Santa Claus raced from the North Pole into Balboa Park this morning in his uniquely built Model T speedster!
Jolly Old Saint Nick then pulled into the parking lot by the San Diego Automotive Museum for the monthly Cars and Coffee event.
Apparently there was a need for speed and Santa was delivering a wrapped present early. Someone must have made the Very, Very Nice list.
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Have you seen the towering construction crane in downtown San Diego that’s lit up at night for Christmas? It’s hard to miss!
I tried to take good photos early this morning.
The festive holiday crane is bright green, red and several other colors.
It’s one special crane that will lift heavy steel beams and your spirit!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
You know it’s the holiday season in San Diego when Christmas colors illuminate downtown’s U.S. Grant Hotel!
During the night the hotel turns bright green and red. I took these photographs as I walked down Broadway very early this morning, while it was still dark.
You might notice some scaffolding. The building’s exterior is presently undergoing a refresh.
Did you know the U.S. Grant Hotel was built by the son of President Ulysses S. Grant, has hosted twelve United States Presidents, and was the very first location for San Diego Comic-Con?
Learn more about the elegant hotel’s amazing history here.
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park is offering a fun family activity during the holiday season!
Let There Be Light invites both young and old to create holiday crafts. The crafts represent different “Festivals of Light” from cultures around the world. Easy instructions and supplies are laid out on tables, in easy reach of small hands.
Make your own Christmas ornament, paper menorah, paper diya, mkeka mat, paper Donzhi Festival lantern, or write a message on a bodhi leaf . . . and more!
Those who participate can also learn about Diwali, Hanukkah, Bodhi Day, Yaldā Night, Dongzhi Festival, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Día de Los Reyes.
Once we pass the winter solstice on December 22, the days will be growing longer. The light returns!
Let There Be Light will be available to the public through the end of the year. Bring all the kids. Admission to the San Diego History Center and this holiday activity is free!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Here’s a collection of photographs that might make you smile!
Minutes before noon today, participants in the 43th Annual Pacific Beach Holiday Parade were busy around Garnet Avenue, getting ready for the big Christmas parade.
The event’s theme in 2023? Ugly sweaters! I photographed a few!
Groups from all around Pacific Beach had gathered for the occasion. Many were getting their festive floats, golf carts, lowriders, fire engines, buses, canoes, scooters and bikes (!!!) ready by applying tinsel, ornaments, wreaths and bows. And don’t forget all the cheerful inflatables!
Elves and Santas were milling about everywhere. I spotted the Gingerbread Man, too!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
San Diego’s downtown Little Italy neighborhood always celebrates the holiday season in a big way. That is certainly the case in 2023!
I missed the Christmas tree lighting yesterday evening, but I did walk around this afternoon to see many of the festive sights.
Piazza della Famiglia, which has become a community gathering place, has its big old-fashioned Christmas tree, giant nutcrackers, and special box that receives letters for Santa Claus. As in years past, Piazza Basilone has its shiny, more modern Christmas tree.
Many of the restaurants have decorations, including poinsettias near outdoor tables and whimsically painted windows. Banners along sidewalks celebrate Christmas (Buon Natale) and the New Year (Felice Anno Nuovo), and abstract holiday art can be found on many street corners.
Come along on a short walk. I headed up and down India Street, then east on Cedar Street. (The colorful “gingerbread house” is the Queenstown Public House restaurant.)
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
An extraordinary concert was held this evening in San Diego. World-famous local rock band Switchfoot performed during December Nights at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. It was holiday concert that will be remembered for a very long time.
Switchfoot performed many of their hits, including Meant to Live and Dare You to Move, plus several of their new Christmas songs, such as California Christmas and Scrappy Little Christmas Tree. And there was Feliz Navidad and What a Wonderful World and Silent Night.
Thousands in the pavilion listened, sang along, waved their illuminated phones like candles.
Jon Foreman, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, came down into the audience as the concert began. His voice lifted. And that’s when the light began to shine through.
From the very first note to the last, the band opened doors to that inner light that shines through eyes during Christmastime.
It was the light that tells us we were meant to live for so much more. It was the light that tells us to live our short lives to the very fullest. It was the quiet light that waits in all of our hearts for a door to open.
Switchfoot opened that door.
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
The La Mesa Holiday in the Village event is being held today. I swung by as it opened at noon. The free community festival goes until 9 pm.
I found singing groups, dancers, carolers, Christmas trees, holiday crafts, lots of food, elf hats, and many smiles!
Enjoy these photos…
Young members of Greene Tree Theatre sing together on stage during La Mesa Holiday in the Village.Greene Tree Theatre youth wow the audience with an energetic dance routine!Christmas trees and decorations can be found throughout La Mesa’s holiday festival.Holiday smiles!Plenty of popcorn!The Salvation Army Kroc Center had a booth.The King’s Carolers perform beloved Christmas carols during the holiday event.Snowmen inside wreaths.Beautiful winter scene at a vendor’s table.Caroling on Mt. Helix will take place next Saturday, December 9, beginning at 4 pm.Is that the Polar Express?Sentimental Journey performs on a second stage.Let’s get this party started!The holiday season is about joy!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Poinsettias have appeared on street corners in downtown San Diego. Festive lights and banners along sidewalks anticipate another holiday season!
This morning I came upon a Downtown San Diego PartnershipClean and Safe worker planting poinsettias along Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter. He smiled for a photo!
Thank you to those who strive to keep our city clean and safe. Downtown residents like myself are especially grateful.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Enjoy these photographs of a walk through December Nights 2023 in Balboa Park!
I started east across the Cabrillo Bridge this afternoon, shortly after San Diego’s big holiday festival opened. I visited the Grinch tree at the Old Globe, then entered the Plaza de Panama where there is a stage and small ice skating rink. I strolled down El Prado, took a side trip to Spanish Village, then eventually found myself at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, International Cottages and Palisades area. You can see one fun photo near the end where I peeked inside the Comic-Con Museum.
December Nights is very crowded after dark, with families enjoying colorful lights, live entertainment on multiple stages, many Santa photo ops, a huge number of vendors, and lots and LOTS of food! My old camera doesn’t take good photos at night, unfortunately.
December Nights continues tomorrow–Saturday–from 11 am to 11 pm. At 6:30 there will be a free concert by world-famous local rock band Switchfoot at the organ pavilion. That should draw quite a crowd!
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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 