Few see this small marker at the San Diego Veterans Museum at Balboa Park. Curious eyes might discover it behind the outdoor Vietnam Veterans Peace Memorial on the east side of the museum.
I read these words for the first time today.
The heartfelt memorial for a beloved cat reads:
Rosie the Museum’s mascot was named after the famous Rosie the Riveter of WWII. As Cat in Charge she welcomed visitors with a friendly meow, kept an eye on things during the day and assumed her role as Tabby on Patrol guarding the museum at night. 2000 – 2008
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A beautiful, very meaningful monument is planned for Coronado. What you see above is a small model of the proposed sculpture. I saw it today at the USS Midway Museum.
The League of Wives Memorial Project is creating this memorial that honors military spouses.
In a void of public awareness and seeming lack of political attention to the circumstances of prisoners of war in Vietnam, Sybil Stockdale and The League of Wives bravely stepped out of their era’s traditionally passive role of military spouses to demand the humane treatment of their POW husbands… their actions ultimately influenced a reduction in prisoner torture and contributed to the safe return of 591 Service Members… The League of Wives Memorial Project seeks to honor these women, telling their story… this memorial will be the first public monument in the country to honor military spouses…
I learned the bronze sculpture will be placed in Coronado’s Star Park. The figure of Sybil Stockdale will face a flagpole with military wives standing behind her. A plaque tells how the League of Wives of American Prisoners of War became a national movement that changed history.
The memorial’s artists are Chris Slatoff and Elisabeth Pollnow.
Permits for the memorial have been obtained, now additional funds are needed to complete the project.
Interested in helping? Learn more or donate 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 Twitter!
In Carlsbad, there’s a special place where a spirit soars forever. That place is known as Dave’s Beach.
Hobbyists who fly radio-controlled gliders, or sailplanes, love to launch their small model aircraft from atop the bluffs at Dave’s Beach. Their gliders dance in the blue sky.
The upsloping ocean wind carries these surprisingly fast RC gliders aloft for sustained, acrobatic flights above the beach. Today, as I took these photographs, I saw as many as four zipping through the air at the same time.
I learned some of the hobbyists using Dave’s Beach as an RC glider port also launch their gliders at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla, where similar wind conditions prevail.
In Loving Memory of Our Friend
DAVE KELLOGG
Whose spirit will soar on here forever
April 5, 1948 – October 18, 2006
The above memorial plaque explains why this spot is now called Dave’s Beach. Dave Kellogg loved to fly gliders from atop the bluffs here many years ago.
If you’d like to visit Dave’s Beach, you can find it right next to the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Solamar Drive.
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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!
Did you know one of the best players in the history of tennis made Balboa Park her home?
Maureen Connolly grew up in San Diego and played at the Balboa Tennis Club. (Which recently celebrated its centennial.)
“Little Mo” would go on to win nine major singles titles in the early 1950s, and would be the first woman to win the Grand Slam. She was the number one ranked female tennis player from 1952 through 1954, and was also voted female athlete of the year from 1951 to 1953!
Should you visit the Balboa Tennis Club, you’ll see a special tribute to Maureen Connolly outside their Pro Shop. I took these photos during a walk through the Morley Field Sports Complex a few weeks ago.
Incidentally, did you know tennis phenom Michael Chang, the youngest man in history to win a singles major, also made the courts in Balboa Park his home?
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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!
Twenty five new oak trees were planted today in a very special place in Balboa Park!
Forever Balboa Park, trained Tree Stewards and dozens of volunteers gathered in the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove to revitalize a historically important area of the park that’s a bit off the beaten path.
Perhaps you’ve driven down 26th Street from Golden Hill toward Naval Medical Center San Diego and seen many old oak trees off to your left. Those live oaks were planted in 1905 to memorialize 66 sailors who died in San Diego Bay when the boiler of the USS Bennington exploded.
As these coast live oaks have aged, some have died or approached the end of their life. Planting small new oak trees infuses new life and meaning into this truly special urban forest.
Walking along, camera in hand, I got “volunteered” to help plant three of the twenty five trees! Cool thing is, when I walk this way again, I’ll know that I and others have tangibly touched the future with these living trees. They will be growing more beautiful long after I’m gone.
If you’d like to become a volunteer Garden Steward or Tree Steward in beautiful Balboa Park, click here!
Before the planting of new trees, Kathleen Winchester tells everyone the history of the USS Bennington Memorial Oak Grove.Some of the spots where new coast live oaks will be planted.Everyone learned the proper way to plant a tree so that it thrives.Here’s a tree my group planted.Using the shovel to make sure the tree is planted at the correct depth.
