There’s a big party today in downtown San Diego. It’s home Opening Day for the San Diego Padres!
(As I type this the Padres lead the World Champion Braves 9-0!)
I walked through the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village in the early morning, and again after work while the game was already underway.
In addition to some cool lowriders, I saw fans hanging around Petco Park, coming together to watch the game around food and drink, enjoying the early evening, and anticipating a big 2022 baseball season!
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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!
Lots of excited San Diego baseball fans were converging on Petco Park to watch the first Padres game (which is being played in Arizona) on the big screen at Gallagher Square. Before the game began, some favorite Padres legends–including Hoffy, Randy Jones and Uncle Teddy–were talking baseball and the new season.
I walked randomly around to capture a little bit of the excitement. After checking out the ballpark, and parts of East Village and the Gaslamp, I headed home. But I did capture a few fun photographs!
(As I post these photos, Pads have taken a 1-0 lead over the D-Backs! Go Padres!)
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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!
This evening I headed to Balboa Park to watch The Sky Tonight at the Fleet Science Center’s giant domed IMAX theater.
Every first Wednesday of the month, the Fleet’s eye-popping, jaw-dropping The Sky Tonight astronomy presentation coincides with Stars in the Park, a fun, educational outdoor event hosted by the San Diego Astronomy Association.
When I stepped out of the theater, with a sense of renewed wonder at the immensity and beauty of the universe, night had fallen, and I gazed through several telescopes at the distant stars themselves.
But prior to all this, well before the sun set, I saw other stars all around the park…
Two brightly smiling members of the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society’s Realm of Andor. They usually hang out on Sunday afternoons at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.Indy is a shining Balboa Park star on a fine Wednesday evening.Look! Another musical star!Like planets orbiting the sun, kids were running around the Bea Evenson Fountain.Another star poses and smiles on El Prado!Options For All, an organization that serves adults with disabilities, welcomes those arriving for a special movie screening in Balboa Park.
A short film titled Climb premiered this evening at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.
According to its description, the film is based on a day in the life of the adaptive team, which consists of four rock climbers with disabilities at the Mesa Rim Climbing Center. Learn more at the Options For All organization’s Facebook page here!
One of the film’s stars smiles by the Climb movie poster. That’s her climbing in the upper left corner of the graphic!Stars that are light-years distant from Balboa Park would become visible after nightfall. Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association set up a powerful telescope for public observation of the sky after dark!
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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!
Selected works by artists teaching at colleges around San Diego County are now on display at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
Campus Creatives: Featuring San Diego’s Fine Art Faculty showcases pieces created by 49 teaching artists from 14 local institutions, ranging from smaller community colleges to San Diego State University, University of San Diego, and UC San Diego.
I headed up to Escondido today to experience this mostly contemporary art.
The museum galleries contain many unusual and experimental pieces that utilize a surprising variety of materials. As one might expect from college faculty, certain social, environmental and political themes were plentiful. I also saw examples of arresting beauty and art for art’s sake.
Some of the pieces obviously required a good deal of time and effort. I was stunned by a couple of large, very complex woven tapestries. You’ll see one in the upcoming photographs.
I asked the friendly gentleman at the museum’s front counter what he liked best about the exhibition. The variety, he told me.
I concur one hundred percent!
Go check it out!
Meanwhile, enjoy a few examples.
Campus Creatives: Featuring San Diego’s Fine Art Faculty will be on public view through May 15, 2022.
Corvid: Suspicion, 2021, Joanne Hayakawa. Graphite on mylar with steel frame.Explanation of Colors, 2019, Leslie Nemour. Oil, mm on found map.Petals to the Metal, 2019, Joshua Eggleton. Charcoal.Albedo, 2021, Bill Mosley. Oil on canvas.The Creation of the Virus, 2021, Carlos Castro. Woven tapestry.Maintaining Bearings, 2022, Stephanie Bedwell. Wood, fiber.Cactus Transformation, 2019, YC Kim. Porcelain and light.Yuri-Tobabay, Japan 1932, 2017, Julie Goldstein. Woodcut, graphite, recycled fabric.Masquerade, 2021, Serena Potter. Oil on canvas.
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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 Coronado Historical Association’s Museum of History and Art presently features an exhibit titled Uprooted: The Story of the Japanese Americans of Coronado.
I visited the museum yesterday. The kind lady at the entrance allowed me to take a few photos when she learned I’m a blogger.
As I stepped into the first gallery, I was immediately pleased to see that the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park had contributed objects for display, including beautiful kimonos. I’m a member of the garden.
Then, as I looked at old photographs and read descriptions, I was stunned to learn that Coronado once had its own Japanese garden! Actually two tea gardens! And the second would be the setting for four motion pictures from 1913 to 1919!
Looking at the exhibit’s many historical photographs, I tried to imagine what life on the island might have been like years ago, particularly for Japanese Americans. The years covered are from the mid-1800’s when immigrants came to California seeking opportunity, to the forced detention of Japanese American citizens during World War II, to more recent and optimistic times.
Many of the displays are made possible by the Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego.
Anyone interested in local history absolutely should visit this exhibit. I was surprised to learn so much!
More information can be found on the Coronado Historical Association 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!
An awesome month-long event kicked off today in the grassy park beside the Coronado Public Library. The 2022 Coronado Community READ is underway!
