Tag: fun

Little Italy gets ready to welcome Santa Claus!

San Diego’s downtown Little Italy neighborhood is ready to welcome Santa Claus this evening!

The Christmas tree lighting will take place after dark at 6:30 pm. The holiday festival on India Street begins at 4 pm. Nearly everything is ready!

I walked up India Street in the mid-afternoon and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells of a community soon to celebrate Christmas.

Little Italy’s familiar Christmas trees are up. The big nutcrackers are standing. Shop and restaurant window graphics have been painted, attracting the attention of diners and those heading up the sidewalk.

I noticed that a stage was being set up in Piazza della Famiglia near the fountain and outdoor tables. And, of course, a special outdoor “room” for Santa was being prepared!

Santa’s Rules:

You better not pout. You better not cry…

…

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.Thank you for sharing!

The Grinch invades San Diego at December Nights!

The grumpy, grouchy, grievous green Grinch has invaded San Diego this weekend during December Nights!

Happy people beware! I spotted the Grinch all over the place as I walked around Balboa Park during San Diego’s epic holiday event!

Several cynical Grinches view visitors to December Nights from a vendor’s booth.

Once again, the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas at the Old Globe theatre! He seems very persistent.

Oh, my! The Grinch is peering over the Old Globe’s gift shop!

Thank goodness! That’s just a watercolor painting by Spanish Village artist Gabriel Stockton!

Now a grinning green Grinch has invaded the Festival of Trees inside the Casa del Prado!

The sneaky Grinch has managed to hide inside a Christmas tree!

No Grinch hiding here that I can find.

The Grinch wouldn’t dare hang out around this big, happy Santa bear at the Japanese Friendship Garden!

Does the Grinch work for the City of San Diego? Once again, San Diego’s Community Christmas Tree in Balboa Park has been completely ignored or forgotten.

There’s so much joy and happiness at December Nights, I can’t imagine the Grinch would linger here.

Santa Claus at the International Cottages is working on expanding his jolly belly.

These merry Santa helpers are ready to fend off the Grinch with their sticks.

My heart skipped a beat when I thought this was a green Grinch. It’s actually a happy Christmas tree!

Happy Holidays in Balboa Park!

Don’t look so worried, Santa. I think you’re safe.

Oh, no!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Fun skate mural in Escondido’s Washington Park

While walking through Escondido’s Washington Park this weekend, I noticed a new mural. It depicts kids having fun at the Washington Park Skate Spot.

This mural replaces another that I spotted in the summer of 2023. See that old mural here–it’s the one with a hand reaching for splashes of color.

If you want to see several colorful murals painted on Washington Park’s community center buildings, and learn something about them, click here.

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Fun holiday photos in downtown Oceanside!

Did one of the Planet of the Apes movies have a Santa Claus? He seems to have turned up in Oceanside, California!

It’s the holiday season! Have fun checking out some photographs that I took during a walk around downtown Oceanside today!

The above Santa gone ape was in a window at Goblin Shark Emporium.

Next, a couple festive photos taken on the Amtrak train platform at the Oceanside Transit Center…

A fun Happy Holidays street banner I noticed while walking up Coast Highway…

Shelves full of Season’s Greetings, gnomes and lighthouses inside Jane & Evie’s Used Book Store…

Merry Christmas decorations by a street corner…

Now I’ve entered the Oceanside Civic Center Library, where, as you’ll see, dinosaurs and the holidays seem to go very well together…

Window graphics include ornaments at the entrance to the Oceanside Museum of Art…

Need some artsy presents for Christmas? You definitely should check out the gift shop at the Oceanside Museum of Art. They’ve got lots of beautiful handmade gifts for sale…

Back outside, in the nearby Artist Alley, local Oceanside businesses were selling holiday crafts and wares. Today is Small Business Saturday! Santa would arrive later in the afternoon…

Do you plan to spend some time in Oceanside this holiday season? Read the following sign for special events. Or visit this website!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Oceanside’s holiday Crafty & Big Book Sale!

Look what’s coming next Saturday, December 7th in Oceanside! A big, holiday craft and book sale that benefits the Oceanside Public Library!

Need some special Christmas gifts? From 10 am to 4 pm, the Civic Center Library’s community rooms and courtyard will be bursting with hand-crafted items for sale that were donated by volunteers and library staff. And there will be hundreds of books and DVDs for a mere $1 each!

There will also be a silent auction for a local Airbnb stay and much more, all donated by local Oceanside businesses!

The event is being put on by the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library.

Finish up your holiday shopping in one easy trip! (And, while you’re there, check out the library’s dinosaur Christmas tree and other super fun decorations!)

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Winter Extravaganza coming to City Heights!

