Tag: events

Memorial Day Commemoration in Balboa Park.

Sometimes I find myself taking the broad freedoms we enjoy in this country for granted. Then I hear harrowing stories told by those who lived under brutal dictators and authoritarians.

This afternoon a moving Memorial Day Commemoration was held in San Diego. It took place at the International Cottages in Balboa Park.

There was patriotic music performed by the San Diego City Guard Band. There were tributes to those who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our country. There was the reading of the famous In Flanders Fields poem, and the handing out of symbolic poppies.

There were guest speakers with powerful, painful memories of past wars fought. And there were many who were thankful to have come to our country, escaping from places where people have been denied freedom and human dignity.

I arrived at the Memorial Day Commemoration when it was about halfway through. I stayed a long while, listening.

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Long Beach Youth Chorus inspires San Diego!

The first ever tour of the Long Beach Youth Chorus has begun in San Diego!

This afternoon the youth singing group performed at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. They were accompanied by Adam Ferrara, a fine guest organist. A sizable crowd sat listening in the benches.

What did we hear? Songs about hopes, dreams, love and acceptance. The inspirational performance was titled Hopes and Dreams.

The young people sang their hearts out and received great applause.

There were some patriotic songs to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend. Gratitude was expressed that we all live in a free country, where we are free to be who we want to be.

Looking at the Long Beach Youth Chorus website, I see they have a very positive mission statement. Why not check it out and support them!

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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 Twitter!

Walking the Embarcadero on Memorial Day weekend.

Many were walking along San Diego’s Embarcadero today. It’s Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.

People were gazing out at San Diego Bay . . . visiting the Maritime Museum and USS Midway . . . looking at monuments on the Greatest Generation Walk, perhaps reflecting on the meaning of Memorial Day . . . relaxing or shopping in Seaport Village…

Street performers and vendors were stationed along the boardwalk. Kites were flying at Embarcadero Marina Park North. People were eating lunch outdoors.

It might have been mostly overcast, but it did feel like the beginning of summer…

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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 Twitter!

Grizzly bears mounted atop Automotive Museum!

More history was made today! Two life-size grizzly bear sculptures were transported from the San Diego studio where they were made and lifted by crane to the roof of the San Diego Automotive Museum!

A golden grizzly bear now stands atop each front corner of the museum!

The San Diego Automotive Museum occupies the California State Building, which was built for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. These new bears help restore the historic building to its original appearance.

I wasn’t present for today’s “great bear lift” but I received these great photos to share! Not only were the two bears mounted on the reinforced rooftop, but two new flagpoles were installed above the building’s front entrance.

These landmark improvements to the Palisades area in Balboa Park are the work of the Committee of 100, who’ve been working to preserve Balboa Park’s historic architecture, gardens and public spaces since 1967.

Would you like to see these amazing bear sculptures up close? I was fortunate to get a very close look earlier this year! I posted those photographs and more fascinating details 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 Twitter!

Sensuous Environment at the San Diego History Center.

A new exhibit recently opened at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. It’s titled The Sensuous Environment – Sim Bruce Richards, Architect.

San Diego architect Sim Bruce Richards is best known for designing houses that appeal not only to the eyes, but to other human senses as well. The museum exhibit, with its many photographs and drawings, celebrates the unique vision of an architect whose creations feel both rustic and modern. It’s an aesthetic that appeals to an essential human connection with nature.

His houses are truly homes. They are warm and welcoming. They contain natural, textured materials that are pleasant to the senses, like stone, adobe, and beautiful woods, including mahogany, redwood and aromatic cedar. Fireplaces are centerpieces where life gathers. Natural outdoor light shines through large windows. As one display explains: Richards took inspiration from his Cherokee heritage, his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and fondness for the work of San Diegan Irving Gill and other early twentieth century architects…

Reading the fascinating displays, I learned he often collaborated with noted San Diego artist James Hubbell.

Richards also designed commercial and church buildings using the same aesthetic. Did you know the Morley Field Tennis Club building in Balboa Park was one of his projects?

Beautifully inviting furniture that he designed is also part of the exhibit.

