Tag: kids

The awesome TwainFest coming this weekend!

A very cool family-friendly event is coming to San Diego this weekend!

TwainFest is returning to Heritage County Park on Saturday, August 19th. The fun, educational event will take place between 11:00 am to 5:00 pm among beautifully restored Victorian houses at the edge of Old Town. Learn more about TwainFest and register for the free event by clicking here!

I’ve blogged about past TwainFests many times. There’s so much to enjoy! You’ll watch actors portraying 19th century authors and the classic characters they created.

You’ll likely meet Tom Sawyer, characters from Alice in Wonderland, Captain Hook and Peter Pan, Don Quixote and others playing their roles in beloved books. If past events are any indication, you’ll see big Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson puppets, listen to readings, play literary games, contribute your own words to an infinite story, and get a free book, too!

Anyone out there with kids or a personal love of books should consider enjoying this awesome event! Learn more here!

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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 Twitter!

Real superheroes fight human trafficking!

Wearing a superhero costume is fun. But would you like to become a genuine superhero?

Help spread the word about human trafficking and join the effort to end it!

I met several superheroes today at Comic-Con who are doing just that. They are informing people that human trafficking is a serious problem in San Diego.

What is human trafficking? The SAFE San Diego website explains: Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where perpetrators profit from the sexual exploitation and/or forced labor of men, women and children. It is a violation of basic human rights, and it is also a crime as defined by U.S. federal law and California state law. Furthermore, San Diego was identified by the FBI as of the top 13 high intensity child prostitution areas.

This same website explains how to identify possible human trafficking and what you should do if you spot it. It’s good to be informed, because you never know.

Please visit the SAFE San Diego website and spend a minute or two learning what you can. And spread the word! You’ll become a real superhero!

You may end up saving someone’s life.

If you expand the following image, you should be able to read it…

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

Smiles at Camp Snoopy during Comic-Con!

Comic-Con might be a little too intense for some very young people. The big crowds . . . sometimes scary costumes . . . monsters, aliens, weird stuff . . . But there’s one place that is certain to delight everyone, from the very youngest to old-timers like myself. Camp Snoopy!

Every year Peanuts has a great activation outside the San Diego Convention Center. This year, Camp Snoopy can be found along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade–exact same place where the Peanuts offsite was located last year. The theme for 2023? The 50th Anniversary of the Beagle Scouts, a favorite recurring theme of the Charles M. Schulz’s beloved comic strip.

Visitors get a passport that can be stamped, can pose at a campfire and marshmallow roasting photo-op, learn how to use a compass, watch Beagle Scouts cartoons featuring Snoopy, Woodstock and other bird friends, and buy themed goodies. There are also fun displays outside that will put a smile on your face!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

Sonic the Hedgehog serves fun “fast” food!

The pop-up Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe has been open several days in San Diego’s East Village! You can find it at 910 J Street.

The soft opening of the Speed Cafe is already attracting many local families and lovers of the Sonic video games, cartoons and movies. The one-of-a-kind fast food restaurant will have its official Grand Opening at the start of Comic-Con 2023 next week. I suspect the lines will be very long, so if you’re hungry speed your way into downtown San Diego in the next few days! My wait today was perhaps 5 minutes. The restaurant will remain open until mid-August.

What fun! I saw lots of kids enjoying the cool atmosphere and playing several free video games that were scattered about.

The menu includes fast food with names such as Sonic’s Classic Chilidog, The Perfect Eggdog, Knuckles Sandwich, Piko Piko Tenders and The Evil Genius. Drinks include Sonic Heroes Slush, Blue Blur, Flying Fox, Sweet Amy and Team Dark.

I learned the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Cafe is a project of video game maker SEGA. A new restaurant concept is being tested!

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

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!

San Diego kids paint Little Portugal street art!

At the corner of Shafter Street and Avenida de Portugal, in San Diego’s historic Little Portugal neighborhood, you’ll find this delightful street art. Four electrical boxes were painted last year by students attending Warren-Walker Middle School.

