ship, a wheelchair OTL tournament, a couple of Earth Day events, a tour of a United States Coast Guard cutter, Witches’ Night at the Comic-Con Museum, a local skatepark’s 20th anniversary, the Encinitas Street Fair, a big Shakespeare festival, a super fun Pet Day on the Bay…and much more!

I have 15 links coming up to blog posts that contain oodles of photographs!

Click the following links for hundreds of cool photos!

Little Italy’s history, culture at Amici House.

Great ideas at South Bay Earth Day!

Faces of INSIDE OUT still smile in Chula Vista!

Washington Street Skatepark’s 20th Anniversary!

Fun times at the Wheelchair OTL Tournament!

Earth Day at Old Town’s Native Plant Garden.

English knights, cute Corgis, Harry Potter and more!

Photos of Shakespeare celebration in Balboa Park!

Photos aboard Peruvian Navy tall ship BAP Unión!

Cool sights along Adams Avenue west of 30th.

Local history remembered at Trolley Barn Park.

Dogs enjoy a harbor cruise on San Diego Bay!

Take a tour aboard a new Coast Guard cutter!

Cool discoveries at the Encinitas Street Fair!

Images from Witches’ Night in San Diego!

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Historic ferry in San Diego, like a cathedral.

It reminds one of stained glass in a cathedral. Exquisite art glass windows, fabricated over a century ago, fill a historic ship in San Diego with golden sunlight.

If you’ve ever stepped onto the Dan McKinney Deck of the steam ferry Berkeley (part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego) you’ve experienced the beauty. The long polished wooden benches, the soft light and tranquil quiet–the atmosphere is indeed similar to that of a cathedral.

I noticed during a recent visit that the Berkeley’s art glass was created by California Art Glass Works in San Francisco. The 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley was built to carry Southern Pacific Railroad passengers between Oakland and San Francisco.

Out of curiosity, I’ve tried to find information concerning California Art Glass Works. The factory was located on Mission Street in San Francisco. It was famous for the manufacturing of lodge and church memorial windows.

Here’s a link to a page on the Oakland Museum of California website that contains information about California Art Glass Works and the man behind it. Among other things, you’ll learn the glass company was founded in 1879 by William Schroeder, who had learned the craft in Germany. California Art Glass won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 1900 for the windows it exhibited there.

If you happen to know more about California Art Glass Works, please leave a comment!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Basketball court takes shape at Waterfront Park!

A new basketball court is taking shape at Waterfront Park, just north of San Diego’s County Administration Building! Check out the above photo taken this afternoon.

A large swath of the garden that originally existed on the north side of Waterfront Park has been removed, and recreational facilities are beginning to appear. Right next to this basketball court will be two pickleball courts. There will be table tennis and fitness equipment. A dog park will also be created.

These facilities will be welcomed by many downtown residents.

According to a banner on a construction fence, estimated time of project completion is July 2024.

(I’ve been told the Serpent Tree, a colorful sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle that used to rise here, will not be returning. If true, that’s sad.)

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Port of San Diego’s new environmental signs.

The Port of San Diego has installed two brand new information signs on the Embarcadero next to the Maritime Museum. They concern Port and U.S. Navy efforts to protect the environment in San Diego Bay.

I took these photos yesterday…

The U.S. Navy and the Port of San Diego – A collaborative partnership to manage and protect natural resources in San Diego Bay… The Navy and the Port work collaboratively with the goal to ensure the long-term health, restoration, and protection of San Diego Bay’s ecosystem along with the bay’s economic, naval, navigational, recreational, and fisheries needs.
Navy ships based in San Diego – San Diego is home to roughly one quarter of all U.S. Navy vessels. There are more than 50 Navy ships stationed at Naval Base San Diego alone. Across San Diego Bay, aircraft carriers are stationed at Naval Air Station North Island and submarines are stationed a Naval Base Point Loma.
Hospital Ship, USNS Mercy, docked at North Island across San Diego Bay.
Visible behind a new Port of San Diego information sign are HMS Surprise and Berkeley of the Maritime Museum.
Expanding Eelgrass – Eelgrass provides important ecosystem functions, including shelter for fish, food for sea turtles, and foraging areas for invertebrates… The Port and Navy seek to expand the acreage of eelgrass…
Studying Fish and Protecting Birds, including the endangered California least tern. Fish health can be affected by water quality conditions, such as urban runoff and warming temperatures… To protect sensitive bird species, the Navy and the Port have several measures in place, including maintaining nesting sites, relocating nests, managing predators, marking and avoiding areas where nests may be present, and monitoring least terns and snowy plovers during breeding season.
Monitoring Sea Turtles – The Port and the Navy monitor federally listed endangered Pacific green sea turtles by affixing satellite tags to the top of their shells and track their movements through San Diego Bay…

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Two very unusual vessels visit San Diego!