The Sensuous Environment – Sim Bruce Richards, Architect presents material from the archives of the San Diego History Center and UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum.

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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 Twitter!

A caffeinated San Diego Fringe Festival!

The multi-day 2023 San Diego Fringe Festival is now underway! Most of the very inventive Fringe performances can be enjoyed in Balboa Park, at either the Centro Cultural de la Raza or the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater. For a list of the festival’s complete lineup, click here!

This afternoon I sat in the audience at a very unique performance. The Coffee Plays, in five theatrical acts (each concerning types of coffee from around the world) was a fun mixture of storytelling, music, singing, coffee history, and love for the drink.

At certain points during the performance, members of the audience got to sample each type of coffee, courtesy of Mr. Green’s Coffee Beans. The Dalgona, The Bunn, The Kona, The Sumatra, The Jamoke. Those watching, as they ingested caffeine, enjoyed additional stimulation provided by the talented actors!

Fringe performances are usually unusual and typically untypical. Small, intimate audiences enjoy the efforts of often little-known artists. The audience determines whether a production is successful or less-than-successful. (Fortunately, I didn’t see any bags of rotten tomatoes.) Those who buy a ticket can’t really go wrong, because each performance is less than an hour and only ten dollars.

The Coffee Plays was amusing, inventive, and brimming with delicious humor. It did seem to drag and ramble in a few places, as an amateur production might, but overall it was an enjoyable experience. The audience really drank it up!

The Coffee Plays was co-produced by San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre and Asian Story Theater.

Check out the San Diego Fringe Festival website here and see what creative craziness awaits!

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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 Twitter!

San Diego Geranium Society honors military service.

The San Diego Geranium Society presented a patriotic plant show today in Balboa Park.

As visitors walked around tables that overflowed with beautiful geraniums, we were reminded that yesterday was Armed Forces Day, and that May is Military Appreciation Month. Of course, next Monday is Memorial Day.

Among the floral displays, photos and words could be found appreciating the sacrifices of service members.

One sign summed it up: The San Diego Geranium Society thanks all those in the military who have served and is serving our nation. We are forever grateful.

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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 Twitter!

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration!

Look what’s going on today in Balboa Park!

This year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration is bringing dance, music, art and lots of cultural fun to the International Cottages! Until about 4 pm, that is. If you read this in time, you might go check it out!

Today’s event includes participants from the Houses of USA, Chamorros, China, India, Korea and Philippines.

Special festivals and lawn programs are held nearly every weekend at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. You’ve never been? You’re missing out! Here’s the webpage that lists all the upcoming events!

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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 Twitter!

Cancer survivors to paddle dragon boat marathon!

An inspirational event is coming up this Sunday, May 21st!

TEAM Survivor San Diego is a dynamic, positive group of women who are cancer survivors. They have a dragon boat team called the Sea Dragons. In the past I’ve seen the team racing out on Mission Bay.

I’ve learned the TEAM Survivor San Diego Sea Dragons will be celebrating their 15th anniversary by paddling a marathon circumnavigation of the entire Mission Bay! People are invited to come on out Sunday to cheer them on!

The epic paddle will begin and finish at the youth aquatic facility on Fiesta Island with seven stops along the way. The event starts at 8:00 a.m. and finishes around 4:00 p.m.

If you’re curious to learn more about this great event or would like to support women cancer survivors, check out the Sea Dragons’ Facebook page by clicking 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 Twitter!

San Diego art show: Murals Projected in Light!

A special, very unique art show will take place in San Diego this Thursday. The public is invited to experience PROTOTOPIAN VISIONS + SOUNDS: Murals Projected in Light!

The free art show, part of the Our Walls Speak multi-day cultural event, can be enjoyed May 18th between 7 pm and 11 pm at San Diego Made Factory, a creative event space located at 2031 Commercial Street. Read the information on the above flyer.

San Diego’s amazing outdoor murals, many of which you’ve seen here on Cool San Diego Sights, will be celebrated! You might recognize some of the artist names. I’m told several of my photographs will be used!

Perhaps I’ll see you there!

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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 Twitter!