Very cool lowriders are a big attraction at today’s East Village Block Party in downtown San Diego. As I walked along J Street between Sixth and Tenth Avenues, a few minutes before the event officially began, I took these photos. I was surprised at the number of cars participating this year. Check them out!
The 2025 East Village Block Party is being held one block north of Petco Park and celebrates the opening of the new baseball season. (The San Diego Padres are 2-0 and looking good so far!) The event is today, March 29, 2025, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.
When I walked through the outdoor party, several late arriving vendors were still setting up tables and the entertainment hadn’t begun. I’ve thrown in a few miscellaneous photos, as well, so you get the general vibe!
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In 1940, a year after publishing his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck went on a scientific expedition to the Sea of Cortez with marine biologist Ed Ricketts. The 4000 mile, six week journey, made famous in Steinbeck’s books Sea of Cortez and The Log from the Sea of Cortez, utilized the Monterey fishing boat Western Flyer, a 77-foot purse seiner that had been used in the sardine fishery.
On their way to Baja California, Steinbeck, Ricketts and the small crew of the Western Flyer visited San Diego. Eighty five years later, the storied fishing boat returned!
Yesterday the Western Flyer was docked at the Maritime Museum of San Diego and museum visitors had the opportunity to tour her!
I was one of many who stepped aboard the historic vessel that is called the most famous fishing boat in the world. I took photographs, of course!
The first thing we were shown was the head! Yes, what you see in the next photograph is where John Steinbeck himself sat! During the Sea of Cortez expedition, he developed the idea for his future novels Cannery Row and The Pearl. Perhaps he did some brainstorming here…
We then went forward to the pilot house…
All the instruments are modern–the Western Flyer during its long complex history sank and was submerged for six months. The boat was restored to look and feel as it did originally. Ninety percent of the hull and ten percent of the wheelhouse was replaced.
When we turned around, we discovered a small room with a single bed. This is where Steinbeck’s wife, Carol, slept. Even though she was part of the marine specimen collecting expedition, she was never mentioned in Steinbeck’s books concerning it.
We then proceeded down through the deckhouse past more equipment and bunks and entered the galley. The Western Flyer Foundation takes students out on educational trips, performing ocean research. The young people are privileged to gather around a table where Steinbeck and his friends sat…
At the table, I was shown a remarkable shot glass. It retains marking from barnacles that attached to it while the boat was submerged. The shot glass is dated from the 1930s. It’s quite likely that John Steinbeck drank from it!
Back out on the boat’s weather deck, we descended into what originally had been the vessel’s fish hold. It was converted for the Sea of Cortez expedition into a laboratory, where small marine specimens–urchins, crabs, chitons, snails, clams, starfish and more, gathered mostly from the intertidal zone–were preserved using formaldehyde and other chemicals. Steinbeck and Ricketts discovered that the old fish hold was so damp that it quickly corroded much of their equipment.
Historical photographs of Western Flyer, and from the Sea of Cortez expedition, cover the large table for our tour. You can see in the next photo some of the modern research equipment used by ocean-going college students today…
This is how Western Flyer looked before its 7 million dollar restoration by Port Townsend Shipwrights Co-Op…
The image of the Baby Flyer is one of only two known photographs showing Steinbeck and Ricketts together. John Steinbeck is in the striped shirt, and Ed Ricketts is sitting next to him…
We then proceeded through the crowded engine room. You can learn about the Western Flyer’s original Atlas-Imperial diesel engine here. Today’s diesel/electric engine is quite useful for scientific research, allowing the boat to maneuver silently. I took no photographs of it–sorry.
We then peeked into the boat’s forepeak, where there are more bunks. John Steinbeck and the Western Flyer’s engineer Tex slept here and certainly held many interesting conversations.
Up some steep steps and we’re back out on the main deck. That is HMS Surprise of the Maritime Museum of San Diego straight ahead, and their iconic Star of India–oldest active sailing ship in the world–to the right.
The Western Flyer Foundation had hats, shirts and stickers available for purchase. They are a nonprofit and would appreciate your donation!
