Hungry?
Feast your eyes on this tasty street art at a busy intersection in Escondido!
I used to drive past the corner of West Valley Parkway and Auto Park Way and think I should take photographs of this electrical box. I finally did yesterday.
The cheeseburger and fries looks particularly good.
Several eateries are located nearby. This colorful food art seems to be strategically positioned!
Yum!
The Bakers is the title of this really great, expressive public art in Escondido. Because the sculpture stands at the end of a seldom visited street, very few people see it or know that it exists!
Created by the amazing San Diego artists T.J. Dixon and James Nelson in 1993, The Bakers consists of three 7-feet-tall terracotta male figures that represent the process of baking bread. The lively art was commissioned by and for the Fornaca Family Bakery.
Today it stands by the driveway leading to Bimbo Bakeries USA, at 2069 Aldergrove Avenue.
Water and Kindness is a charitable program that supports people in City Heights who might need a little help.
According to the Water and Kindness website: Our mission is to ensure that all people living in City Heights and surrounding neighborhoods have access to clean drinking water and necessary resources while strengthening collective community efforts across San Diego.
I learned about Water and Kindness during my recent visit to the Pop-up Winona community gathering place, which is located at El Cajon Boulevard and Winona Avenue. Those two banners above and other signs caught my eye.
Water and Kindness has a Free Community Store, open Saturdays 10-2, at Pop-up Winona. Here they also host a monthly Swap and Community Fair on the last Saturday of every month.
I encourage everyone to visit the Water and Kindness website by clicking here, where all this helpful information is easy to read. If you know a struggling someone who could benefit, let them know!
Here’s a peek at Pop-up Winona…
Water and Kindness needs these items for donation…
There are several free food programs available around City Heights. Visit this website for a better image.
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Do you love tasty, award-winning tamales? If you went to the Escondido Tamale Festival today, you were in heaven!
The annual event, held in Grape Day Park, brings out families for good times, great food (many types), and lively entertainment.
Some of the tamale vendors had impressive displays of trophies they’ve won! These are the best of the best!
They came well equipped, too, serving tamales of every variety fresh on the spot. (Even pineapple and strawberry tamales!) A substantial quantity would be consumed by the large, hungry crowd!
Some fun photos from my afternoon visit…
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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.
Feel free to share!
A big haul of albacore tuna was being unloaded today in San Diego’s Tuna Harbor. Huge boxes were being filled with albacore from the fishing vessel Piky, to be promptly shipped to Oregon for canning.
I learned the Piky is operated by a fishing family. They own Craft Fish Company. They fish responsibly, the old-fashioned way, by hand with pole and line. They are a certified member of the American Albacore Fishing Association (AAFA).
As their website states: This is small-batch seafood in its purest form. Every fish is sustainably caught by pole and line, one at a time, by people who know the sea and respect its rhythms. No factory fleets. No shortcuts. Just honest fish, responsibly harvested by our own hands.
Also: Our albacore is wild-caught exclusively in U.S. waters by a U.S.-flagged vessel using pole-and-line fishing, a highly selective and sustainable method that eliminates bycatch.
Very cool!
Considering all those huge boxes, that was a whole lot of fishing!
I see you can purchase the canned, high-quality albacore tuna on their website. Click here!
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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.
Feel free to share!
Nothing stirs the blood like a performance by the House of Scotland Pipe Band. I loved listening to their piercing bagpipes and booming drums yesterday during a lawn program in Balboa Park.
The House of Scotland’s lawn program at the International Cottages roughly coincided with Samhain, a Celtic festival that marks the end of the harvest season. Scottish culture was enjoyed by park visitors who might have wandered by. There was traditional Scottish music, food and demonstrations of craft. Yesterday’s program also celebrated 75 years in Balboa Park!
Inside the House of Scotland cottage visitors could purchase Scottish shortbread; at their outdoor canopy meat pies caught my attention. I think I’ve become addicted!
On the lawn there was a spinning demonstration. A short distance away a young lady was making lace.
If you plan to visit Balboa Park on a weekend, check the schedule on this page for cultural programs at the International Cottages! Then enjoy!
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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.
Feel free to share!
The First Annual Native American Heritage Festival was held this afternoon in Escondido’s Grape Day Park.
The free community event was hosted by the Native Youth Foundation and featured Native American culture, education, crafts, food, music and fun for the entire family.
The festival brought together tribes from around the Southern California region to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day. It was a celebration of Native voices shaping the future.
I came by in the late afternoon as the festival was kicking off. When I departed about an hour later, a good crowd had gathered for this inaugural event.
I enjoyed listening to the Campo Bird Singers, visiting various booths and eating crispy tacos.
What are some of the things I learned?
I learned the people in the next photo represent Volunteer Escondido. They’re neighbors who come together to help build a stronger community and enhance the quality of life for all!
You can visit their website here! Check out their event calendar and perhaps you can participate as a volunteer in their good work!
I was interested to learn from the next group of smiling people that there is a National Native American Hall of Fame!
The organization, with its headquarters in Oklahoma City, honors Native American achievements in contemporary society, from the 1860s to present day!
Visit their website here! There are various ways that you can support them!
Look! More friendly people at the next booth!
They represent the La Jolla Generations Program, a tribal youth program of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians.
They would be demonstrating basketmaking later during the festival!
In the late morning, the Campo Bird Singers were on stage performing traditional, sacred Bird Songs.
Lots of tasty food, including carne asada and Kumeyaay frybread!
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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.
Feel free to share!
Oktoberfest has returned to La Mesa!
The annual festival is just as epic as ever. Big weekend crowds are filling several blocks of downtown La Mesa and enjoying a big party.
As one might expect at Oktoberfest, there’s no shortage of beer, pretzels, bratwurst and, indeed, tempting German and International food of all types. There are plenty of activities for the whole family, including a big Ferris wheel and games for kids. And, of course, how can I forget the hilarious weiner dog races?
The festival continues on Sunday, with plenty to see and do. It’s free to walk in. The three biergartens, however, have an entry fee.
A good way to get to all this fun is by trolley. For more info, visit the La Mesa Oktoberfest website here.
Here’s my collection of colorful photos taken on Saturday afternoon…
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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.
Feel free to share!
Today people were dancing, listening to beautiful voices sing, eating, and having a great time in sunny Balboa Park. They were participating in the lawn program of the House of Lebanon!
The House of Lebanon of the International Cottages saw a good crowd come out for their cultural event. At 2:30 the House of Lebanon San Diego Choir performed, and thereafter members of UC San Diego’s Lebanese Club taught anyone who was interested how to dance the joyful, traditional dabke!
I was interested to read the dabke descends from Phoenician dances thousands of years old.
The happiness that comes from joining hands and moving together is evidently timeless!
Chicken Shawarma Wrap, Kafta Kabob Wrap, Chicken Shawarma Fries, Fattoush Salad, Hummus with Pita, Spinach Pies, Knefe in a bun, Lebanese Coffee…
Yum!
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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.
Feel free to share!
I learned during the Adams Avenue Street Fair that a new community garden is coming to Normal Heights!
The community garden will occupy the south end of Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park, north of 40th Street and Madison Avenue, where the fenced Large Dog Park used to be.
As this webpage explains, amenities will include 28 garden plots, 9 waist-level garden boxes, compost and trash areas, a tool shed, running water, ADA compliant graded paths, and a native/pollinator plant garden. The existing pergola and bench will be retained.
I see local schools will be involved, allowing kids to learn about growing food, the environment, and leading a healthy life outdoors.
Very cool!
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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.
Feel free to share!
Cool San Diego Sights! 