Tag: imperial beach

Storm clouds, surf and light in Imperial Beach!

The views this morning from the Imperial Beach Pier were dramatic!

Stormy weather brought a procession of very dark clouds, through which bright sunshine penetrated. The waves were pretty big, too, as you can see from these photographs!

Yes, some surfers were out. I saw a KEEP OUT OF WATER sign posted on the beach by the County of San Diego. For their sake, I hope those surfers don’t become sick from the rain’s runoff and all that raw sewage coming from the Tijuana River.

Anyway, the storm clouds, light and breaking surf resulted in great photos!

When I arrived on the Imperial Beach Pier, I saw a rainbow!

A few minutes after I left the pier, a big cell arrived and there was a long-lasting downpour. My final photo was taken from the shelter of a bus stop on Seacoast Drive.

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Mysterious sculpture at Hollister and Conifer!

Do you know anything about this mysterious sculpture in San Diego’s South Bay, at the intersection of Hollister Street and Conifer Avenue? It’s a few blocks north of the Palm Avenue trolley station.

I haven’t walked this way in a long time, so I don’t know when the sculpture appeared. I took these photos last weekend.

Who created this fun artwork? Why are farewells painted in various languages? Why, on its back, is there a seemingly contradictory message Please No Art?

Two yellow hands on the mysterious sculpture appear to be cleaning while splashing drops of water. Could this have been a sign that once stood at the exit of a carwash? I’m racking my brain for an explanation.

Leave a comment if you happen to know anything!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Operation Clean Sweep beautifies the waterfront!

The cities of San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and Coronado were all made more beautiful this morning! Volunteers with Operation Clean Sweep fanned out to pick up litter on each city’s waterfront!

I happened to stumble upon the above group this morning as I walked along downtown San Diego’s Embarcadero. They posed for a photo!

I learned there are numerous sponsors for the big annual clean up event, which is organized by the San Diego Working Waterfront. You can see all of the sponsors by checking out the Operation Clean Sweep website here. Some of the smiling volunteers I encountered are with Old Town Trolley Tours.

As a resident of downtown San Diego, lover of the city and avid walker, I want to thank everyone involved!

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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.

Preserving local history in Imperial Beach!

The Imperial Beach Historical Society is a volunteer group of IB residents who are working to preserve local history. I learned about the community organization this weekend at the annual Imperial Beach Sun & Sea Festival.

The Imperial Beach Historical Society website states their exciting and important mission: To collect and organize documents, photographs, stories, oral histories, publications, periodicals, artifacts, and any other items related to the history of Imperial Beach, leading to the future establishment of our own Imperial Beach History Museum.

Do you have photographs, historic documents or memorabilia pertaining to Imperial Beach? They can be scanned by the historical society in order to be digitally preserved.

They are also looking for new members! Check out their website to see what these good people are up to!

(Did you know that back in 1908 there was an experimental airfield in Imperial Beach? Read about early aeronauts and the nearby forgotten U.S. Aviation Field by clicking 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.

Creating a giant 1980s sand sculpture in IB!

A gigantic sand sculpture now stands near the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier. The “Back 2 IB” retro sculpture, created using 80 cubic yards of sand, celebrates nostalgia from the 1980s. It’s the centerpiece of Imperial Beach’s family friendly 2024 Sun & Sea Festival!

Carved into the massive sculpture are images from the 1980s that many will recognize. Pac-Man. Ghostbusters. MTV. Rubik’s Cube. Cabbage Patch Kids. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Back to the Future. Nintendo Entertainment System. A video game arcade. A boom box. Music on cassette tapes…

Is this the coolest sand sculpture ever, or what? Why was it built? Each summer, during the annual Sun & Sea Festival, Imperial Beach is also known as Sandcastle City!

When I visited the festival late this morning, the local sand artists, including members of the Imperial Beach Posse Sand Carvers, appeared to be nearly finished. They’ve been working on their monumental work of art for several days.

I walked around the “Back 2 IB” sand sculpture and took these photographs of the sand sculptors hard at work…

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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.

Photos of 2024 Sun & Sea Festival in Imperial Beach!

The Sun & Sea Festival returned to Imperial Beach for 2024, attracting a good crowd as usual. And, as always, the annual event beside the Imperial Beach Pier featured sand sculptures!

A monumental sand mega castle was being finished by a group of local artists late this morning when I walked through the festival.

The “Back 2 IB” sculpture celebrates nostalgia. Carved into the sand are fun retro images that bring back fond memories of the 1980s, from Back to the Future, to Ghostbusters, to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, to Cabbage Patch Kids, to Rubik’s Cube, to Pac-Man. (I’ll be sharing more photos of the amazing sand sculpture in my next blog post!)