Some more looks…
After departing the Maritime Museum of San Diego, the restored Western Flyer heads south to Ensenada, Mexico. They’re embarking on a recreation of the historic Sea of Cortez expedition. Instead of collecting marine specimens, however, they will be making new friends and educating the curious.
Follow the Western Flyer’s journey online! Experience it all virtually on the Western Flyer Foundation’s Facebook page here, and their Instagram page 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 X.
Today, inside Balboa Park’s Museum of Us (formerly called the Museum of Man), visitors can view reproductions of four murals.
The Museum of Us is housed in the historic California Building. In 1915 the building was home to the San Diego Museum. “The Story of Man Through the Ages” was the San Diego Museum’s exhibit during the Panama-California Exposition, and featured the six original Vierra murals.
Should you step into the Museum of Us, you can find two of the reproduced murals on the ground floor, in the large central atrium, hung on the wall on either side of the main entrance. Two additional murals can be viewed in a gallery on the second floor directly above.
The two ground floor murals depict the ruins of prehistoric Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico.
My first pair of photographs (above) show one mural on the ground floor. As a sign explains: Central to this painting is the round building, known as the Caracol, which functioned as an observatory. Behind it lies the ballcourt, the largest such ritual playing field in Mesoamerica. To the right is the sacred cenote, the well of sacrifice.
The second pair of photographs (below) show the mural to the right of it. These murals depict the Maya architectural style known as Puuc, that prevailed from about 600 AD to 900 AD.
Decorating a gallery wall on the second floor, the two additional Vierra murals illustrate the ancient cities of Palenque and Tikal…
UPDATE!
I’ve since learned two more Vierra murals can be viewed in the museum. I’ll go in search of them next time I visit the Museum of Us, and post those photos in an update!
ANOTHER UPDATE!
Here they are…
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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.
“Life’s Rad” proclaims a mural painted outside Carrillo Pottery in Oceanside. This and a mural depicting an Aztec figure drew my curiosity as I walked up South Coast Highway.
Then a guy came out the front door and greeted me. It was Joey Carrillo. Come on in! he said smiling.
What I found inside Carrillo Pottery was beyond cool.
Super colorful, authentic Mexican pottery, and super unique handcrafted decor fill the large shop to overflowing. Bright colors are everywhere. The vibe inside the place is definitely SoCal.
Joey showed me how all sorts of products by local artists are for sale, too, making the place something of an art gallery.
Life’s Rad is a California lifestyle brand featured at Carrillo Pottery. The brand thrives with the help of artist Sean Dominguez (@artbydomo), who created the outdoor Life’s Rad mural, the brand logo, shirt designs and more.
I’m so glad I ventured into Carrillo Pottery. It brightened my walk through Oceanside. Joey Carrillo is the coolest guy you could ever hope to meet–he’s a musician, too!
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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.
The Otay Mesa-Nestor Library currently has a great exhibit in their community room. Informative displays concern the work of renowned San Diego artist, architectural designer and sculptor James Hubbell in Mexico.
The exhibition, Architecture of Jubilation: Lado a Lado, was supposed to conclude in 2024, but has been extended. A librarian told me they’re hanging onto the exhibit as long as they can!
This afternoon I visited the library and gazed at photographs and descriptions of Hubbell’s amazing, organic architectural work in Mexico, including the elementary school Colegio La Esperanza in Tijuana, which he and thousands of community volunteers built.
Another display concerns his Kuchumaa Passage art park, which honors our region’s native Kumeyaay people. Hubbell, with artist Milenko Matanovic, assisted by more volunteers, created beauty on the grounds of Rancho La Puerta fitness spa and resort in Tecate, Mexico. The community-built art park would lead to the creation of Hubbell’s later Pacific Rim Park projects. (The one on Shelter Island–Pearl of the Pacific–can be seen here.)
Other Hubbell projects covered by the Architecture of Jubilation: Lado a Lado exhibit include the Museo Kumiai in Tecate, and Jardín de los Niños in Tijuana.
