A downtown fast food restaurant has changed its practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today is the first Saturday of the announced COVID-19 pandemic.
I thought I’d take a midday walk in San Diego, to see what I might see.
I headed from Cortez Hill up Sixth Avenue on the west side of Balboa Park, turned east on University Avenue in Hillcrest, then headed south down Park Boulevard. I meandered a little through Balboa Park, before returning to downtown San Diego.
I saw less traffic than usual. Fewer people were about. I suppose many are hunkered down, to avoid possible exposure to the coronavirus. I only saw a handful of older people, which is a good thing. They need to be particularly careful.
Balboa Park was much less crowded than usual.
As you can see in some of the upcoming photographs, various parts of the park have temporarily closed for public safety.
Balboa Park’s West Mesa was much less active than usual for a Saturday around noontime.The Little Italy Farmer’s Market has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and these vendors had moved to a secluded spot on the grass near Sixth Avenue, hoping for some business.An older gentleman waits for a bus on University Avenue in Hillcrest.As I walked over Highway 163, I saw some traffic, but it appeared less than usual for a Saturday.Some folks were out and about in Hillcrest, walking down the sidewalk or dining outdoors.This old Before I Die interactive chalk board might have taken on a little more meaning during the current dangerous coronavirus pandemic.Human thought and endeavor endure in a bookstore window.On a door: Good to meet you. Come in.A lone jogger heads south down quiet Park Boulevard.A mysterious shoe. A moment in somebody’s life.The parking lot at the San Diego Zoo is much emptier than usual. Many are avoiding public places where there are crowds.The Balboa Park Carousel is shuttered on a Saturday afternoon.Closed until the end of March as a proactive safety measure.Many artist studios in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village were closed. This guy told me it’s a good time to do a little maintenance!Sign promoting shows in front of the Casa del Prado Theater is empty.A street performer and his dog on Balboa Park’s normally busy El Prado.Balboa Park was much quieter than usual for a Saturday, but some folks were still out and about enjoying the day.Hand sanitizing stations have popped up around Balboa Park.The House of Scotland at the International Cottages has cancelled its upcoming Tartan Day event.The parking lot in Balboa Park’s Palisades area is almost empty.So is this parking lot on President’s Way. Ordinarily it would be almost full on an early Saturday afternoon.Almost no traffic on Park Boulevard. Very unusual.The hours of this downtown coffee shop have been changed due to the current situation.Almost no traffic downtown on A Street.
Everyone, take care!
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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!
With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re all experiencing a very difficult time.
Among those hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic are cultural institutions whose live performances are intended for gathered audiences. Many concerts and plays have been cancelled. Most of these institutions are nonprofits that can struggle financially even in the best of times.
If you have the means, now might be a good time to make a donation to help the performing arts through a very dark tunnel. That way, we can all enjoy a bit more light when we finally come through.
I’ve linked to the donation pages of some notable local institutions that are being hurt by the pandemic. And don’t forget the many museums throughout San Diego. They will also suffer as people avoid gathering in public.
An outdoor mural near the Linda Vista library. Soar to new heights. Read.
Read Across America Week kicked off on Monday!
Read Across America Day, which begins a week-long celebration of reading, was created by the National Education Association. It’s held on the school day that is nearest to March 2nd. That’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday! And, as many of you know, Theodor Seuss Geisel was a famous resident of La Jolla in San Diego!
I thought I’d celebrate Read Across America Week with some past photographs concerning the written word. And photos that celebrate Dr. Seuss, too!
Those who love to read meet those who love to write at the San Diego Union-Tribune 3rd Annual Festival of Books!First 5 San Diego was promoting parents reading to their children at a very young age.Eat. Sleep. Read. A shirt for sale at the Festival of Books at Liberty Station.Street art in Normal Heights. Cat in armchair reads Of Mice and Men. Book on the nearby shelves include Cat’s Cradle, The Cat in the Hat, Puss in Boots, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof…Library books are transported by public volunteers from an old branch library to a brand new building down the street. Those who will participate in the historic Book Pass, wearing yellow scarves, fan out along seven blocks of West Washington Street in Mission Hills.Library books are transported by the hands of those who love to read to their new home.Chris Vannoy, US National Beat Poet Laureate 2018-2019, reads live poetry in the Zoro Garden during the Garden Theatre Festival in Balboa Park.Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are. Mason CooleySculpture of Mark Twain on a bench. The humorist is reading his own classic American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Mr. Samuel Clemens, American author of many famous books and stories, relaxes under a tree in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park during 2015 TwainFest.Moby Dick reading marathon on the poop deck of the 1863 tall ship Star of India.Words engraved outside the San Diego Central Library. Yo que me figuraba el paraiso bajo la especie de una biblioteca. From Poem of the Gifts, by Jorge Luis Borges. I who had always thought of Paradise in form and image as a library.Visitor to art gallery at the downtown San Diego Library looks at a rare Shakespeare First Folio, open to Hamlet. The nearby wall features a mural of 17th century London and the original Globe Theatre.A simple, homemade lending library box next to somebody’s front yard in Crown Point, a neighborhood on Mission Bay. Leave a book or take one!It’s Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham! This fun art was photographed outside the Legends Gallery in La Jolla, hometown of popular children’s book author Theodor Geisel.Dr. Seuss and The Cat in the Hat are cast in bronze at UC San Diego in La Jolla, not far from the place where the famous children’s author resided much of his life.
