Tag: happy

A bit of holiday magic in Balboa Park!

A bit of familiar holiday magic has returned to Balboa Park!

On Sunday the Old Globe had a virtual online event for the annual lighting of their Christmas Tree. Tonight, shortly after sunset, I walked from Bankers Hill into Balboa Park to see if the “Grinchmas Tree” was lit.

It was!

Fewer people than usual were walking about the park in the early evening. It’s the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the night the recently enacted curfew would begin.

As I continued walking down El Prado I saw no other holiday lights in the park, but I’m sure that will change during this year’s “drive-through” December Nights event.

Balboa Park might seem strangely quiet this holiday season, but in front of the Old Globe bright magic has reappeared!

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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!

Holiday decorations appear early downtown!

It’s not even Thanksgiving, and holiday decorations are springing up all over downtown San Diego!

Yes, many of us express dismay when wreaths, ribbons and Christmas trees appear in shops, windows and everywhere you turn well before December. It happens every year.

But 2020 has been more chaotic and stressful than usual. Perhaps starting early with holiday cheerfulness and a message of hope is a good thing.

I took these photos in both the morning and the evening after dark. I’m sure many more holiday decorations will be materializing throughout the city in the days ahead!

The following three photos were taken at The Westgate Hotel, one of the city’s most elegant hotels.

I was walking down the sidewalk, taking photos of the hotel’s bright new outdoor holiday decorations, when a friendly lady who works there offered to show me the grand Christmas tree inside their lobby.

If you love French elegance, The Westgate Hotel is where you want to be!

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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!

Thanksgiving is almost here!

Thanksgiving is almost here!

During my recent walks I’ve noticed turkeys peering from shop windows, scarecrows loitering on sidewalks, and pumpkins all over the place!

In a little over a week many will sit before feasts, celebrate the harvest season, count blessings and express their gratitude!

Enjoy some random photos!

Looks like some people I know started their Thanksgiving gobbling early!

Yum!

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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!

Southeast Art Team beautifies Lincoln Park!

The Southeast Art Team, a group of artists who reside in southeastern San Diego, recently painted very colorful murals in Lincoln Park!

The boarded up old Pete Mayo’s Original Waffleburgers building near the corner of Euclid Avenue and Imperial Avenue has new life–entirely due to the efforts of positive people who love their community.

I walked through the neighborhood today and checked out two cheerful murals on two sides of the now vacant building. (I also spotted more of the team’s street art along Imperial Avenue. Photos to come!)

The President of the Southeast Art Team is Kim Phillips-Pea. She’s a super positive, energetic community leader whom I met this summer while the team was helping Mario Torero restore his important Civil Rights mural at 32nd Street and Imperial Avenue. You can see photos of that mural being restored here.

If you want to learn more about the Southeast Art Team, and perhaps help them out, check out their website 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 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 photos for you to enjoy!

Murals at Lakeside Union School District building.

If you’ve ever seen the murals on the Lakeside Union School District building from a distance, you’ve probably moved in closer for a much better look. That’s what I did Saturday after eating at the Roberto’s Taco Shop across the street.

I was stunned at what I found. The beautiful murals include historical scenes from Lakeside. I saw cowboy hats, horses and old cars, and spirited children from another time racing, or near a school bus, heading to or from school. Three panels facing Woodside Avenue show diverse children creating art, performing music and happily living life in the present day.

The fading murals were painted on wood boards by artist Mona Mills in 2016. I see that she has produced other indoor and outdoor murals at many schools in the San Diego region. She has also created murals for several East County libraries, which I’ll have to go see at some future time.

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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 photos for you to enjoy!

Keep having a good day!

Keep having a good day!
Keep having a good day!

I recently walked through Sherman Heights. I wanted to check out a very interesting old church that one can glimpse east of downtown while driving along California State Route 94. I’ll be blogging about that shortly!

As I walked up Market Street, I came upon this fun street art!

A happy sun shines above a confusion of living clouds.
A happy sun shines above a confusion of living clouds.

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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!

We rise by lifting up!

Can your spirits be lifted by an old faded mural in a city alley?

Of course!

I spied a smiling sun and moon near the intersection of University Avenue and 46th Street in City Heights. The enduring message: WE RISE BY LIFTIN.

And I smiled, too!

UPDATE!

I received a comment by Amber M Jahn that provides information concerning this great mural:

You forgot the beauty painted on the alley side of building at 47th and University. The entire wall was first painted by Amber Jahn in about 2017 in which she writes the message “We Rise by Lifting Others” then 2 years ago half the wall was covered, erasing the word Others, and adding a noon to the existing sun…so now it says “we rise by Lifting”….I’d love to see a community day of free hot dogs and get a few local bands to play while the mural is updated, refurbishing the sunshine and adding the word Others to complete the project right. I personally funded the first mural, it would be cool if a lift could be procured for the tallest areas of the building since my 12 ft scaffold only reached 17 feet of the 21ft wall and has been left unfinished as a result. (I’m only 5’2” and did all the work alone one summer while living in a minivan on University Ave. It was a good way to keep my mind distracted from the crisis I was currently enduring. I like that I’ve received messages from local parents thanking me for giving their children something positive to look at on their way to and from school everyday. My pleasure!!

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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 handful of problematic photos!

I didn’t know what to do with these photos!

They were taken all over San Diego–some recently, some years ago.

This evening I’m purging hundreds of old files from my computer. And I thought it would be a shame to not share these!

So now, for your viewing pleasure, in completely random order, I present this handful of problematic photos!

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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!

Sunday afternoon’s bright sails and kites!

Many bright dreams took flight this Sunday afternoon. I saw them in the sky above San Diego Bay.

The sails of tacking boats were flapping in the breeze.

Colorful kites were swaying back and forth, tugging eagerly at their strings high above Embarcadero Marina Park North.

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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 few cute, humorous dog sightings!

Painted dogs peer from a painted window.
Painted dogs peer from a painted window.

Look what I sighted this morning downtown. Some cute, humorous dogs!

These three graphics that I walked past feature lovable pooches…

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Love like Dog Love.
Love like Dog Love.

This is how we (puppies) roll.
This is how we (puppies) roll.

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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!