An old historical marker at the Torrey Pines Gliderport honors the pioneering glider pilots who were the first to launch themselves into the sky here.
The side of the marker that faces the ocean features two bronze plaques. The opposite, facing the Gliderport’s parking lot, was made beautiful with a colorful tile mosaic. The 30-year-old abstract artwork depicts green trees atop the bluffs, sun, water, a sailboat and gliders in the blue sky.
TO HONOR THE SPIRIT, INGENUITY AND ENTHUSIASM OF THE PIONEERS WHO FLEW GLIDERS IN THE 1930’S AT TORREY PINES
AND TO THE FUTURE PILOTS WHO WILL SHARE THIS GLIDERPORT AND CONTINUE THIS TRADITION THROUGH ALL FORMS OF MOTORLESS FLIGHT
JUNE 6, 1992
THE NATIONAL SOARING MUSEUM
HARRIS HILL, ELMIRA, N.Y.
AN AFFILIATE OF THE SOARING SOCIETY OF AMERICA
HISTORICAL SITE NO. 315
THE TORREY PINES GLIDERPORT
THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
Here’s a fascinating web page of the National Soaring Museum that concerns the Torrey Pines Gliderport. You can see some old photographs. The site is designated the museum’s Landmark No. 5.
I posted a blog concerning the Torrey Pines Gliderport many years ago. If you are curious, you can check that out by clicking here!
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During my walk through Torrey Pines State Reserve today, it occurred to me that my photographs of trees, sandstone bluffs and the distant ocean might be the foundation for beautiful oil paintings. Simulated oil paintings, that is!
As I do occasionally, I’ve used graphic editor GIMP’s artistic Oilify filter to transform my photos into something mysteriously different . . .
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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Our recent winter storms in San Diego thrust small stones high up onto the beach in places. At Torrey Pines State Beach, smooth stones covered much of the pedestrian pathway that runs down to and under the bridge near the north parking lot.
The stones, combined with a high tide and descending sun, made for some silvery photographs this afternoon! Bands of reflected light approached the shore with every crashing wave. Newly wetted stones gleamed like magic.
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For over a hundred years, curious visitors have descended into Sunny Jim Cave in La Jolla. I recently ventured down into the sea cave for my very first time! And I’m glad I did!
What was this small adventure like?
North of La Jolla Cove is a series of sea caves, with entrances that can be approached by water. One of the openings is to Sunny Jim Cave.Visitors to The Cave Store can descend via tunnel into famous Sunny Jim Cave.Historical Landmark No. 380. Tunnel & Cave Store – 1902. The City of San Diego.Artwork in the Cave Store depicts someone sitting on a rock inside Sunny Jim Cave.History of the Cave. In 1902, a German entrepreneur named Prof. Gustav Schultz commissioned two Chinese workers to dig a tunnel into the sea cave through the cliffs of La Jolla with the idea of charging visitors a few cents to enter…During Prohibition, alcohol was smuggled through the tunnel and into San Diego…Its nickname, Sunny Jim, comes from the resemblance of (its) silhouette to that of an old cereal mascot named Sunny Jim.Starting down narrow stairs into the steeply sloping tunnel.145 steps…All persons entering this cave do so at their own risk.Here we go!I’ve been inside mines, and this experience feels similar.The stairs descend around several turns. In places the ceiling is rather low, and I had to stoop while carefully holding onto the railing.When people pass in the narrow tunnel, it’s a tight squeeze! The wooden steps become more wet and slippery the farther down we go…Almost there. The rock above and around is very damp now.Walking out onto the wooden deck just inside Sunny Jim Cave.The profile of Sunny Jim becomes apparent.Several people were already on the deck, gazing out at ocean waves surging into the cave.Sea lions sometimes hang out in the cave, but there were none when I visited.
The cave’s name Sunny Jim was suggested by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum. Sunny Jim was the prominent-nosed mascot for Force, the first commercially successful wheat flake breakfast cereal!