A free holiday event is coming soon to San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood! A big Winter Extravaganza will be held at Teralta Park from 12 noon to 5 pm on Saturday, December 14, 2024!

Teralta Park is the public park above Interstate 15, between El Cajon Boulevard and University Avenue.

According to a poster I noticed today, the community event will feature Winter fun, vendors, entertainment, activities & games, snow, and more!

During the Winter Extravaganza, families can also receive free toys for kids, age 0-14, but you must register first by November 8 at the City Heights Recreation Center or the Mid-City Gymnasium.

Wow! This looks pretty cool! I wonder if Santa will be there?

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Holiday season appears in downtown San Diego!

With less than a week to go until Thanksgiving, signs of the Holiday Season have begun to appear around downtown San Diego!

Several hotels and destinations have already put up Christmas trees. Banners and other fun, festive decorations are springing up on street lamps and inside windows. I took these photographs this morning during a long meandering walk through the city.

I was told by downtown workers that the decorating should begin in earnest on Monday. I have no doubt I’ll be seeing many more Christmas trees, Santas, reindeer and winter wonderlands in the next few days!

Season’s Greetings on B Street.

The Westgate Hotel has a Christmas tree in their elegant lobby. Giant nutcrackers and more should be going up early this week.

The Westin San Diego Bayview has a couple of beautiful Christmas trees up, including this one.

Poinsettias have been planted in front of The Guild Hotel on Broadway.

You can watch the annual Parade of Lights on San Diego Bay on both December 8th and 15th. Why not do it from the Maritime Museum of San Diego?

Seaport Village is ready for the holidays!

Frosty the Snowman on a window of the Seaport Village Carousel.

Surfin’ Santa will visit Seaport Village next Saturday!

Seaport Village boasts the biggest Christmas tree ornaments I’ve ever seen!

A very large Christmas tree in the courtyard at The Headquarters!

Twenty tons of snow will be arriving at The Headquarters on Saturday, December 14th. Santa will be available, too!

Kansas City Barbeque (of Top Gun movie fame) is once again providing a free Thanksgiving dinner to Active Duty Military! They’ve been doing it for over 40 years!

The Grinch welcomes customers to Cali Cream Homemade Ice Cream in the Gaslamp Quarter! (I see Santa, too!)

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

An epic lucha libre match in Hillcrest!

Those who’ve passed through Hillcrest recently might have observed an epic lucha libre wrestling match taking place near the sidewalk. When I walked by last Saturday, a fierce luchador had his opponent in a devastating head lock. Several onlookers were cheering! And a young would-be luchador was standing by, emulating his masked hero!

The big wrestling event, as you might have guessed, is colorfully painted street art. Two electrical boxes have become canvases for the scene!

The artist is Gerardo Meza. Here’s his Instagram page. You’ve quite possibly seen other examples of his work around San Diego, particularly down in San Ysidro near the Mexican border. That’s where I originally discovered some of his very unique street art many years ago.

You, too, can watch this fun lucha libre wrestling on Sixth Avenue, a bit south of Anderson Place!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

A fun gathering place for San Diego crafters!

There’s a very cool place in San Diego where those who love crafting can learn, work, and enjoy the fellowship of others with similar interests.

That place is the San Diego Craft Collective!

I was walking through Liberty Station in Point Loma last weekend when I stumbled upon crafters working outside one building. They were power carving wood and assembling stained glass. When I poked my nose through the open doors of the nearby studio, I was greeted with a smile and shown lots of amazing stuff produced by creative people in the crafting community.

The San Diego Craft Collective has classes and equipment for creative makers of all ages. They have woodworking, clay and glass working areas, and there is bench space where people can work on their unique projects. A room full of sewing machines was very busy when I peeked in.

Walking every which way with my camera, I found macramé, puppets, ceramics, jewelry . . . you name it!

I’ve learned the spacious studio is also a great place to hold a birthday party or special event!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

A hungry bear, a pear tree, and opera for kids!

How can children develop a love for opera? By watching and listening to a fun performance by Opera4Kids!

Even I, a so-called adult, enjoyed a happy opera staged for children at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion today. It was part of the usual two o’clock organ concert in San Diego’s Balboa Park.

Opera4Kids presented The Bear and the Pear Tree, a simple story sung by two professional opera singers, Victoria Robertson and Bernardo Bermudez. Both have sung with the San Diego Opera.

Kids sat on the stage, swaying and clapping, laughing and shouting encouragement to the sweet pear tree and the hungry bear. The bear wanted a pear. Should he flatter the pear tree? Would the story end with a happily ever after?

Yes, it was a child’s fairy tale, but the singing was strong and very beautiful.

Funny how a simple thing can make one feel uplifted.

…

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.