The festival also featured a Kids-n-Kastles competition, with 15 team entries built on the beach north of the pier. There was no adult competition this year. Sadly, there weren’t enough sponsors.

The COVID pandemic and sewage coming from the Tijuana River polluting the ocean off Imperial Beach have visibly hurt this long-running event, not to mention the Imperial Beach community and local businesses. Nobody was out in the water, apart from several surfers who were seriously risking their health.

I spoke to people at a Surfrider Foundation tent. They said very slow progress is being made to solve the sewage problem. The ocean here has been off limits for about two years now. It’s a problem that seems to have no end.

In spite of this, however, there was plenty of fun to be had at the 2024 Sun & Sea Festival! Lots of food! Live music! A fantastic location and SoCal beach vibe!

Here are my photos…

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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.

Illuminations: mosaic art near Imperial Beach Pier.

Those who approach the Imperial Beach Pier through nearby Portwood Pier Plaza might notice patterned glass tiles on curving, low beachside walls. Illuminations is the title of this colorful mosaic artwork, commissioned by the San Diego Unified Port District. The beautiful public art was created by artist Mary Lynn Dominguez in 1999.

Twenty four years later some of the tiles are damaged or missing, but the overall effect remains vibrant and cheerful. During my visit to Imperial Beach yesterday, I bent down to take several photographs of Illuminations. Then I sat down on a bench and gazed out at the ocean.

A couple years ago I posted a blog about the surfboard benches that fill Portwood Pier Plaza. You can see some of the tiles in those photos.

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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)!

Funny sayings on the Imperial Beach Pier!

HAPPINESS COMES IN WAVES

Walk along the Imperial Beach Pier and you’ll find humorous signs at intervals on either railing. Many of the signs, placed by the Port of San Diego and City of Imperial Beach, feature witty sayings and puns that relate to activities on and under the pier.

I asked a friendly lady at the Tin Fish restaurant at the end of the pier when these signs debuted. She told me five or six months ago.

I photographed many of the clever sayings, but not all. You’ll have to wander down the pier to see them all yourself!

EAT. SLEEP. BEACH. REPEAT.

IB FISHIN’

SEA-HABILITATED

DAILY DOSE OF VITAMIN SEA

WE MERMAID FOR EACH OTHER

IB LOUNGIN’

CAST YOUR CARES AWAY

HOOKED ON FISHING

CATCH A WAVE

WAVES FOR DAYS

SEAS THE DAY

BEACH HAIR, DON’T CARE

A REEL EXPERT CAN TACKLE ANYTHING

ENDLESS SUMMER

SURF BEACHES, NOT BROWSERS

HANGING WITH MY GULL FRIENDS

ENJOY LIFE ONE WAVE AT A TIME

RELAX AND STAY AWHILE

SALTY SOUL

EAT. SLEEP. FISH. REPEAT.

HANG TEN, DUDE.

BEACH VIBES EVERY DAY

SAND ON, STRESS OFF

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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)!

Sighting birds on Tijuana Slough’s McCoy Trail.

The short, easy McCoy Trail at Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is a fine place to sight birds. I found this out recently during my own quiet walk down the nature trail.

The McCoy Trail starts south of the Visitor Center on the north side of the Tijuana Slough, in Imperial Beach. I walked along the trail once before, back when I blogged about a guided nature walk that I enjoyed. But you don’t need a guide to appreciate the beauty of this protected wetland.

Spotting birds requires patience and searching eyes. There’s a lot of helicopter activity in the area from Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, which might spook some birds.

If birds aren’t inside the lush green vegetation feeding or nesting, they’re out on the open water channels, usually as some distance from the trail. I found it best to sit on one of the McCoy Trail’s benches, relax, and let time and serendipity reveal the hidden life.

During this walk I saw several Snowy Egrets, a cormorant at a distance, and quick little birds flying shrub to shrub that I couldn’t identify. I also saw a brown pelican and great blue heron flying overhead.

Near the trail you’ll also observe prickly pear and cholla cacti, which might seem odd. The separation between wetland and very dry habitat can be sudden in our arid coastal region. It’s one reason for San Diego’s amazing biodiversity.

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Surfing big waves in Imperial Beach!

The waves were larger than usual off San Diego’s beaches today. I believe it had something to do with the hurricane in Mexico.

This morning I headed down to the Imperial Beach Pier to see what I might see.

I discovered a few surfers out attempting to conquer the curling, crashing breakers!

These surfing action photos were taken from the IB Pier…

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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!