The planting of these 25 live oak trees in Balboa Park was the final phase of the 26th Street Trail park improvement project.
Last year members of the California Conservation Corps greatly improved the trail that leads up 26th Street to Golden Hill Park. The path, badly eroded in many places, was replaced with decomposed granite, and three new footbridges were built!
I walked up the trail to take some photos…
Lastly, thanks again to the Boy Scouts and sailors of the USS Theodore Roosevelt who made their mark improving and beautifying the oak grove five years ago. If you’d like to see what they did, click 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!
Today I sat on one of the benches in Ruocco Park reading a book. As I stood up and looked around, I discovered a plaque in nearby greenery that I’d never noticed before. It reads:
In loving memory of Deborah Hoffman, of The San Diego Foundation.
Instrumental in bringing together private philanthropy and the public sector to create a park for future generations.
Here’s an article that explains how the idea of Ruocco Park originated in the minds of architect Lloyd Ruocco and his wife, Ilse, art professor at San Diego State University. It then explains how Deborah Hoffman, senior vice president for the San Diego Foundation, worked continuously for five years to meld the Ruocco fund with assistance from local governments, particularly the Unified Port of San Diego, which controls the land.
I’ve spent many hours over many years sitting in this fine park, reading, writing, listening to street musicians, gazing at people walking down the boardwalk past Tuna Harbor and its picturesque fishing boats.
All I can say is thank you.
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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!
Día de los Muertos is again being celebrated with an altar at the San Diego County Administration Building.
For 2022, the altar has greatly expanded. Composed of many sections, the altar now fills almost half the outdoor plaza on the east side of the building.
Numerous loved ones who’ve passed on are being remembered this year.
I happened to photograph the altars the past two years. Though equally moving, in size they were small compared to the 3rd Annual Altar de Muertos that I observed today.
It appears the Día de los Muertos tradition at the San Diego County Administration Center is strong and growing.
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At sundown this evening there will be a Día de los Muertos candlelight procession through Old Town. Those participating will end at San Diego’s old El Campo Santo cemetery, where many of our city’s earliest residents are buried.
This afternoon the small cemetery had already been decorated for Día de los Muertos.
A colorful altar stands near the entrance, just beyond the El Campo Santo historical marker. According to one sign I noticed, the Community Altar is by the Descendants of Old Town San Diego.
Marigolds and paper sugar skulls decorate gravesites, and the names of deceased loved ones have been scrawled in chalk on the cemetery wall along San Diego Avenue.
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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!
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The Whaley House in Old Town San Diego is said to be the most haunted house in America. It has been featured in numerous articles, books and television shows.
Some believe that multiple ghosts haunt the historic building, including Whaley family members who once lived there. A few of those family members died tragically.
For the upcoming Day of the Dead celebration (Día de los Muertos), a traditional Mexican altar has been erected in the courtyard behind the Whaley House. These altars are created to entice the spirits of departed loved ones back to the world of the living.
Will the many ghosts of the Whaley House be summoned?
There are a number of portraits on the Day of the Dead altar. I recognize some of the Whaley family members. Fear not–these photos were taken respectfully from behind the rope.
I recognize Thomas Whaley, Jr., who died inside the house of scarlet fever, a baby of eighteen months. I also recognize the portrait of Violet Eloise Whaley, who committed suicide. She died by self-inflicted gunshot to the chest.
I spoke to an Old Town Trolley Tours guide, and she claimed all the ghosts who haunt the place rise up on Halloween.
Day of the Dead and Halloween!
It seems early next week might be an auspicious time to hunt for Whaley House ghosts, if you’re so inclined!
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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!
A San Diego memorial to U. S. Navy submariners lost at sea, the 52 Boats Memorial, needs your help. Some of the monuments that line two pathways at NTC Liberty Station in Point Loma are badly damaged.
I was walking through Liberty Station today when I took these photos. A search of the internet brought up this very recent article, which describes one man’s effort to restore broken markers, like those in my photographs.
The original markers need to be replaced with more durable concrete duplicates. There are already sufficient funds to undertake this endeavor–what they need is someone who can make concrete and use the molds…Ideally, the person or business also would be able to deliver and install the heavy monuments…
I first blogged about the 52 Boats Memorial over eight years ago here. It’s a very powerful Veteran’s memorial. Certainly someone out there can help.
Cool San Diego Sights! 