Holiday by the Bay in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront opened on Thanksgiving. There is an ice rink, Christmas-themed miniature golf and many colorful lights.
During my walk this evening I noticed that Holiday by the Bay has opened. It’s Thanksgiving Day.
Cheerful lights surround a small ice rink and a fun Christmas-themed miniature golf course in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. While just one person was skating as I walked by, it looks like a wonderful place to spend some time!
Holiday by the Bay is open until New Year’s Day. With every ticket purchased, Hilton will give $1 to USO San Diego. According to the Hilton website, one can eat breakfast outside here with Santa!
Best of all, it’s a place of innocent joy and peace. On beautiful San Diego Bay.
It’s early evening. Someone enjoys the ice rink on San Diego’s beautiful waterfront.It’s almost sunset on Thanksgiving Day. Some cheerful Christmas trees are lit.Lights, fun and good cheer await visitors to Holiday by the Bay!
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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!
Hard-working volunteers remove invasive vegetation in a small area of the San Dieguito River Valley.
Today I happened upon a bunch of energetic volunteers working to restore habitat in the San Dieguito River Valley! They were removing non-native vegetation near the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead!
Lots of invasive, rapidly growing wild mustard appeared to be the main problem. I also learned from a friendly San Dieguito River Park ranger that mustard is highly flammable, much more so than California coastal sage and chaparral plants that are native to our arid region.
Today’s work, coinciding with Family Volunteer Day, was an effort of several organizations, including the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy. Their mission is to implement the vision of the San Dieguito River Park, a greenway that stretches all the way from Volcan Mountain near Julian to Dog Beach in Del Mar! Their conservation and educational programs, along with their purchases of land in the River Park planning area, will ensure that the beautiful San Dieguito River Valley will be a rich and healthy natural treasure for many lifetimes to come!
Want to learn more? Or maybe get involved? Here’s their website!
This Saturday event was part of Family Volunteer Day, a worldwide day of service promoted by generationOn.Youth have fun while they work to make the Earth a healthier place.A San Dieguito River Park ranger had brought many pots of native lemonade berry to plant.Another perfect day to work outdoors and help the environment!
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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!
Aseltine School’s 2017 Holiday Food Drive takes place Wednesday, December 6, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, at Uptown Tavern in Hillcrest.
If you’re in San Diego, please consider participating in the Aseltine School’s 4th Annual Holiday Food Drive. It will be taking place on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the Uptown Tavern in Hillcrest, which is located at 1236 University Avenue.
Bring non-perishable food items such as peanut butter, canned chicken and tuna, cereal, canned fruit and vegetables, soup and pasta. The food you bring will support students and families in need.
Aseltine School is a supportive, positive place where K-12 students are helped to overcome a variety of difficulties. Their innovative program transforms young lives. Learn more at Aseltine’s website.
Your generosity will be greeted with lots of big smiles!
The names of loved ones. Spiritual bonds link the living with the dead during Dia de los Muertos.
Many generations came together in Old Town this evening during Dia de los Muertos.
Love and memory were written on so many smiling faces as people celebrated their departed loved ones. Chalk memorials and scattered marigolds lined San Diego Avenue. And the evening ended with a candlelight procession from Old Town San Diego State Historic Park to the small El Campo Santo cemetery. A walk of several blocks in the growing darkness . . . a short walk down a road brightly lit by love.
My poor camera failed to capture the candlelight procession as night descended. But your heart and mind might imagine it.
An abundance of music, humor and life on stage during the Dia de los Muertos celebration in Old Town San Diego!People could pose for photos with two giant skeleton puppets!An artist paints two large skulls–calaveras–in Old Town’s Plaza de las Armas during Dia de los Muertos.Children decorate traditional sugar skulls.Some around the park wore fancy dresses and hats for the day, recreating the iconic Mexican image of La Calavera Catrina. I saw many faces painted like fantastic skulls.Some of the shops in Old Town had a mix of decorations for both Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.A large, colorful calavera above a restaurant inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Face painting and a youthful smile.Hundreds of tributes and sentiments for departed loved ones were written in chalk on a long stretch of San Diego Avenue, inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Lanterns among the many Dia de los Muertos chalk memorials.Te amo–I love you–and a marigold.Love and memory connect many generations as the years roll on.
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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!
Day of the Dead altar created by the Old Globe Theatre contains photos of departed loved ones, roses, candles, and an image of Shakespeare.
For several hours today, visitors to Balboa Park could enjoy traditional Dia de los Muertos activities in Copley Plaza, at the entrance to the Old Globe’s theater complex. The event’s main attraction was two performances of a powerful new play called La Muerte Descansa en Paz (Death Rests in Peace). The first performance was in Spanish, the second mostly in English.
