Photos of first light over downtown San Diego.

Enjoy half a dozen photographs taken this morning around sunrise.

It’s early September, still summer, and the weather has been unusually warm. A bit after 6 o’clock, the sky to the east brightened and broken clouds became even more beautiful above downtown San Diego.

My camera and I moved slowly west down Broadway from the vicinity of Santa Fe Depot. You can see in these photos how obelisk-like America Plaza with its colorfully lit trolley station is prominent in the foreground.

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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.

Own a genuine, historical Balboa Park artifact!

Would you like to own a genuine historical artifact from Balboa Park that dates back to just before 1915, when the park debuted for the Panama-California Exposition? You can!

The original light bulb sockets have all been replaced on the façade of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion building and colonnades. If you’ve been to a concert after dark, you know the beautiful lights that add magic to the night.

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion was one of only four structures in Balboa Park meant to remain permanently after the 1915 exposition. Well, these decorative sockets and their hidden wiring deteriorated after a century of use and constant exposure to outdoor elements.

I learned today that for a twenty dollar donation, one socket (with light bulb) will be yours! Simply attend a two o’clock free Sunday organ concert and look for them on tables as you enter the pavilion.

Get them while they last and own a genuine piece of San Diego history! And you’ll help support the Spreckels Organ Society, too!

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.

Full moon above a beautiful morning Star.

Early this morning, as the sun rose slowly above San Diego, beautiful tall ship Star of India began to shine.

Beyond the Star’s bright sails, the full moon quietly retired.

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.

Rainbow artist brightens world with creative lamps!

A number of local artists were displaying their work today at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. I happened to walk by their event, so I had to check it out.

A display of fun, super creative table lamps immediately caught my eye. I was looking at the multi-media artwork of Rainbow artist Clark Warren.

He’s been assembling these wonderful, whimsical lamps for thirty years, Clark told me. People he knows give him the figurines and other found objects that are incorporated into his wonderful “sculpture” lamps.

He turned one lamp on that looked like a steampunk contraption, and the light continuously changed color. I saw photos of other lamps, including one that rises strangely from a sewing machine. His creativity knows no limits! And he’s too nice!

I wasn’t surprised at all when I learned his work will be exhibited at the Oceanside Museum of Art sometime in 2025.

If you’re interested in the Light Expressions art of Clark Warren, I’ve posted a photo of his business card.

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.

San Diego Stadium lights become art at Snapdragon!

Some very unusual art is installed in a concourse at Snapdragon Stadium. An array of 24 stadium lights has been mounted to one wall. Color changes at the center of each individual silvery floodlight. Over all are the words: San Diego.

When I attended a recent event at Snapdragon, I asked a knowledgeable employee who was working nearby about this art. I learned the old floodlights are from the demolished San Diego Stadium (aka Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, SDCCU Stadium), which stood on this same property in Mission Valley from 1967 to 2021.

Cool idea!

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)!

Evening’s golden hour on the Embarcadero.

This series of photographs attempts to capture the magic of the “golden hour” along San Diego’s Embarcadero. This evening, about an hour before sunset, I walked south from the Maritime Museum of San Diego to Tuna Harbor.

As the sun approached the horizon across San Diego Bay, its light reflected from downtown’s many windows, creating a magical scene.

When San Diego’s blue sky contains big fluffy clouds, the drama is heightened! The weather experts say a small storm is approaching–showers late tonight.

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)!

A downtown Christmas crane “lifts” spirits!

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!

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)!

Christmas colors illuminate U.S. Grant Hotel!

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.

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)!

Christmas tree lights through downtown windows.

The Westgate Hotel

Have you recently walked through downtown San Diego after dark? Brightly lit Christmas trees are now shining through windows!

Most of the large office buildings have put up a Christmas tree in their lobby for the holiday season.

I took a few photographs this morning before sunrise, while it was still good and dark outside. My short walk provides just a sample of what curious eyes might see…

Symphony Towers

1200 Third Avenue

501 West Broadway

America Plaza

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)!

A beautiful Luminous Flux in La Jolla!

A cascade of beauty is flowing in La Jolla!

Like a waterfall producing rainbows, Luminous Flux now splashes the Joseph Clayes III Gallery at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library with color and light!

Luminous Flux is part of a new Athenaeum exhibition titled Anne Labovitz: The Blue Hour. It opened yesterday.

Anne Labovitz, who resides in Minnesota, has created beautiful works of art that connect the viewer with surprising light. The radiated and reflected light inspires awe. Of course, luminosity is abundant in this world, but our eyes at times miss it.

Should you visit the Athenaeum to experience the work of Anne Labovitz, you won’t be disappointed. In addition to Luminous Flux (14′ x 20′ x 5’6″ acrylic on Tyvek), you’ll find tall slender stacks of tiny, many-colored books, and shining, colorful, illuminated windows. You really must see them!

The exhibition Anne Labovitz: The Blue Hour will be on display through January 13, 2024.

These photographs of Luminous Flux give a hint of the wonder you’ll experience…

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)!