As one poster explains: Tijuana and San Diego are important cities that exist side by side, along a border that both divides and connects. James Hubbell honors this contradiction by using his art to bridge the border and build a tapestry of community. Thread by thread, Hubbell invites everyday people from Baja California and San Diego to join him in creating spaces of beauty and importance…
James Hubbell passed away last year, but his work will inspire many people and brighten our world far into the future.
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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.
There’s a San Diego-based nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from high kill shelters and the streets of Mexico. The Animal Pad rescues all breeds with its connections in Baja California–particularly in Ensenada and Tijuana.
Early this afternoon, as I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, I met smiling volunteers who were engaged in community outreach. I learned a little about the good work they are doing. The Animal Pad rescues dogs from Southern California as well as Mexico. They provide veterinarian care and rehabilitation for the rescued dogs before four-legged friends head to loving foster homes.
The Animal Pad also has a youth education program and operates the fun Camp Tappy Tails for dog loving children ages 7-12. Their La Mesa facility hosts birthday parties, too!
The Animal Pad website explains: The Animal Pad is only able to do what we do through the efforts of a wide network of volunteers, fosters, donors, sponsor organizations, and adopters. It truly takes a village. And we are always looking for help! The Animal Pad is seeking new avenues for fundraising, veterinary and pet supply connections, and anything else that can assist TAP in helping these innocent souls.
Would you like to adopt a new friend? Do you want to be a hero and help out in some other way? Go to The Animal Pad website by clicking 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 X.
Fiesta de Reyes in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park appears to be ready for Christmas!
The Mexican restaurant and its colorful shops have been decorated with bright wreaths, poinsettias, Christmas trees, a Nativity scene, and a larger-than-life display up on one stage depicting the three wise men.
As you can see from my photographs taken this morning, many of the holiday decorations have a festive Mexican flavor!
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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.
Did you know Hawaii has it own unique cowboy culture? Hawaiian cowboys are called paniolos. You might be surprised to learn that the origin of paniolos in Hawaii has a direct connection to San Diego’s early history, when our nascent city was part of Mexico and cattle ranches flourished!
An extensive new exhibit at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park has the unusual title Aloha Vaqueros. It recalls how several Mexican vaqueros (cowboys) from San Diego moved to Hawaii to help control an exploding population of cattle!
I’ve read Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast, and I do remember how sailors from the Sandwich Islands (later called Hawaii) participated in the cattle hide trade up and down California’s coast. Several Sandwich Islanders also lived on the beach near the hide houses in Point Loma at La Playa.
I was unaware, however, that in the early 1830s, Joaquín Armas, a soldier and vaquero born at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, was hired by Hawaiian King Kamehameha III as an advisor on how to control thousands of wild cattle that had multiplied on the islands. Armas would then recruit three other Mexican vaqueros from the San Diego region, helping to establish vaquero traditions in Hawaii!
The thousands of environmentally destructive wild cattle had descended from long-horned cattle that were given by British Captain George Vancouver to King Kamehameha I in 1793. The wild cattle, evading hunters and traps, came under control about half a century later as vaquero-inspired ranches popped up on Hawaii’s islands. The cattle were valuable for the tallow and hide trade. Skilled ropers and riders were in demand, so many native Hawaiians would learn cowboy skills!
The paniolo experience would eventually become ingrained in Hawaiian culture. Take music, for example. One important development was Hawaiian open-tuning for the guitar called kihoʻalu, or slack-key.
Why are Hawaiian cowboys called paniolos? One theory is that the word is derived from español–the language spoken by the Mexican vaqueros.
If this very unique history fascinates you, go visit the San Diego History Center!
A few photos to provide a taste…
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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.
I arrived late yesterday to the Gaslamp Quarter’s Día de los Muertos celebration. The classic cars and lowriders were already departing, so I couldn’t photograph their colorful Day of the Dead hood and trunk altars.
Fortunately the event continued today, so I made sure to arrive early!
Enjoy these photos of touching Day of the Dead altars. They remember and honor loved ones who’ve passed away. The traditional altars attain a unique quality when combined with Mexican American lowrider culture, which thrives in San Diego.
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 