Today, in the mid-afternoon, people were gathering along San Diego’s Embarcadero to watch Fourth of July fireworks. Families were camping in grassy spots and setting up lawn chairs and blankets in strategic positions next to San Diego Bay. After dark, four barges on the water would be launching synchronized fireworks during the 9 o’clock Big Bay Boom!
I enjoyed a long walk, observing the activity. As time passed, more and more people arrived until a good crowd was milling about on the Embarcadero’s boardwalk.
These photographs begin near the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, proceed through Embarcadero Marina Park South, then head up past the Marriott Marquis Marina, through Seaport Village, through Embarcadero Marina Park North, past Tuna Harbor, the USS Midway and the Broadway Pier, and end a short distance north of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
It was a sunny afternoon, with barbeques out and kites flying–another perfect day in America’s Finest City!
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What would Independence Day be without an old-fashioned 4th of July in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!
The big celebration of our nation’s birth (249 years ago) would attract hundreds of visitors, including many families. A little after 11 o’clock in the morning, the American flag was raised by Scouts on the central plaza’s flagpole and the event kicked off!
There would be live old-fashioned American music on the stage, Victorian era lawn games like sack racing and tug-o’-war, and booths where kids could make 19th century scrap books or create telegraph Morse code bracelets or pioneer dolls.
A watermelon eating contest would take place later, as well as the annual quilt raffle!
I arrived before the event would begin, checked out the Boosters of Old Town table, walked around the California State Park for a bit, observed the flag raising, then hung around for a while watching the fun!
The Boosters of Old Town San Diego had lots of great stuff for purchase at their red, white and blue table!
And a free smile!
At Threads of the Past, I learned about the quilts that are made here and raffled to raise funds every year. They are modeled after historic Sanitary Commission quilts from the Civil War.
If you ever see the following label on an old quilt, buy it immediately! They are extremely rare.
Now I’m just walking around…
Heading over to check out the blacksmith shop…
Many Old Town blacksmiths were busy on the Fourth of July!
This friendly gentlemen allows kids to pound away on clay, shaping it as if it were red hot iron.
Almost 11 o’clock. The assembled Scout color guard is ready in the doorway of the Casa de Estudillo.
Here we go…
Now to raise the flag of the United States of America on Independence Day…
A welcome speech was followed by nostalgic old-time music performed by Billy Lee and The Swamp Critters, plus lots of family fun, crafts and games!
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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.
Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village is now full of art created by young people from National City!
Youth, ages 5 to 18, are exhibiting works they created during the last season of A Reason to Survive (ARTS) programming. The exhibition is titled Echoes of Blooming, and it opened yesterday.
Blooming is the perfect word, because bursts of creativity and personal expression have blossomed on the walls and in the spaces of the gallery.
I visited Gallery 21 today and found pieces that explore themes of transformation, inner strength, and the courage to challenge harmful cycles.
Many of the young artists live in neighborhoods where hope might be difficult to find. But hope can be achieved through artistic self-expression, especially when one’s personal efforts are celebrated in a gallery exhibition!
Congrats to every one of the artists! May you all go on to achieve bigger and bigger successes!
The public is invited to the exhibition’s Opening Reception, which will take place on July 5, from 5 – 7 pm, in Gallery 21 at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park.
Just a few works of art you’ll enjoy seeing…
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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.
San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park is undergoing a transformation. Gardens are being created around the newly renovated Botanical Building and the Lily Pond.
Phase 2 of the Botanical Building and Gardens revitalization project includes the creation of a new Entry Garden along either side of the long Lily Pond. New plants will be introduced where thin strips of grass now stretch along the water’s edge.
Today I observed workers digging up the grass on the west side of the Lily Pond.
This article explains that the Entry Garden will greet visitors along the Lily Pond with bold, high-contrast plantings in pink and lime green, including Agave Blue Flame.
One effect of this change, I suppose, is the pond will be more protected from human encroachment. The ducks might appreciate this. So, too, might parents with young children teetering at the water’s edge.
I look forward to seeing the result of this transformation. More gardens around the Botanical Building will likely mean more beauty!
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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.
Another trolley wrap has appeared in San Diego for Comic-Con 2025!
The trolleys promote an offsite activation created by mobile video game Brawl Stars that will appear during Comic-Con called Starr Park. Starr Park will be set up at the Fifth Avenue Landing, near the superyachts that dock behind the San Diego Convention Center. It will be open to the public during Comic-Con, July 24 to 27.
I’m not familiar with the game Brawl Stars. As Google AI explains: Starr Park is a fictional theme park that serves as the central setting and lore element within the mobile game, Brawl Stars. It’s depicted as a once-optimistic place, but with a darker, unsettling undercurrent, especially within its security footage and promotional materials. The park is a focal point for the game’s narrative, with updates frequently referencing its lore and introducing new content within its framework.
I can’t wait to see this offsite materialize. I’ll take photos as we approach Comic-Con!
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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.
