Tag: mission bay

San Diego’s pro ultimate team brings excitement!

Did you know San Diego has a professional ultimate frisbee team? They’re called the Growlers! And they play fast-paced, super exciting games that will have you stomping your feet and cheering!

This evening the Growlers played at their home stadium–Mission Bay High School’s football field. I simply had to go check it out. I’d never been to an ultimate game before.

Ultimate is played with a frisbee and has elements of both soccer and football. Speedy athletes run about the field, trying to pass a frisbee between team members without it dropping or being intercepted. Catch in the end zone, win a point!

The games, played in four quarters, are easy to follow and wildly exciting. Huge breakaway throws into the end zone are like soaring Hail Mary passes! One scoring catch was made with 1.3 seconds left in the first quarter!

Most of the team members are college age and come from local schools like SDSU and UCSD. The game involves constant running, twisting and diving. You’ll see amazing athleticism.

I loved how kids in the stands were having a blast, banging their thunder sticks and having fun with Growler the mascot. Growler would stomp his feet on the metal floor of the stands when our team was on defense. Fans would join in. Boom, boom, boom!

During halftime, kids were invited onto the field to attempt long, running catches!

It was also cool to see how, during a meeting of the Ultimate Frisbee Association (UFA), Growler was awarded best team mascot! I snapped that last photo as he was presented with a trophy!

Interested in going to a game? Check out the Growlers website here! This is their eleventh year in San Diego.

Most of these photos were taken before nightfall and before the game started. The stands would eventually fill up with a large number of cheering fans!

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It’s a Good Day mural in Crown Point!

Near the corner of La Cima Drive and Ingraham Street, it’s always a Good Day!

This mural is located in the Crown Point neighborhood of Pacific Beach, a couple blocks from Mission Bay. That explains the bicycle, palm trees, surfboards, shore bird and sailboat graphic.

The mural was designed by Channin Fulton (@channinfulton) and painted by various artists on the side of PB Express Market & Liquor. Here’s the webpage concerning the mural, which was commissioned by the Crown Point Neighborhood Association.

Enjoy a few photos.

This sunny San Diego art definitely makes a Good Day!

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Plaque memorializes three SDSU rowers.

A plaque memorializes three San Diego State University rowers who perished in a tragic car crash in 1986.

Derek Guelker, Jim O’Hara and Mark Skinner were in a van with other college athletes returning to San Diego from a rowing club competition in Sacramento when the terrible crash occurred. Here’s an article explaining what happened.

I stumbled upon this plaque when walking past the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, a water sports equipment rental service that is located on Santa Clara Point. The aquatic center, owned and operated by Associated Students of San Diego State University and UCSD Recreation, is open to the general public.

If you’d like to see the plaque yourself, you’ll find it by a walking path that approaches the H Del Beekley Rowing Center.

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San Diego nurses organization cleans Ski Beach!

A big thank you to the several dozen volunteers representing the San Diego Association for Male Nurses! They picked up litter at Ski Beach in Mission Bay today!

I learned that the cleanup is one of many ways the organization improves our city and the people it touches!

The San Diego Association for Male Nurses invites old and new members (and any volunteers) to help with their many efforts, whether it’s coastal cleanups, providing blood pressure awareness to local communities, medically helping children in Mexico, demonstrating CPR in high schools, or handing out Narcan at Chicano Park Day this coming April 25!

Wow, these people are amazing! Super nice too!

According to their website: Our mission is to champion an inclusive professional nursing environment, provide support for current and future male nurses, and advocate to bring awareness to men’s mental and physical health issues.

Awesome! Why not join them?

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Watching the 2026 San Diego Crew Classic!

Late this morning I spent some time watching the final day of the 53rd San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay. I was walking near Ski Beach when I saw the rowers, so I crossed over to Crown Point and looked on from afar with other members of the public who hadn’t purchased a ticket.

With my fuzzy zoom photos you can see the extreme effort of the competing rowers. They were really putting their backs and arms into it! The San Diego Crew Classic in 2026 featured over 100 teams from across the country, including premier collegiate, junior and masters rowing programs. The Crew Classic is one of the nation’s most prominent competitions of its kind.

The college teams, including Texas, Washington, Cal, UCLA, and San Diego State, are among the best of the best!

Even though the racing was held at some distance from where we watched, the excitement was very real!

If you want to learn more about the big event and view the results, check out the Crew Classic website here.

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Enjoying the Bayside Walk around Sail Bay.

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…

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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.

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A surprising vineyard on Mission Bay!

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.

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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.

Feel free to share!

Colorful “I Am San Diego” lifeguard tower!

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!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Unexpected paragliders beside Mission Bay!

One expects to see paragliders in La Jolla high above the beach at the Torrey Pines Gliderport. Not on the grass beside Mission Bay!

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…

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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.

Feel free to share!

Photos from amazing Pacific Islander Festival!

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!

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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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!