My friends in Balboa Park’s Senior Lounge told me the AgeWell Services Holiday Dance was taking place this afternoon, so I had to poke my nose into the Balboa Park Club building to see what might be going on. What did I find? All sorts of fun holiday sights!
Folks were enjoying a break between dances when I arrived, so I just wandered about the big ballroom.
I spied Santa, Frosty, the Grinch, silly elf Minions, very beautiful Christmas trees, and a sparkling variety of colorful holiday decorations! Happy people, too!
Look what I found!
A smiling, dancing Christmas tree!
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There’s a fun, light-hearted children’s puppet show coming up later this month in San Diego, at Balboa Park’s historic Marie Hitchcock Theater!
Check out the graphic and the description I was sent:
Magic Jacket Productions is proud to announce the first-run production of “Zhuri’s Pet Project,” a light-hearted children’s puppet show written and directed by Heather Whitney.
Energetic six-year old Zhuri really wants a pet – but can she convince her Dad that she’s ready to take care of one? Join Zhuri and her friends Elijah and Leo for a fun-filled multimedia children’s puppet show as she looks for the perfect “fur-ever” friend. This show features original songs, life-size puppets, and plenty of laughs for animal-loving kids and parents alike.
To learn more about this happy puppet show, which runs for about 30 minutes, check out the Marie Hitchcock Theater’s ticket page by clicking here!
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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 X.
You know Halloween is coming up when lots of fun spooky events are around the corner! Are you and your kids ready to “Return to Spooky Hollow” in Balboa Park?
“Return to Spooky Hollow” is an original Halloween-inspired children’s puppet show written and directed by Heather Whitney. It’s described as: Come along with Gordy, Squash and Calabaza as they try to top last year’s Spooky Hollow party and meet lots of fun folks along the way. This is an all-ages hybrid shadow and live puppet show with music, songs, and audience shout-outs!
Performances will be at the historic Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park. Shows are on Saturday, October 18: 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM; and on Sunday, October 19: 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, and 3:00 PM. Each show last about 30 minutes.
Tickets can be purchased here or at the box office shortly before showtime. The box office is located near the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater entrance.
(If you go, make sure to look up and backwards from your seat. You’ll see two of the puppets used by McDonald’s for their classic McDonaldland advertisements!)
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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.
The crowd in Petco Park’s Gallagher Square went nuts when the San Diego Padres recorded the final out in Game 2 of the MLB Wild Card Series against the Cubs in Chicago. When Manny Machado hit his 2 run homer, imagine how excited everyone was!
What awesome fans: waving rally towels, dancing between innings, tossing balls with excited kids, focusing on every pitch and swing on the big Gallagher Square videoboard.
What a great team win! The Padres pitchers in particular were practically unhittable.
There will be another Padres Postseason Watch Party tomorrow. At the time of my writing, the start time is undetermined. Proceeds from the five dollar tickets go to the Padres Foundation. Get your tickets online.
Win or lose, the San Diego Padres organization always provides a really good time.
Enjoy some fun pics taken before and during the big game…
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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.
Belmont Park has been a favorite destination for generations of fun lovers in San Diego.
In 1925 the beachside amusement park opened as the Mission Beach Amusement Center. Today, an exhibit under Belmont Park’s beloved Big Dipper wooden roller coaster celebrates one hundred years of history!
John D. Spreckels developed the Mission Beach Amusement Park, which he intended to be a “playground for the people of San Diego…” Spreckels expanded his streetcar line to connect Downtown, Ocean Beach and La Jolla to Mission Beach.
The first structure to open was the Mission Beach Roller Rink… The grand opening unveiled the Mission Beach Bath House (now Plunge Pool) and the Dance Hall…
The subsequent construction of the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster was completed in 45 days by a construction crew of 150 men…The Giant Dipper officially opened on July 4, 1925 and enjoyed immediate record-breaking success…
The amusement park was renamed Belmont Park and revitalized in the 1950s under the direction of John (Jack) C. Ray. The park’s footprint expanded further south to include a new main entrance and attractions like The Octopus, a Kiddie Boat Ride, the Wild Mouse coaster, and a double Ferris Wheel.
The largest installation…was “Enchanted Land,” an immersive 23,000-square-foot western ghost town filled with fun-house mazes, shifting staircases, and interactive optical illusions.
On February 2, 1955, a fire broke out at the Giant Dipper… Though the city pushed for demolition, Jack fought to restore the ride… Jack Ray was the coaster’s first savior and where much of Belmont’s modern story began.
Due to financial difficulties, Belmont Park closed in 1976. In 1981, the coaster was set on fire twice in 19 days. A demolition permit had been approved by the city in 1979 and the park’s demise seemed unavoidable.
Before the charred wood of the Giant Dipper had cooled, a local activist movement was already heating up. In October 1981, Carol Lindemulder founded the “Save The Coaster Committee…” Over the next nine years, the committee led an ambitious effort… On August 11, 1990, after a 14-year closure…the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster finally reopened…
The Plunge Pool, which in 1925 was the largest saltwater pool in the world, would reopen in 2019 after an extensive reconstruction effort.
Today just so happens to be Labor Day!
Why not head down to Mission Beach and wonderful Belmont Park? Be a part of history!
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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.