Funny that the latest addition to the Murals of La Jolla slyly mocks an element of this very affluent San Diego community. The mural is titled Hedonic Treadmill. You can see the hedonism at 1162 Prospect Street. The pile of materialistic excess was heaped up by artists Einar and Jamex de La Torre.
The first thing I thought when I saw this mural was the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance. What in a short human life could possibly be more pleasing than showing off an impressive car?
However shallow hedonism might be, some people seek selfish pleasure and nothing more.
There’s an artist talk coming up with Einar and Jamex de La Torre on January 10, 2023. Click the above link to learn more about the mural and the upcoming talk.
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As we step into another year, a free exhibition of fine art can be enjoyed by those who step into the La Jolla Community Center.
Celebrate the Old Year, Welcome in the New Year features the work of La Jolla Art Association members.
I had never visited the La Jolla Community Center before, and I was glad that I finally did! Wall after wall of really great art attracted my eyes.
I saw a variety of styles and subject matter. Many of the pieces made me pause for a long moment, just to drink in the artistry. I also noticed the pieces are for sale, in case you’re looking for some ready-to-hang art.
I was told the La Jolla Community Center regularly hosts new exhibitions. I guess I’ll have to visit again! Meanwhile, Celebrate the Old Year, Welcome in the New Year will continue through January 27, 2023.
Just a few examples…
Sandpiper Bold, Psalm 139, by Julie A. Sanderson.Clear Waters, by Hooshang Yashar.The Farm House, by Victoria Gist-Towner.
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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!
A huge 10,000-square-foot mural has just been completed at UC San Diego! You can’t possibly miss the super colorful artwork on the east side of the UCSD Visual Arts Facility, facing the new Epstein Family Amphitheater.
I spied the giant mural from the San Diego Trolley as it pulled into the UC San Diego Central Campus station. I rapidly jumped off!
A gentleman on a cherry picker informed me the mural is now finished. I couldn’t distinguish his name above the roar of nearby machinery, but this web page explains much about its creation, and how the artwork depicts authentic wild-style and contemporary graffiti styles that are rooted in Southern California, and was developed with the guidance of a committee comprised of Department of Visual Arts faculty and representatives of the campus community...
(The other mural referred to in the article can be found here. A bit of it is visible in the next photo, taken from the elevated trolley station.)
Construction fences limited what I could see. But still, check it out!
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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!
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The long Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier, jutting into the Pacific Ocean north of La Jolla Shores, is operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The research pier is utilized by scientists and students who strive to learn more about our environment and the diverse life within it.
The public is usually restricted from going onto Scripps Pier, but those who register for a once-a-month tour get the opportunity to walk out to its very end. And that’s what I did today!
The tour–every second Saturday of the month (register here)–begins in front of the historic Scripps Building, then circles around several additional campus buildings until it reaches the foot of the pier. As our group walked along, the knowledgeable tour guide told us about the origin and history of the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and how its environmental and biological research benefits us all.
Then we came to the amazing pier and our sense of wonder grew…
The original wooden pier, built in 1916 with funding from Ellen Browning Scripps, was destroyed in 1983 by an El Niño powered storm. The current modern pier was built in 1988. Today it’s considered one of the world’s largest research piers.
Looking back at the foot of the pier we could see these tank-like water filters.
At the end of Scripps Pier is a pump station. The pier slopes slightly upward as you walk to its end. The reason? So that the freshly pumped seawater, propelled by gravity, will run down a covered trough that stretches along one side of the long pier.
The water, carefully filtered, is then used in the Scripps research labs on shore.
Walking out on the pier high over the beach, looking south toward La Jolla Shores. That’s the Village of La Jolla and La Jolla Cove jutting in the distance.
Now we’re gazing north toward the distant sandstone cliffs of Torrey Pines State Beach.
Many surfers were out today! A sunny San Diego day in December.
Looking back toward a portion of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. (Scripps is a part of UC San Diego.)
We observed lots of guitarfish in the water below. When you’re swimming or surfing, you don’t necessarily see all that marine life beneath you!
Amazing views can be enjoyed from Scripps Pier. Looking down, we saw numerous surfers waiting for that perfect wave on either side of the pier.