The brief but emotionally stirring play, directed and co-created by Daniel Jáquez, was presented for the very first time on Saturday during the SAY San Diego’s City Heights Day of the Dead Celebration. The production is the result of a collaboration between the Old Globe’s coLAB and AXIS programs and the San Diego community of City Heights.
Here are some photos of today’s event!
Day of the Dead–Dia de los Muertos–was celebrated today in Copley Plaza, outside the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center in Balboa Park.A Dia de los Muertos altar remembers and celebrates those who’ve passed into the next world. Their spirits are enticed to return among the living.A loving tribute to relatives and loved ones, dearly missed.Kids have their faces painted like sugar skulls for Dia de los Muertos.The tools of a face painter.At one table creative kids could color Dia de los Muertos skulls.Shakespeare among Dia de los Muertos skulls. Perhaps that one in the center belonged to Yorick.A performance of La Muerte Descansa en Paz (Death Rests in Peace) begins. The dead enter in front of a living audience.The character Death takes the stage. Death sees both sides of the river. Death sees life’s joy, pain, dreams–and the souls of the departed.The dead dance. On Dia de los Muertos, when the church bells ring, Death permits the dead to return briefly as spirits among the living.A dead poet vaguely remembers the richness and brevity of life–the sharp joys and sorrows. Her voice was cut short, but her living words linger.The dead briefly take the stage. We, the living, experience a glimpse, a whisper, a moment of lost love.
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Kids at Halloween Family Day in Balboa Park color Dia de los Muertos skulls.
Today was Halloween Family Day in Balboa Park!
A lively crowd filled the park, roaming about in fun costumes, trick-or-treating, eating yummy food truck offerings, and enjoying all sorts of entertainment. But the coolest part of the event, in my opinion, was the opportunity to create all sorts of colorful Halloween art!
Many families filled El Prado during Balboa Park’s annual Halloween Family Day.The Timken Museum of Art had a table that helped kids learn how to make some cool Halloween artwork.A scary hand print and nearby smiling pumpkin treat.A panda and his pals were providing music in the Plaza de Panama. Young and old in Halloween costumes look on.Decals were being applied to trick-or-treat bags in Spanish Village Art Center.Anyone at the Japanese Friendship Garden could make a cool spider sucker holder using craftily bent black pipe cleaners.More fun Halloween coloring at the International Cottages table on El Prado.Flesh-eating plants displayed by the San Diego Carnivorous Plant Society appeared even scarier than usual!The San Diego Public Library was at the annual event promoting reading. Something a bit spooky might be perfect today.Even the Balboa Park electriquettes were dressed up for the occasion!Making bats at the San Diego Natural History Museum table.A beautiful glass pumpkin, that was made by the glassblowers of Spanish Village.Kids learn how to sculpt in Spanish Village during Halloween Family Day.Yikes! That’s really creepy!
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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 covered wagon in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is decorated with autumn colors.
After walking a bit downtown, I took the trolley up to Old Town to enjoy the colorful Fall Festival!
I never tire of the wonderful events that can be found almost every weekend at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!
Kids at the Old Town Fall Festival learn to make art with colored beans!Later in the day folks at this table would demonstrate how to make applesauce.Making environmentally friendly bird feeders using corn cobs, peanut butter and seeds.Folks young and old were trying their hand at making corn husk dolls.Lady with old-fashioned parasol walks through Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s central Plaza de las Armas.Colorful leaves and a bountiful harvest frame the Welcome in an Old Town shop window.A smiling señorita walks near some pumpkins.An elaborate Día de los Muertos decoration standing beside the Fiesta de Reyes stage is bright with fall colors.A flower-filled wheelbarrow in front of Seeley Stable.Ceramic pumpkins line shelves at an outdoor Old Town marketplace.Ladies work on a quilt inside the Threads of the Past Living History Activity Center.Kid learns how to plant seeds in front of the Wells Fargo History Museum.A Wells Fargo chest full of golden treasure!
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Every year, Fiestas Patrias, which celebrates Mexican independence from Spain in 1821, includes traditional entertainment for the entire family.
This morning I missed a bus to Ocean Beach at the Old Town Transit Center, so to pass the time I walked the short distance over to the State Park to see if anything was going on. And I discovered that Fiestas Patrias was being celebrated today!
I lingered for a few minutes and took some photos, headed over to OB (as you will see), then returned to Old Town a couple hours later to really soak in the event. Fiestas Patrias is a yearly celebration of Mexican independence from Spain in 1821. San Diego, a small town founded near a Spanish presidio in Alta California, thereafter became a part of Mexico until 1848.
