Putting up the Christmas tree at 600 B Street in downtown San Diego.
Happy Thanksgiving!
As one might expect, Christmas decorations are now going up all around San Diego!
During my walks in the past few days, I’ve taken photographs of the Holiday Season getting underway….
A worker puts up a holiday wreath in Seaport Village.Poinsettias encircle the Homecoming sculpture at the Greatest Generation Walk near the USS Midway.A big Christmas tree at The Headquarters.Santa Claus has arrived in Old Town!One of several wreaths decorating the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town.Gorgeous Christmas trees and decorations inside the Timken Museum of Art in Balboa Park.Wreath on a fantastic car at the San Diego Automotive Museum.Jingle and Mingle in the Gaslamp.Santa is asked to stop at this shop.Festive holiday decorations at the Gaslamp Museum.A bright Christmas tree at downtown’s Donut Bar.San Diego’s City Center is getting ready for Christmas and the Holiday Season!
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you’d like, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
It’s easy to explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
An amazing 15 feet high Christmas tree made of 390 poinsettia plants now stands in Balboa Park!
The Christmas tree was installed at the San Diego History Center on Monday. I saw it today, and it’s impressive!
On a wall near the festive red “tree” is a display explaining San Diego’s historical connection to the poinsettia, the World’s Favorite Holiday Flower.
As many San Diego residents know, Paul Ecke’s famous ranch in Encinitas cultivated and hybridized poinsettias for much of the 20th century, producing different colors and variations that have become popular around the world. At one time, the Ecke Ranch sold nearly 90 percent of the holiday plants in the United States.
Flowers and other nursery plants remain a very important part our local economy. As a matter of fact, the poinsettias in the San Diego History Center’s beautiful Christmas tree were grown by Weidners Gardens in Encinitas.
If you visit Balboa Park for the holiday season, especially during December Nights, be sure to step into the San Diego History Center, which is located inside the Casa de Balboa!
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you’d like, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
It’s easy to explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
The holidays must be near in San Diego, with Balboa Park’s December Nights right around the corner. Because look what I saw today!
San Diego Community Christmas Center volunteers were at work in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion erecting their annual Nativity Display and Gingerbread House!
I was told Santa and his reindeer will be showing up soon, too! (With a little help from City of San Diego Parks and Recreation.)
It was a bit odd to see life-size Biblical figures wrapped up in plastic. A shepherd was lying down nearby, after having “surgery” on his hand. It had been broken last year when some member of the public tore away his staff. Whatever your beliefs might be, that’s pretty sad.
The San Diego Community Christmas Center is a non-profit committee that maintains an over half century old tradition. According to their website, the Chamber of Commerce first initiated the project after World War II. Horton Plaza was first to display the Biblical figures. The next home for the Nativity Scene was the Civic Center on Pacific Highway. Finally, in 1953, the location was moved to its present home in the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park…
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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 preparations are getting started in San Diego’s beautiful Balboa Park! In 2022 December Nights will be held on December 2nd and 3rd, which is less than 3 weeks away!
While Santa and his reindeer haven’t yet appeared between the Plaza de Panama and the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, and I was told Spanish Village won’t put up holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving, I did see during my walk today the above Christmas Tree at the San Diego Air and Space Museum! And there were Christmassy objects in some gift shop display cases!
As I walked past the Balboa Park Miniature Railroad, I spotted a guy getting the big holiday light displays ready!
I should mention, before I forget, that I was told The Comic-Con Museum will be going all in this year during December Nights. But what they’ll do is presently top secret!
Next up, I noticed the Old Globe’s “Grinchmas” tree is on display already. I was told it was put up a couple days ago, and yesterday–Sunday–was the official lighting event. Oops. Missed it again. Maybe next year!
Lastly, I noticed Balboa Park’s new Community Christmas Tree has really grown and taken shape! It was planted about three years ago, replacing that overgrown gangly misshapen thing!
Is the new tree now big enough to support a modest string of Christmas lights? I suppose we’ll see!
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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’re fast approaching the holidays. So it isn’t surprising that the City of San Diego’s AgeWell Services had their big senior craft show today in Balboa Park!
I’m fascinated by human creativity. So it was a treat to slowly wander about the two outdoor courtyards at the Casa del Prado, looking at everything.
I saw really good paintings and fine woodwork and dolls and scrapbooks and gift card holders and Christmas stockings and toy Santa Clauses and Thanksgiving crafts and so much more!
Many of the artists were kind enough to let me take photographs. These should provide an idea of what you missed if you didn’t go this year. There’s always next year!