Colorful images on the boxes include dancers in traditional Portuguese folk costume and the Portuguese Rooster of Barcelos, symbol of Portugal.

A few steps from this street art (and visible in the next photo) is the S.E.S. Portuguese Hall of San Diego. Every year Festa do Espírito Santo is celebrated at the hall.

Just up the street one can visit the Portuguese Historical Center. I took a peek inside the small museum four years ago. See those photos and learn more 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 Twitter!

Long Beach Youth Chorus inspires San Diego!

The first ever tour of the Long Beach Youth Chorus has begun in San Diego!

This afternoon the youth singing group performed at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. They were accompanied by Adam Ferrara, a fine guest organist. A sizable crowd sat listening in the benches.

What did we hear? Songs about hopes, dreams, love and acceptance. The inspirational performance was titled Hopes and Dreams.

The young people sang their hearts out and received great applause.

There were some patriotic songs to celebrate this Memorial Day weekend. Gratitude was expressed that we all live in a free country, where we are free to be who we want to be.

Looking at the Long Beach Youth Chorus website, I see they have a very positive mission statement. Why not check it out and support them!

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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 Twitter!

Our People’s Garden in downtown San Diego.

Over the years, a small garden space south of The New Children’s Museum in downtown San Diego has undergone several transformations. Early this morning, during a walk down the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade, I noticed it is now called Iipay Nyechewuuw, or Our People’s Garden.

A sign near the wooden planter boxes explains that Our People’s Garden was inspired by the Barona Indian Charter School’s Native Plant Garden, and the Barona Cultural Center + Museum’s Native Plant Seed Library.

The garden is now used by the nearby children’s museum to teach kids about the environment and Kumeyaay culture. The Kumeyaay have traditionally used native plants in our region as food, tools and medicine.

I noticed bits of art scattered about, evidently painted by young hands. I added contrast to my photograph of the sign so it can be more easily read.

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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 Twitter!

Fern Street Circus magic in City Heights!

San Diego’s own Fern Street Circus performed in City Heights today! They set up in Teralta Park and commenced their big show at 2 o’clock.

Many families in the community came out for the fun. City Heights was one stop during Fern Street Circus’s free Neighborhood Tour 2023!

As usual the skits were delightfully silly. A chicken was chased about with a net in order to make soup. Somehow that pollo always got away. Kids encouraged the bird to run, and laughed. Adults laughed, too.

And there was the happy, upbeat music and the audience singing along. Lyrics were all about the value of Cooperation.

And there was the hilarious ringmaster with his wonderfully absurd interjections.

And there were, of course, traditional circus acts galore, many featuring super talented circus students.

The whole experience was one of pure 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 Twitter!

Mariachi Victoria de San Diego wows crowd!

Today I enjoyed a performance of the Fern Street Circus at Teralta Park in City Heights. Before the circus acts began, however, the gathered crowd was wowed by the young musicians of Mariachi Victoria de San Diego!

The young students on stage were poised and amazing, their music blending perfectly with that of the adults. One young man with a microphone was a true showman with a great future in entertainment ahead!

The audience sat enraptured throughout, and offered great applause when the concert concluded!

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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 Twitter!

I Love My Park Day fun in City Heights!

This afternoon lots of families came out to the City Heights Recreation Center to enjoy the big, free I Love My Park Day event! The festivities were organized by the San Diego Parks Foundation.

Not only was there yummy food, but there was a fun photo booth, kids games, a climbing wall, several art activities, and lots of smiling people working to help the City Heights community.

Entertainment was provided by the awesome hip hop Junkyard Dance Crew. I was told the dance group has been a San Diego fixture for fifteen years! Their positive energy up on the stage was nonstop and infectious!

It’s always great to see people come together at events such as this. It’s how new smiles are propagated, and how a valuable sense of community grows.

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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 Twitter!