Tag: events

Cool photo memories from October 2018.

Five years ago, during the month of October, so much was going on that Cool San Diego Sights was overflowing with photographs!

Anyone interested in technology, or archaeology, or dance, or sailing, or visual arts, or architecture, or the history of San Diego had many diverse places and events to experience!

Get ready to travel back in time to 2018!

Here come a dozen memories…

Click the following links for many photographs:

Paintings by Kadir Nelson exhibited in San Diego.

Dancers portray the homeless in San Diego.

Photos outside 2018 Maker Faire San Diego!

Unfolding Humanity appears at Maker Faire!

Rowing For the Cure on beautiful Mission Bay.

Photos of Massing of the Colors in San Diego.

Beautiful works of glass art in Balboa Park!

Historical exhibit features archives at City Hall.

Learning about archaeology in San Diego!

Sailing . . . kite boarding . . . racing on the bay!

An amazing Wyland mural cruises into San Diego!

Photos of North Park’s Day of the Dead festival!

A dark, disturbing look at art Beyond Reason.

Frank the Trainman mural Train of Wisdom.

An architectural landmark in University Heights.

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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)!

Oktoberfest dog races, food and fun in La Mesa!

Oktoberfest has returned this weekend to downtown La Mesa. The enormously popular event is attracting a crowd of thousands today, and these colorful photographs document some of the fun!

Where else can you watch crazy Weiner dog races while wearing lederhosen and feasting on tasty bratwurst?

Visitors to La Mesa Oktoberfest can enjoy multiple beer gardens, a kids fun zone, and every sort of delectable food. Smiling vendors, artists, and community organizations fill several city blocks. There’s chalk art, dancing, craft activities and a whole lot more! Folks who dine outdoors at restaurants along La Mesa Boulevard have an excellent view of the action.

A great way to travel to Oktoberfest is by trolley. The La Mesa Boulevard station of the San Diego Trolley is located directly across the street from the festival’s main entrance.

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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)!

Colorful signs of Autumn in Balboa Park!

Trees change color in the lush Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden.

Autumn officially began in San Diego last Saturday. There are plenty of signs in Balboa Park that Fall, with its rich harvest of colors and traditions, is well underway!

I took a walk through Balboa Park late this afternoon. Clouds were gathering. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Enjoy a few photos…

Prado Perk is in Love with the Season!

Holiday productions are coming to the Old Globe, including Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big San Diego Christmas Show. (I didn’t realize Scrooge surfs!)

Spooky Spinners for sale in the Balboa Park Visitors Center.

A leafy Welcome at Studio 3 in Spanish Village.

And a pumpkin, too!

An “Autumn Memories” Ikebana Flower Exhibition is coming in October.

Fallen leaves near the giant Moreton Bay Fig tree.

A fun Balboa Park Spooktacular is coming the weekend before Halloween!

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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)!

Demons and ghouls gather in San Diego!

A horde of demons and ghouls have gathered in San Diego. The monsters have wandered to the edge of downtown and now haunt the southwest corner of Balboa Park. Should you travel through Balboa Park after dark–beware!

Disbelieve me? Check out these photos! I took them today!

Yes, I walked around the perimeter of The Haunted Trail, San Diego’s popular outdoor haunted house that is designed to make you jump with fright! Halloween has never been so spooky, scream-worthy and fun!

These photos were darkened for maximum scary effect. Boo!

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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 from amazing Pacific Islander Festival!

During this weekend, San Diego’s big annual Pacific Islander Festival was held at Ski Beach in Mission Bay.

Thousands turned out to celebrate the traditional cultures of the indigenous peoples of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It’s the largest, most attended Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander festival in the United States!

As you can see from my photos, a huge audience sitting on the grass enjoyed San Diego’s warm sunshine and lots of traditional island dances, costumes and music. There was a fantastic selection of food, vendors everywhere, and, most interesting to me, an assortment of booths boosting tourism with fascinating cultural displays.

All those islands–all their culture–all that vibrant life– There was so much to absorb during my visit!

Did you miss this amazing, free, family-friendly event? I hope these photographs inspire you to go next year…

Does the above watercraft appear familiar? It’s a model of the ocean-going outrigger canoe Sakman.

Perhaps you recall seeing Sakman years ago during its stay in San Diego. See a couple of photos here.