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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!
Do you love to read? I love to write!
If you’d like to check out my short works of fiction (and a few poems), click Short Stories by Richard.
Today I took a long walk, wrote a little, and kicked back for a while as I enjoyed some entertainment in Chula Vista. Local favorite Fern Street Circus was performing in Bayfront Park as part of a special Port of San Diego event!
Circus in the Park: A South Bay Arts Event attracted a good crowd of happy people. Everyone got to watch jugglers, acrobats, and all sorts of thrilling circus acts. Kids were kept busy with an array of games and art activities, and everyone was treated by the Port of San Diego to some tasty food.
After watching the first circus performance, I walked by the water to a quiet park bench and looked out over San Diego Bay, thinking that much in life is indeed good.
(What I discovered once I resumed my walk was absolutely amazing. It’s something very few in San Diego know about–and one of the coolest things you’ll ever see! Those photos will be in the next blog post.)
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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 House of Scotland Pipe Band marches musically to the stage during the HPR Entertainment Sampler.
Today many diverse cultures were celebrated in Balboa Park at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages. That’s because this Sunday afternoon was the festive HPR Entertainment Sampler!
As I enjoyed San Diego sunshine on the lawn at the International Cottages, I watched different groups dance, sing and play music representing people around the world. Participants in this year’s “HPR Entertainment Sampler” were Queens from the House of Philippines and the House of Peru, plus entertainers belonging to the House of China, the House of Israel, the House of Chamorros and the House of Scotland.
Today’s entertainment was a small sample of the welcoming, colorful culture that anyone can enjoy during a visit to Balboa Park’s International Cottages, which are open Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 4 pm!
These costumed pipers were providing entertainment as people arrived at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages.Queens representing some of the Houses at the International Cottages performed dances during the festival.The smiling Queens were obviously enjoying themselves.The Chinese Dance Lover Group of the House of China performs!A guitarist representing the House of Israel sings a Hebrew song while people dance happily on the stage.Musicians from the House of Chamorros entertained those listening with several catchy, fun songs.The big, booming House of Scotland Pipe Band drum keeps rhythm with bagpipers.Many cultures from around the world are celebrated and live in harmony at Balboa Park’s unique House of Pacific Relations International Cottages.
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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!
Another super cool exhibition opened this evening in Balboa Park at the future home of the Comic-Con Museum!
Sense of Wonder: The Art of WonderCon Anaheim features a gallery full of original artwork used for the covers of WonderCon program books. Many top comic artists have created these covers over the years, and visitors this evening were admiring sketches, thumbnails and finished pieces by the likes of Jim Lee, Dan Jurgens, and many others.
Before everyone filtered into the gallery, the 2020 WonderCon program book cover by artist Jen Bartel, winner in 2019 of an Eisner Award, was revealed: a stunning rendition of Wonder Woman with her golden Lasso of Truth! There was applause all around!
This great exhibition will be open to public on select dates through May 31, 2020. If you’re in San Diego and love either WonderCon or Comic-Con, or if you have kids who love superheroes–particularly DC characters like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman–don’t miss it!
Follow the Comic-Con Museum’s Facebook page here for more info!
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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 gigantic octopus is standing on the grass near the Seaport Village carousel!
Today I enjoyed many cool sights–and tastes, too!
As I walked through Seaport Village, I noticed a giant octopus had crawled out of the bay and was standing on its eight tentacles beside the carousel.
Seriously? Okay, the big inflatable octopus has been placed there for the international Ocean Sciences Meeting at the nearby San Diego Convention Center. A variety of events will be taking place in Seaport Village, including a funny environmental wrestling match! See the photo of the sign that follows for all the information!
When I arrived at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, a sea lion was barking and surfacing near the pier enjoying tossed fish scraps. Which made me hungry.
So I walked a few steps along the pier to Loaf and Fish, where the super friendly folks happened to remember I love fish burritos. Because they had some tortillas on hand, they made me a special one!
While fish burritos aren’t a normal menu item at Loaf and Fish, I bet there’s a good chance they’ll fix you one if you ask! You won’t regret it! All sorts of tasty spicy stuff is jammed inside, along with lots of freshly caught fish! Their fish sandwiches, soup and tacos are all unbeatable!
Ocean Optimism – Art Interpreting Science – is an event at Seaport Village corresponding with the Ocean Sciences Meeting at the convention center.These cool guys in a small boat in Tuna Harbor were scooping up trash with nets!Fresh fish is cut right on the boat at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.People on the pier near the fishing boat Kaylee H are staring down at the water with cameras.Something really has this crowd’s attention!It’s a playful sea lion! It was hanging out, eating occasional fish scraps tossed its way.All sorts of locally caught seafood can be purchased on Saturday at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.Someone orders lunch at Loaf and Fish. I already ordered a special fish burrito!The fish burrito was super! So were these smiles from the friendly folks at Loaf and Fish!Another small scene on the pier at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights has recorded many memorable events.
Five years ago, in February 2015, I photographed a performance by members of the musical von Trapp family, whose great grandparents were made famous by the movie The Sound of Music.
That month I also enjoyed a rare public tour aboard one of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s amazing research vessels!
To revisit a few photos from February 2015, click the following links:
This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
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