There’s an art gallery in Oceanside that you might not know. I stumbled upon it by sheer coincidence the other day.
This surprising art gallery is located inside the historic Sunshine Brooks Theater building, the home of the Oceanside Theatre Company. Very fine works by regional artists hang in the lobby and down a hallway.
The current exhibition of the Brooks Theater Gallery is Black Perspectives 2. The exhibition’s inspiration was the arrival of Juneteenth. This theatre webpage explains that the gallery features previous exhibitors and new POC artists sharing their vision of Black history, culture, family and community.
Incidentally, these fine art pieces are for sale. You can support the artists!
The exhibitions in the gallery change fairly often. Next time you pass by the Sunshine Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside, why not step through the door as I did and take a peek. You might be surprised!
A few more examples in the gallery…
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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.
This weekend the 2025 San Diego Ho’olaule’a Hawaiian Cultural Festival was held at Liberty Station in Point Loma.
The free event attracted a good crowd of happy people, who enjoyed Hawaiian traditional hula dance, song and culture, not to mention dozens of vendors, and a tempting variety of island food.
The main stage was a nonstop center of activity. I took photos as the hula dancing began and stayed for a good while. Several dance groups were represented. The dancers wore a variety of colorful costumes depending on the style of hula. There were dancers of all ages.
The event website explains how their goal is to perpetuate Hawaiian culture through music and dance, both kahiko (ancient) and ʻauana (modern), and we welcome hālau (hula dance schools) both near and far.
After watching hula dancing, I walked among the many vendors, visited the Hawaiian Cultural Village, then grabbed something to eat!
Enjoy these photos. Sorry, but I can’t properly identify the dances or groups.
If you go to this event next year, take better notes than me!
Now I’m just wandering around. A sunny summer morning in San Diego…
Here a segment of the long food row to one side of the festival…
Now I’ve arrived at the Hawaiian Cultural Village!
That table on the left by Lei Hulu of California was showcasing the Hawaiian art of feather craft…
A nearby sign explained that the word ipu is Hawaiian for gourd. The ipu is a hula implement that can be played as a drum. It produces two sounds, depending on whether you strike it with the base of your palm or your finger tips.
Kōnane is a two-player strategy board game from Hawaii which was invented by the ancient Hawaiian Polynesians. It’s a game I learned today and rapidly lost.
They came all the way to San Diego to share smiles and information about their museum in Honolulu. Founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop, in honor of his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop—the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty—Bishop Museum houses the largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific cultural artifacts and natural history specimens in the world.
The Bishop Museum has lots of cultural information online! Check out the museum here. Watch educational videos on their YouTube channel here!
The Bishop Museum table had this beautiful Hawaiian Honeycreeper, similar to one created by master woodcarver Haruo Uchiyama, on display!
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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.
Please enjoy this collection of photographs taken today during the 2025 Oceanside Independence Parade!
The Fourth of July arrived a little early this year in Oceanside. “Stars and Stripes by the Sea” was the title of the big parade up Coast Highway. The patriotic spectacle was presented by MainStreet Oceanside.
Families lined the sidewalk, waving flags, wearing red, white and blue, as fellow members of the Oceanside community paraded past.
Oceanside is located next to Camp Pendleton, so it wasn’t surprising the parade led off with the 1st Marine Color Guard, followed by the 1st Marine Division Band and 1st Marine Logistics Group.
Many participants would follow–from hometown heroes, to local politicians, to the fire and police departments, to scouts, churches, the library, clubs, businesses, charities… Several marching bands and cheer groups included a large contingent from El Camino High School. According to the program, about a hundred entrants would go by in the parade!
Hopefully these photos convey the atmosphere…
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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.
Some fine art can be enjoyed by those visiting Liberty Station in Point Loma. Eight artists who work out of studios at Liberty Station are exhibiting canvases that celebrate San Diego and our local fishing industry.
Most of the displayed pieces can be purchased. They’re all quite good, too.
The Summer Solstice Exhibit can be found in the lobby of the Dick Laub NTC Command Center building and runs May to July 2025.
While you’re at Liberty Station, just roam around. There’s so much to see and do!
(While wandering about today, I discovered a little-seen mosaic from Liberty Station’s history as Naval Training Center San Diego. I’ll blog about that next!)
A few more pieces in the Summer Solstice Exhibit…
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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.
Downtown San Diego is about to become even more fun! That’s because Downtown Skate will soon be returning to the the Marriot Marquis San Diego Marina hotel!
As you can see from these photos taken today, workers have been busy setting up the outdoor roller skating rink on the Marina Terrace!
If this seems familiar, perhaps you recall how Downtown Skate popped up in the same place during the holiday season. I visited back then and took these photographs.
This time Downtown Skate will be operating from June 27 to July 9, 2025. You can find the hours and other information on the event website here.
Like last time there will be food and snacks available, and DJs playing music to skate by!
Have fun in the summer sunshine beside San Diego Bay!
Cool San Diego Sights! 