Many diverse traditions have intermingled during San Diego’s history to make our city what it is today. The rich and colorful culture of Mexico has remained an essential part of life in San Diego!
A mariachi welcomes visitors to the historic Casa de Estudillo in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.A friendly horse came for a visit as I took some photos outside the Casa de Estudillo during Fiestas Patrias.Traditional dances were being performed on the central plaza’s main stage. Las damas y los caballeros took turns being el toro and el matador!The annual event features authentic costumes from a time when San Diego was a small Mexican town in Alta California.Kids were decorating traditional cascarones eggshells.A demonstration inside the Casa de Estudillo of yarn being spun. During the Spanish period, sheep were first introduced along with cattle and horses at the Mission San Diego de Alcalá.Nearby, ladies were demonstrating Colcha Spanish Colonial embroidery, which was typical in San Diego in the early 1800s.At the same table, another lady was cutting out festive Mexican papel picado.The historically authentic musical group Los Californios wait for their turn on the stage at Fiestas Patrias in Old Town San Diego!
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Tampa Chargers huddle up during the 2017 Labor Day Stickball Tournament in Little Italy. Photo by Margie Jones.
An important event in San Diego history took place over the Labor Day weekend. It involved a firefighter hero who saved lives during 9/11, his two sons, and the game of stickball.
The following inspirational article is contributed by Margie Jones of 4 Heroes 4 Life:
The 2017 Labor Day Stickball Tournament in Little Italy was one of the largest in its 19 year history with a field of 16 teams, four from New York and one from Tampa Bay, Florida. New York transplant Bob Ortiz and a group of players brought the Bronx-style tradition of street baseball to California in the early 1990s, later passing the torch to brothers Louie and Joey Centanni.
This year’s tournament held a special meaning for the San Diego and New York stickball communities, bringing the return of Skylar and Austin Mercado, sons of former Emperor’s Stickball League President Steve Mercado. Mercado and his family brought the team to San Diego from the Bronx in 2001 when the boys were 6 and 2 years old. The Mercado family made a lasting impression on many San Diegans, including SD City Firefighter and Stickball League Commissioner Willie Blas and Fire Marshal Mark George. After saying their goodbyes, Steve returned to NYC and went straight to work on 9/11, courageously saving lives. He was one of 12 of 13 from Engine 40 and Ladder 35 to lose their lives on that day, along with over 400 NYC first responders.
This weekend, Skylar and Austin Mercado brought the legacy of their Dad and Grandfather to Stickball in San Diego. Their team, the Tampa Chargers, was undefeated going into the Championship Game on Monday but could not best the local Sultans of Swat, who took home the trophy this year. We hope the Mercados experienced the outpouring of love and support for these two fine young men, their family, and the entire NYC community of heroes.
So that Steve and all heroes on that day will be NEVER FORGOTTEN, Mark and Willie as sponsored by 4 Heroes 4 Life and Veteran Adventures will be hosting a 9/11 NEVER FORGOTTEN Charity Golf Tournament and Community Extravaganza on September 11. Proceeds of the event will benefit the Steven Mercado Foundation, and funds for Engine 40 and Ladder 35, and the NYC Emergency Fund. This is the first of an annual event on 9/11 as an opportunity to bring community together in support of our fallen heroes and for our nation’s healing. Please join us. Register or donate here.
Commemorative bat honoring 9/11 firefighter Steve Mercado. Photo by Margie Jones.Tampa Chargers’ Austin Mercado. Photo by Margie Jones.Tampa Chargers’ Skylar Mercado. Photo by Margie Jones.Swinging with heart on a San Diego street. Photo by Margie Jones.2017 Championship Game final score. Photo by Margie Jones.Stickball brings many together. Photo by Margie Jones.
San Diego Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers, in neighborhoods all around San Diego.
During my visit to the Imperial Avenue Street Festival, I checked out the San Diego Habitat for Humanity table. And I learned volunteers are needed for a variety of possible activities around San Diego.
One can work at their ReStore home improvement retail warehouses in Escondido, Mission Valley or National City. Or one can help build new homes. Or one can participate in neighborhood revitalization projects.
A flyer that I read explains how Habitat for Humanity provides repair services to homeowners in Logan Heights! I took a photo! (I also see the website address on the flyer pictured above is incorrect. Use my link below.)
No experience necessary! Click here to learn more!
San Diego Habitat for Humanity provides repair services to homeowners in Logan Heights!Volunteers for San Diego Habitat for Humanity are all smiles!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 