The event, in its sixth year, encourages residents of Coronado to read one particular book, which is selected by vote-casting members of the community. After two years of isolation and strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it might be more important and satisfying than ever for neighbors to come together with a shared experience.
For 2022 the Coronado Community READ book is West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge. West with Giraffes, according to its description, is about “two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America as they traveled across the country to our very own San Diego Zoo.” (Wow! I think I need to read it, too, even though I don’t live in Coronado!)
There are two additional books for Coronado’s young readers to enjoy together: Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel by Jennifer L. Holm, and Ty the Quiet Giraffe by Carrie Hasler.
When I heard about this unique “community read” I had to go check out its kick-off today at Coronado Library Park. Following a small speech, the gathered audience listened to the great jazzy music of the Coronado Big Band!
There are various special happenings coming up in April that are part of the big reading event. This coming Thursday, April 7, the author of West with Giraffes will be speaking and autographing her book!
You can find all the dates, times and details by clicking 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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The Maritime Museum Dancers performed today. They graced the dance floor of the Maritime Museum of San Diego’s historic steam ferry Berkeley!
In addition to elegant, spritely dancing, the performers sang both together and individually, and one even read poetry!
These particular costumes and entertainments would have been enjoyed over two hundred years ago in England, in the early 19th century, around the time of the Regency Period.
The Maritime Museum Dancers often perform on another museum ship, HMS Surprise, the replica British Royal Navy ship used in the filming of Master and Commander.
Lucky museum visitors were enraptured by today’s performance, which included line dancing, a quadrille, and a duet. Near the conclusion of their performance, the group sang a gently stirring rendition of Greensleeves.
Alas my love you do me wrong To cast me off discourteously; And I have loved you oh so long Delighting in your company…
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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!
It is essential, to maintain our humanity, that we remember the Holocaust, and the terrifying inhumanity of a time and place when six million ordinary people were systematically murdered.
RUTH Remember Us The Holocaust is an extremely powerful exhibit now on display in Chula Vista. It occupies a corner of the Chula Vista Civic Center Library–a quiet, thoughtful space set aside for the Chula Vista Heritage Museum.
Display cases filled with photographs remember the experiences of Holocaust survivors who arrived in the South Bay with important stories to tell and broken lives to renew. One survivor, in particular, is highlighted: Ruth Sax. As a girl, she lived the horror of Jewish persecution by the Nazis. Ruth would end up in three different concentration camps including Auschwitz.
Those who wish to learn from history will see how Nazis in pre-World War II Germany began with anti-Jewish propaganda and discrimination, and ended with ghettos, concentration camps and extermination centers.
“The smell, deaths, lice, beatings, isolation, tattoos, gassings, cremations, humiliations . . . and the starving, shaving, hiding, markings, threats . . . this was the Holocaust. I felt dead inside . . .” These words were written by Ursula Israelski.
Many of the Holocaust survivors who arrived in San Diego’s South Bay brought with them similar memories. And many, appreciative to be in a free country, were able to live normal lives again–to the extent normal is possible after such life changing experiences.
According to one graphic in a display case, the mission of this exhibit is to shine “a light on the darkness of the Holocaust by creating awareness so that we are guided by leadership, respect, hope and that our history teaches love is stronger than hate and kindness is stronger than power.”
Come and see it with your own 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!
An ongoing exhibit at the South Chula Vista Library celebrates the centennial of the Chula Vista Fire Department.
Today I visited this library for the very first time, knowing that a vintage fire engine would be on display.
I was excited to discover a large, museum quality exhibit just inside the library entrance!
The Chula Vista Fire Department originated in 1921. For over a century now, they’ve saved many lives and been an integral part of this South Bay community.
The displays I looked at concerning dedication and heroism impressed me the most.
Not only do library visitors see historical photographs, artifacts, and firefighting equipment, but at the center of the exhibit stands the Chula Vista Fire Department’s original fire engine, The Gallopin’ Goose!
I’ve added captions with some additional fascinating info. If you have a chance, I definitely recommend a visit!
Chula Vista Fire Department. Established May 2, 1921. People who care about people.The Chula Vista Fire Department’s original Seagrave fire truck, on display at South Chula Vista Library. “The Gallopin’ Goose” was purchased in 1923, the same year City Hall was built at 294 Third Avenue. The new City Hall was also a fire and police station.Artifacts from the very early days of the Chula Vista Fire Department.The Firemen’s Ball was an annual dance that began in 1922. It raised funds for the Firemen’s Benefit Fund. Children were also helped in the community during Christmas.Originally, firefighters used buckets of water passed from hand to hand. But the “bucket brigade” method wasn’t very effective. The development of the firehose was of critical importance.One display in the exhibit concerns training.Photos, descriptions and firefighting equipment in one corner of the extensive centennial exhibit. Fire Station No. 5 is located directly next to the South Chula Vista Library.Firefighting equipment includes breathing apparatus, turnouts (protective clothing) and helmets.Dogs heroes help with ignitable liquid detection, and urban search and rescue.Six Chula Vista firefighters traveled to New York City after the attacks of September 11, 2001. They worked the night shift at Ground Zero for ten days.Artwork celebrates the firefighting heroes of Chula Vista.The museum display is dedicated to Captain William Gavin.If you’d like to show your support for the Chula Vista Fire Department, read the above sign!
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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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