Looking for a great pizza place in downtown San Diego? Do you like to have good time? Would you like to eat tasty pizza, have fun, AND at the same time help homeless youth?
Yes, of course!
Swing by Timmy’s Place at 1404 Fifth Avenue, or check out their website here and place an order for take out or delivery!
So, how does Timmy’s Place help homeless youth?
Let me transcribe a description printed on their menu:
Timmy’s Place is the product of an incredible partnership between Urban Street Angels & UPAC & made possible through the Lucky Duck Foundation, the Rolf Benirschke Legacy Foundation, & Inspiration of Rolf and Mary Benirschke. It is a unique social enterprise that offers training, employment, mentorship, and opportunity for homeless youth towards success and self-sustanability.
So what’s on the menu at Timmy’s Place? A wide variety of signature, classic and traditional pizzas, sandwiches, salads, desserts, slushies, coffee and tea. There is free delivery with a $40 minimum in a 4 block radius.
Place your order and not only will you enjoy great food, but you’ll be helping young people’s lives in a very real and meaningful way.
They do catering, too.
I bought a very yummy and reasonably priced Italian salad chock full of good stuff at Timmy’s Place today. It was actually better than a fancy Italian restaurant I occasionally visit.
As I waited for friendly young people to prepare my order, I enjoyed looking around Timmy’s Place. As you can see from my photographs, all sorts of fun pop culture graphics have been put up to celebrate San Diego’s association with Comic-Con!
Yes, that’s Superman and Krypto flying on the front window!
Hey, I know there are hungry, good-hearted people who live or work in downtown San Diego reading this. Please check out Timmy’s Place website by clicking here.
Eat with a smile!
A picture of Timmy on one wall is accompanied by his inspirational message.
“…living in an orphanage was a tough start… In my early 20s I developed dangerous addictions, pushed my family away, ended homeless for more than five years… Because of my past bad choices…it was difficult to get a job… There are so many people out there who care, who want to help, and who are willing to give us the second chance we need.”
Timmy’s Place provides that second chance. And good eats and fun, too!
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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.
When I was a kid, one of the best things about Sunday morning was opening up the newspaper to find the funny pages. Lying there on the carpet, going through the comic strips, was like falling through two-dimensional doors into so many magical universes.
I must admit that as a boy I often skipped over the comic strip Luann. But now I have a new appreciation for the Luanniverse, because yesterday I enjoyed an exhibit at San Diego’s Comic-Con Museum: Growing Up Luann.
I hadn’t realized Luann’s universe was so vast and complex. Luann herself, and the strip’s large cast of characters, experience evolving relationships, lifelike troubles and humorous situations that stimulate in the reader a range of emotions. But Luann’s essential happiness is never far away.
The award-winning strip was launched in 1985 and continues to this very day. That’s forty years of living. Fortunately, time in Luann’s universe unfolds very slowly!
What interests me most about the comic strip is its evolution–both the art and Luann’s story. By reading the displays, one can follow the creative process undertaken by Luann’s creator, writer and artist Greg Evans.
Visitors to the exhibit learn how fleshing out a beloved character and her universe took years of dreaming, experimentation and work. And how the effort has resulted in worldwide popularity and the National Cartoonist Society’s ultimate award, a Reuben.
Are you fascinated by the creative process? Do you love art? Do you love Luann?
Pay this exhibit a visit!
A bit of what you’ll discover…
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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.
I was walking in front of the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater in Balboa Park today when I thought to check the time. A performance would begin in five minutes! Okay, it had been a while, so I bought a ticket!
The show today concerned The Origin of Clowns.
Petrix the Clown took the stage and, with a gaggle of fun puppets, loosely (and humorously) told how clowns have evolved over the years–from the court fools, buffoons, and jesters to the improvisational commedia dell’arte, to European circus acts and mimes, and finally, to the American big top three-ring circus. The performance lasted perhaps twenty minutes.
If you have very young children, and you happen to be in Balboa Park on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, why not enjoy a happy puppet show? As a rule, performances are at 11 am, 1 and 3 pm. The shows change often, so you never know what to expect!
Oh–and more history. The Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater will be celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2027. Expect big things!
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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.
A fantastic new mural was painted recently in the City of Vista behind Shaks Mediterranean Bistro. I happened to come upon it a few days ago.
The long wall behind the restaurant is like an illustrated story, peopled with birds. The birds are migrating, building, cooking, celebrating. The mural, according to the Shaks Instagram, is a tribute to our roots, our recipes, and the generations that came before us.
The mural’s joyful design is by @48savvysailors and the installation was completed by @clayton.sign.painting.
As you can see from my photographs, this long mural is another great addition to the many works of public art sprinkled throughout downtown Vista!
The happy story unfolds moving left to right:
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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.
Driving into Escondido on West Grand Avenue, it’s possible you glimpsed this mural on the side of Hawthorne Country Store.
The last time I enjoyed a long walk in Escondido, I made it a point to have a look at the mural and take several photographs.
The colorful artwork seems a bit faded, so I increased the contrast for my first and third photos. The artist is Tristan Pittard (@taggtristan). I see he has worked with Esco Alley Art.
Five words in the mural form the trunk of a tree: History, Diversity, Identity, Pride, Community. From the upper left corner of the mural sunshine beams down. Written inside the bright sun is the phrase: Community creates the future.
I love the fun image of a child and happy dog!
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 