A few weeks ago, on a late summer San Diego day, I enjoyed a sunny walk around part of Mission Bay.
From a point near Riviera Beach at Moorland Drive, I proceeded counterclockwise along the Bayside Walk to San Rafael Place. This northwest part of Mission Bay is called Sail Bay, and you can see why.
Sailboats, bicycles, volleyball, families playing or lounging on the sand, joggers, people enjoying a beautiful, relaxing day… Even yoga on paddleboards!
This is San Diego at its best!
Enjoy photographs that I took as I walked along…
…
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.
One might expect beach blankets on the sand and picnics on the grass around San Diego’s sunny Mission Bay. But a vineyard?
Well, yes!
A small working vineyard can be found below the patio of the Mission Bay Beach Club. With its Superbloom vegan coffee shop, yoga classes, artisan market, wine tastings and view of the nearby water, the unique gathering place is a hipster’s paradise.
The other day I walked past the distinctive building that is now home of the Mission Bay Beach Club.
As I walked past the landmark structure, which was built in 1969 by architect Richard Lareau, I recalled how decades ago it housed the Mission Bay Visitors Information Center. Travelers arriving in San Diego on Interstate 5 could exit at Clairemont Drive and learn all about our city’s attractions.
Before it eventually became the Mission Bay Beach Club, the building sat vacant for years.
In the 1980s, I used to shoot hoops at the nearby basketball courts with ordinary guys from the neighborhood. Those courts have been neglected, dismantled.
…
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 discovered a colorful “I Am San Diego” lifeguard tower in Mission Bay Park today! It overlooks the water a bit north of the San Diego Mission Bay Resort.
The lifeguard tower is decorated with images that represent the vibrancy of life in our city. It’s part of the “I Am San Diego” citywide project that was launched last year. San Diegans are encouraged to share their San Diego stories and experiences on social media using the hashtag #IAmSanDiego. Learn more about it here.
Lifeguard towers are an iconic sight in sunny San Diego. This one definitely attracts beachgoers for a closer look.
I really love how lively this lifeguard tower has become!
…
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.
That’s exactly what I encountered during a long walk today!
Several people were testing their colorful paragliders in a steady wind. The large fabrics opened like bright flowers suddenly blooming.
At first glance, I thought they might be kiteboarders. But the equipment indicated otherwise.
I didn’t intrude to ask, but I concluded this was practice. With trees all around and no serious updraft, it wasn’t surprising that no paragliders lifted off.
I stepped off the path and took a few photographs…
…
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.
During this weekend, San Diego’s big annual Pacific Islander Festival was held at Ski Beach in Mission Bay.
Thousands turned out to celebrate the traditional cultures of the indigenous peoples of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It’s the largest, most attended Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander festival in the United States!
As you can see from my photos, a huge audience sitting on the grass enjoyed San Diego’s warm sunshine and lots of traditional island dances, costumes and music. There was a fantastic selection of food, vendors everywhere, and, most interesting to me, an assortment of booths boosting tourism with fascinating cultural displays.
All those islands–all their culture–all that vibrant life– There was so much to absorb during my visit!
Did you miss this amazing, free, family-friendly event? I hope these photographs inspire you to go next year…
Does the above watercraft appear familiar? It’s a model of the ocean-going outrigger canoe Sakman.
Perhaps you recall seeing Sakman years ago during its stay in San Diego. See a couple of photos here.
I learned a documentary film is being produced titled Sakman: The Legend of The Flying Canoe. It follows the creation of the Sakman Che’lu, a 50ft. vessel built by a group of retirees in San Diego, CA. Despite being first-time builders and sailors, they courageously recreate this magnificent canoe, 6,000 miles away from their island home. Check out the film’s website 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)!
An inspirational event is coming up this Sunday, May 21st!
TEAM Survivor San Diego is a dynamic, positive group of women who are cancer survivors. They have a dragon boat team called the Sea Dragons. In the past I’ve seen the team racing out on Mission Bay.
I’ve learned the TEAM Survivor San Diego Sea Dragons will be celebrating their 15th anniversary by paddling a marathon circumnavigation of the entire Mission Bay! People are invited to come on out Sunday to cheer them on!
The epic paddle will begin and finish at the youth aquatic facility on Fiesta Island with seven stops along the way. The event starts at 8:00 a.m. and finishes around 4:00 p.m.