We followed our tour guide to a group of container-like structures that were recently placed on Scripps Pier. Together they constitute a mobile facility that will be used for a one year atmospheric study by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A wide variety of scientific instruments, including radar, lidar, sky imagers and radiometers will measure cloud formation, reflectivity and other atmospheric phenomena.
We are approaching the end of Scripps Pier, where that prominent gray structure houses a seawater pump.
All sorts of small boats are kept near the end of the pier, where they can be lowered into the ocean to carry out research.
Notice something shaped like a Christmas tree atop the pump structure ahead? It lights up during the Holiday Season! (As do swags of lights along the length of the pier.)
Lifting a lid from that long trough that channels the pumped seawater gravitationally down the pier’s length. We saw barnacles, mussels and a live crab skittering around! (You can understand why those filters are necessary at the foot of the pier.)
There’s additional filtration near the pump!
I believe this device filters out the larger objects from the pumped seawater, before the water heads down the long trough. You can see some slimy seaweed stuck in it.
From this crane boats can be lowered to the ocean surface. On the left you can see the cage-like entrance to a descending ladder.
Our tour group came upon several people in wetsuits, just back from a dive!
A super friendly graduate student explained how they had dived at an artificial reef off Black’s Beach, to the north, near the Torrey Pines Gliderport. They photographed abundant sea life.
The wet spot is from their boat that was recently lifted!
That’s one long ladder down to the water!
I noticed many instruments on the roof of the pump structure, including antennas and wind gages.
And to one side is the Scripps Osprey Platform! (You can see it near the center of this photograph.)
A plaque on the pump structure. The Scripps Osprey Platform is dedicated to Art Cooley, a scientist who helped save the Osprey, Bald Eagle and Brown Pelican.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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There’s a beautiful park open to the public in La Jolla that features expansive views of the Pacific Ocean, sunshine and outdoor sculptures! It’s called the Art Park!
The Art Park is a new feature of the renovated Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla. It’s not to be confused with the museum’s Edwards Sculpture Garden, which is located just below the Art Park. (I recently blogged about the Edwards Sculpture Garden here.)
As you walk into the Art Park, north of MCASD’s main entrance on Prospect Street, one large COR-TEN steel sculpture is very hard to miss. It’s titled Hammering Man at 3,110,527.
The motorized depiction of a worker whose hammer rises and falls repeatedly is by artist Jonathan Borofsky. It was created in 1988.
Drawn into the park for the beautiful ocean view, your curious eyes will discover a sculpture in the greenery titled Juchiteca de pie (Standing Juchiteca). The bronze female was created in 1966 by Costa Rican-Mexican artist Francisco Zúñiga. He has been called one of the 100 most notable Mexicans of the 20th century.
Another fine sculpture by Zúñiga can be found in a quiet corner of the UC San Diego campus. See it here.
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When I stepped into the La Jolla Recreation Center’s small auditorium the other day, I barely noticed the game of ping pong that was in progress. That’s because my eyes were immediately drawn to a large, incredible mural on one wall above some vending machines.
The mural, painted in 1929 by renowned artist Hugo Ballin, is titled Progress of California.
I found this article. It explains how the mural was originally located at First National Bank, which opened in La Jolla in 1930 on the corner of Silverado Street and Girard Avenue. The mural was placed on the wall above the vault door. When the bank was demolished, a decision was made to move the mural to the La Jolla Recreation Center, where the public could freely see it.
Hugo Ballin is best know for his work in Los Angeles, including murals at Burbank City Hall, Griffith Observatory, LA County General Hospital, and the Los Angeles Times Building. During the era of silent movies, he was art director for Goldwyn Pictures.
As you can see, his Progress of California mural depicts people from different periods of history, including Native Americans, Spanish explorers and missionaries, 49ers during the Gold Rush, and pioneers.
Rising at the right end of the mural is Balboa Park’s iconic California Tower, which was built for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego.
I did my best to take good photos without interrupting the game of ping pong…
Restoration of the historic Progress of California mural was performed in 2000.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 