Two unusual ocean-going vessels are now visiting San Diego. Both are large and amazing!

The first, which you see above, is the Island Pride, a state of the art construction and support vessel. It features a large helicopter landing pad and an impressive crane. It’s docked at the B Street Pier. I don’t know why it’s in San Diego–I saw it this morning during a walk along the Embarcadero. If you’re curious, you can read about this impressive ship on its website here.

That helicopter pad in front makes Island Pride appear as if it’s wearing a hat!

The second ship, moored a short distance north of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, is the superyacht Aquijo.

According to this Wikipedia article, Aquijo is (or recently was) the largest ketch in the entire world! A ketch is a two-masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast. Aquijo was built in the Netherlands.

Take a look at the final photo. Impressive!

You never know what sort of cool sight you might encounter during a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero!

UPDATE!

Here’s a pic of Island Pride taken several days later. It had turned around…

ANOTHER UPDATE!

About a month later, I spotted Aquijo docked behind the San Diego Convention Center…

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

New public art appears at RaDD in San Diego!

New public art has appeared at the RaDD (Research and Development District) complex that now rises on San Diego’s waterfront!

Sculptures and murals can be viewed by those walking along the Embarcadero among the five gleaming RaDD buildings where some construction fences have recently come down.

I was able to photograph the above sculpture and a long mural today during my walk near the USS Midway, the Greatest Generation Walk and Ruocco Park. I also spotted a water feature among plants and trees between the two southernmost buildings.

Another large red sculpture and another mural have also appeared among the buildings to the north, but construction fences still obstruct photography. I’ll try to provide more photos when those fences are removed.

I know nothing about the artists. If you have any interesting information, please leave a comment. If I learn anything further about this new public art in San Diego, I’ll post an update!

(Last November, I spotted a new mural at the north end of RaDD. See those photos 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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Shimms indie rockers perform on the Embarcadero!

Three residents of Little Italy were rocking San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon!

The band Shimms had set up their instruments by San Diego Bay, just south of the Grape Street Pier, and were performing indie rock for an audience that had gathered on the boardwalk.

I lingered for a short while and listened to some darn good music.

You never know what you might encounter during a walk along San Diego’s waterfront. Street musicians, jugglers, dancers, bubble makers, a person costumed like Chewbacca, a dead-ringer for Maverick in Top Gun, a guy with flame-throwing bagpipes–it can be quite surprising!

You might also encounter some talented musicians!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Photos of annual MLK Parade in San Diego!

Kindness. Smiles. Laughter. Compassion.

This morning I saw this and more as participants prepared for the 42nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade along San Diego’s beautiful Embarcadero.

Every year the MLK Day parade along the waterfront is a big deal. Thousands come out to watch community groups celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. and his enduring message of human dignity, equality and love.

Dancers, marching bands, students, veterans, beauty queens, activists, club members, law enforcement, politicians, businesses, car lovers, charitable organizations . . . all would move proudly down Harbor Drive.

I took photographs of everyone coming together before the start of the parade.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Evening’s golden hour on the Embarcadero.

This series of photographs attempts to capture the magic of the “golden hour” along San Diego’s Embarcadero. This evening, about an hour before sunset, I walked south from the Maritime Museum of San Diego to Tuna Harbor.

As the sun approached the horizon across San Diego Bay, its light reflected from downtown’s many windows, creating a magical scene.

When San Diego’s blue sky contains big fluffy clouds, the drama is heightened! The weather experts say a small storm is approaching–showers late tonight.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Padres baseball windglyphs return to San Diego!

Three colorful banners that celebrate the early history of the San Diego Padres returned in late October to Lane Field Park! I’ve noticed them flying near the corner of Harbor Drive and Broadway during recent Embarcadero walks.

Thanks to the nearby InterContinental Hotel, these windglyphs, depicting Pacific Coast League (PCL) San Diego Padres baseball players Ted Williams and Eddie Erautt, have replaced the originals that eventually became weather-beaten after debuting in 2017. The windglyphs are titled Spirits of the West Wind. They were designed by local artist Lisa Schirmer.

If you’d like to learn more about the inspiration behind these beautiful windglyphs, and see photographs taken the day the originals were first raised, 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 (formerly known as Twitter)!