If you’re curious to learn more about this great event or would like to support women cancer survivors, check out the Sea Dragons’ Facebook page by clicking 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 Twitter!
Today is the second and final day of the 11th Annual San Diego International Dragon Boat Race. Lots of action can be seen out on Mission Bay!
Enthusiastic teams from across the nation (including Southern and Northern California, Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota and New York) plus international teams (I noted Vancouver, Canada) have come together on this sunny San Diego weekend to race in traditional dragon boats.
I arrived at the event in the early morning just as things were getting started. Team members were stretching and warming up, the boat captains were having their meeting, and then the action began!
As the first boats paddled out to the starting line, just beyond the dock of the San Diego Mission Bay Resort, a group of Scouts presented the colors for the National Anthem.
Then here came the dragon boats, each team furiously paddling to the beat of a big drum!
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Have you ever wondered what the Rose Creek Bikeway is like just north of Mission Bay?
I did, so I walked along the bike and pedestrian path a few weekends ago. I started at a point near the In-N-Out Burger at Damon Avenue (just east of Mission Bay Drive) and headed south under Garnet and Grand Avenue to North Mission Bay Drive. I then walked west over the Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge spanning the Rose Creek Inlet to the entrance of Campland on the Bay.
As you’ll see in the upcoming photographs, the path along Rose Creek features natural beauty but can be trashy in places. It cuts behind businesses, passes the ends of residential streets, and winds along the edge of several sporting facilities. I also saw evidence that homeless people use the path and camp near it.
The Rose Creek Bikeway is part of the much longer 44 mile Coastal Rail Trail which, when completed, will connect downtown San Diego with Oceanside, California. (Had I walked north up the path instead, I would have followed Interstate 5 toward La Jolla and Sorrento Valley, next to the tracks of the soon-to-open Mid-Coast Trolley extension.)
Looking north for a moment as I get started south.About to pass under Mission Bay Drive.Approaching Garnet Avenue.Approaching Grand Avenue.A couple walks dog under Grand Avenue.It appears someone lives under the bridge.Passing a basketball court.Walking between Rose Creek and the Mission Bay Youth Baseball field.Someone practices pitching.To the right beyond the fence is the San Diego Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club.Passing the Mission Bay Golf Course and Practice Center.Turning for a moment to look back north. Sign at North Mission Bay Drive, just east of the Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge, reads: Welcome To… The Rose Creek Bike Path.Now walking west, near a plaque at the east end of the Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge.Mike Gotch Memorial Bridge. October 4, 1947 – May 18, 2008. In memory of Mike’s commitment to creating the people’s playground, not just for today, but all generations to come. Dedicated April 20, 2012.Looking south toward Mission Bay. I see Fiesta Island in the distance.Passing behind Mission Bay High School’s sports fields.Approaching Pacific Beach Drive, where the dedicated bike and pedestrian path ends.Bicyclists start east along the path, near the entrance to Campland on the Bay.
…
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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
One of the best places to watch super high speed boats racing in Mission Bay during San Diego Bayfair is from a bridge!
The Ingraham Street bridge on the south side of Vacation Isle provides a view of the race “docks” located south of Ski Beach, the tower near the Bill Muncey Memorial, and the entire oval race course. The farthest end of the course is in the distance, but the height provides a great panorama of all the action! And it’s free!
Today during a walk around Mission Bay I paused for a good hour on the Ingraham Street bridge to watch several classes of boats compete, including the H1 Unlimited hydroplanes, which are the fastest racing boats in the world. Mission Bay, which was originally designed for thunderboat racing, is said to be the fastest such course in the world.
As the super fast boats turned corners, huge plumes of white spray would rise up behind them!
I and a small crowd of pedestrians and bicyclists who were watching from on high gave a conciliatory shout out to one racer below who had to be towed in to the docks when his engine conked out. He must’ve heard us, because with good humor he threw up an arm in acknowledgement.
It was fascinating to see how boats would be placed into the docks with three large cranes, then removed from the water and hosed off at the end of each race. During the racing, other boats would be prepared, testing their engines. Everywhere I looked there was interesting activity.
I guess next year I’ll have to get a ticket and check out the action up close!
Here are my photos from various spots on the bridge…
…
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! 