I learned a documentary film is being produced titled Sakman: The Legend of The Flying Canoe. It follows the creation of the Sakman Che’lu, a 50ft. vessel built by a group of retirees in San Diego, CA. Despite being first-time builders and sailors, they courageously recreate this magnificent canoe, 6,000 miles away from their island home. Check out the film’s website 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)!

Setting up the colorful Catrinas of Old Town!

Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is already getting ready for Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos. Today I noticed that bigger than life Catrinas in beautiful dresses were being set up on barrels outside Fiesta de Reyes and Barra Barra!

I watched as a Catrina’s calavera (sugar skull) was removed from one figure, then attached to a second. Need to match those colors!

I was told that for Día de los Muertos, there will be a total of 51 Catrinas and skeletons set up at Fiesta de Reyes and Barra Barra!

I was also told that the celebration of Día de los Muertos in Old Town this year will be bigger and better than ever! The State of California’s Arts in Parks program is inviting local artists, culture bearers, chalk artists, piñata artists, traditional craftsmen and musicians to play a role!

I can’t wait to go! It’s a little over a month away. Meanwhile, lots of very fancy Catrinas will be greeting visitors to Old Town!

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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)!

Art from the Great Depression in Oceanside.

A very fine exhibition of American art from around the time of the Great Depression is now on view at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

Art for the People: WPA-Era Paintings from the Dijkstra Collection contains works that were created between the 1920s and the end of World War II. Many pieces by California artists are included, including San Diego’s own Charles Reiffel. The paintings are often dark, with images of poverty, violence and barren places. But there are glimpses of beauty, too, and of life’s striving, and inextinguishable humanity.

According to one sign: “Names for this art have ranged from Regionalism and American Scene Painting to Social Realism and American Expressionism.” I’m by no means an art expert, but I can tell you these diverse works are emotionally stirring. The artists, through the lens of their own experience, sought to capture true things from a difficult period of American history.

Enjoy a visit to the Oceanside Museum of Art no later than November 5, 2023. You’ll see how extraordinary this special exhibition is. It was organized by the Crocker Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, and The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Hooverville on East Tenth Street, Louis Ribak, circa 1940. In the late 1930s, Ribak worked on several murals for the Works Progress Administration.

The Hex Sign, Lancaster County, PA, Ernest Fiene, 1936.

Harlem Cows, Jan Matulka, circa 1924. The depiction of cows evidences the artist’s exposure to Cubism.

A Vale in Death Valley, Helen Forbes, 1939. The artist during the WPA era produced murals for post offices in Susanville, Merced and Monrovia, California.

Worker and Machine, Hugo Gellert, 1928. The artist focused on the struggles of the working class. He was an illustrator for The New Yorker and New York Times.

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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)!

Super Girl surfers compete in Oceanside!

A fantastic event is taking place all this weekend by the Oceanside Pier. It’s the annual Super Girl Surf Pro!

I arrived late in the morning to enjoy what is essentially an enormous festival. The theme is female empowerment, and there’s plenty of inspiration and activities for everybody. There are free concerts, fitness camps, a volleyball competition, and, of course, lots of great food!

The main attraction is the surfing competition. The action continues throughout each day, and can be observed from the beach or pier. Amateur and professional female athletes conquer the waves with mind-blowing skill. Many of the world’s top surfers are participating!

Enjoy this collection of photos.

The longboard surfers made the best subjects for my modest camera–they were nearest the pier and illuminated perfectly in the Oceanside sunshine!

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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)!

Japanese Navy ships arrive in San Diego.

Two ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force docked today at San Diego’s Cruise Ship Terminal. I noticed them this afternoon during a walk along the Embarcadero.

Every couple years, it seems, I notice Japanese naval ships in San Diego harbor, paying a friendly visit. The vessels this year are training ship JS Kashima and the guided-missile destroyer JS Hatakaze.

According to this article, the ships are visiting many ports in the Americas. For those who are curious, the Kashima will be open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. It’s the ship on the right (near the pier) in my photographs.

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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)!

House of Germany gets Balboa Park dancing!

Today’s lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages was high energy!

The House of Germany began their annual cultural program with instrumental music and an adult and children’s choir. The two choirs ended their part of the program by singing Edelweiss together. As you might expect, many in the audience sang along.

The audience grew and grew, and by the time the German American Societies Children’s Dance Group came on stage to dance, many on the lawn were ready to join them!

Oh, and the authentic German bratwurst with sauerkraut (and lots of ketchup and mustard) was delicious!

The German Theater Group San Diego, a sub group of the German American Societies, is based in El Cajon. Check out their website 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)!