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Do you know any kids who love trains? If you do, there are many opportunities for fun coming up in both La Mesa and Campo!
Yesterday I was passing the La Mesa Depot Museum when I noticed it was open and someone was working inside.
That someone was Station Master Timothy. He was building a new HO scale train layout in the old depot’s baggage room!
After showing me a few nearby historical exhibits, he explained this new layout will eventually be a fun, free activity for visiting kids. There will be a dynamic little town named Kerville (the tracks curve), and a module that can be added that includes both desert and mountainous terrain!
Meanwhile, the La Mesa Depot Museum has a curvy, twisty toy train layout in the adjoining ticket and passenger room that small kids can play with by hand.
Cooler yet, there are those real life train cars outside that one can explore up close and personal! If you’ve ever driven down Spring Street at La Mesa Boulevard, you’ve no doubt seen them.
You can see more photographs in and around the La Mesa museum here.
The La Mesa Depot Museum is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00 to 3:00 pm and Saturdays 1-4 pm.
. . .
The old La Mesa depot is a satellite of the much larger Pacific Southwest Railway Museum, located out in Campo. There kids can ride historic trains through San Diego’s scenic backcountry. And big kids (adults) can even take the controls of a big, honest-to-goodness diesel-electric locomotive and run it for a short distance!
Need something fun for the family to do next weekend before Halloween? Reserve a ticket for a unique Campo train ride out to a pumpkin patch. It’s called the Pumpkin Express.
Then, before Christmas, kids will enjoy meeting Santa during an incredible train ride on the North Pole Limited!
If you’d like an idea of how awesome this all would be, check out two of my past blog posts. This one has photographs from the train ride out in Campo. And this one shows the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum during its the big 100th Anniversary of the San Diego and Arizona Railway event!
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
During my visit yesterday to the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center, I saw how members of the community, including local students, are preparing for the traditional celebration.
Check out the above skeleton, who is using an oar to cross the river from the afterlife. The designs on the boat were painted by Bonita youth!
For Día de los Muertos, the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center will display many handmade skeletons suspended outdoors near this fellow rowing his boat, plus altars (ofrendas) remembering loved ones who’ve passed on. The beautiful altars will be assembled by local artists, including Maricruz Alvarado and Anna Siqueiros. For more information, see the museum’s event calendar here.
I learned the boat in my photographs will probably be filled with marigolds. The bright color and scent of marigolds is said to attract departed souls to Día de los Muertos altars.
…
Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
The big Port of San Diego Holiday Bowl Parade, billed as America’s Largest Balloon Parade, was held this morning along the Embarcadero.
My camera captured a few happy “early risers” before I jumped onto the trolley for work.
The annual parade features all sorts of popular characters, including Garfield, Mr. Potato Head and many, many others.
Several hours before the start of the parade, the balloons were being inflated one after another in a parking lot near the County Administration Building!
…
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!
One of our city’s most magical indoor spaces can be found floating above San Diego Bay. Those who’ve stepped onto the passenger deck of the historic ferryboat Berkeley know what I’m talking about.
People once crossed San Francisco Bay in style. That’s where this old steam ferry originated. Now the Berkeley makes its home at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and those who visit its elegant interior are in for a treat. Especially during the holiday season.
I hadn’t planned on blogging today, but during a short walk between winter showers my feet carried me to the museum. The Christmas decorations inside the Berkeley simply had to be photographed.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll have to wait another year for Christmas, so what better time to post these photos?
Happy Holidays!
…
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!
I’ve just been contacted by Santa Claus. He has an important message for all of San Diego!
Merry Christmas, San Diego.
I hope you have a safe and dry Christmas Day with family and loved ones. Omicron is worse than getting coal in your stocking. Get vaccinated and wear a mask.
Santa hopes the pandemic will end and we all can return to “December Nights in the Park” next year.
Santa held his COVID-19 Vaccination Card during 2021 “Taste of December Nights.” (Photo courtesy Bill Swank.)After “Taste of December Nights,” Santa went to visit the Nativity scenes at the Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. (Photo courtesy Bill Swank.)A week later, a well-dressed Chihuahua sporting a stylish Mohawk posed with Santa at Harry’s Coffee Shop in La Jolla. (Photo courtesy Bill Swank.)This cute little girl came to visit Santa while he was eating breakfast at Harry’s. (Photo courtesy Bill Swank.)… and this little guy was impressed with Santa’s baseball card. We want the Padres to win the World Series in 2022. (Photo courtesy Bill Swank.)
Be good to one another. Have fun. Laugh and be joyous, but also remember the meaning of the season.
Cool San Diego Sights! 