This old rusty steel skeleton of a ship is actually one of two cool sculptures near the Pier 32 Marina in National City.
Check out these two very cool sculptures! I spotted them as I walked from a National City trolley station to Pepper Park yesterday, on my way to the big International Mariachi Festival.
Both of these sculptures are located at the Pier 32 Marina. And both are a lot of fun!
This huge metal sculpture by the marina flags is called Le Bateau Ivre, by artist Alber De Matteis, 2008.More detailed photo of this work of awesome nautical art! Looks like a ghost ship!The second sculpture, just down a pathway, is School of Blue Bottle Noses, by artist David Boyer, 2008. It was part of an Urban Trees exhibition on San Diego’s Embarcadero.Those blue Bottlenoses are actually bottles! Like a pod of turning dolphins, they shift direction in the wind!
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People watch the 5th Annual International Mariachi Festival in National City’s Pepper Park.
I took a bunch of colorful photos today at one of San Diego’s most wonderful festivals! The 5th Annual International Mariachi Festival was held today at Pepper Park in National City. (Actually, as I post this blog, the event still has about an hour to go.)
So what does one see at a Mariachi Festival? Read the captions!
The first performance featured the colorful Azteca Dancers – Danza Mexi’cayotl.The Azteca Dancers file onto the stage to the beat of drums.The audience watches the dancers perform on the Main Stage of the National City International Mariachi Festival.Dancers of all ages participate in several ancient Aztec dances, including a Rain Dance.Energy and joy are expressed as cultural traditions live on.The first of many wonderful performances at the Mariachi Festival!Now here comes Danza Folklorica Las Florecitas!Another amazing dance begins!Smiles and brightly colorful dresses are both big parts of Mexican culture.Dizzily spinning color and pure joy.Life as it should be.The happy, rhythmic music had lots of people in the audience clapping along.Here come some youthful musicians! I believe this is Mariachi Maya de Southwest Middle School. You wouldn’t believe the lung power and vocal range of that gifted young singer!Watching from the side of the Main Stage.Meanwhile lots of other fun stuff was going on at the festival, including this guy creating cool spray paint art.Vendors had all sorts of stuff for sale, including colorful Mexican dresses and fierce lucha libre masks.Speaking of lucha libre, there was some of that as well. (The blindfolded guy somehow won!)Wrestlers entertain a small crowd at the International Mariachi Festival.My favorite photo of the family event!And the event this year was very big! More people kept on arriving right into the afternoon.The excellent entertainment continued non-stop at the Main Stage.Many great mariachi groups would perform from around San Diego, Southern California and Mexico. Many middle school and high school groups participated.At the opposite end of Pepper Park, on the Port Stage, kids of all ages performed.On the grass off to the side of the Port Stage a bunch of young performers awaited their turn in the spotlight.Now I’m back at the Main Stage one last time. The crowd has grown!Rousing, emotional, much-loved mariachi music brought loud applause throughout the event.This young man sang several songs, and finished with an exciting mariachi version of Sinatra’s New York, New York!Here come some young couples dancing! I’m not sure who these performers are.A dance filled with life.Youthful energy at the Mariachi Festival in National City.And now–I believe–Danza Folklorico Nanahuatzin.Colorful skirts whirling like kaleidoscopes.A traditional Mexican folk dance delighting both eyes and ears.Pure joy.Many wonderful performances could be enjoyed at the 5th Annual International Mariachi Festival!
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Some happy street art in National City. A high five, pink rabbit and heart.
I found even more cool street art while walking around National City! Check out these photos! Colorful utility boxes and transformers seemed to pop up wherever I turned!
Transinfinite Gems. Love Your Soul. Blessings and Love.A creatively painted utility box near a National City street corner. Is that a can of soda?Someone just let loose with many strokes of color on this transformer box!This cool street art definitely attracts the attention of people walking down the sidewalk!An abstract human figure that drips ink into a river. This fantastic image appears to be full of symbolism.More cool designs on a series of electrical boxes. National City, in San Diego’s South Bay, has lots of great street art!A contrast of real leaves and painted leaves.Barren trees in a purple-blue sky.Another side of the same box.Branches from sky and ground, like grasping, skeletal fingers.
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These arches in National City’s Morgan Square Plaza delight the eye with their colorful tiles and designs.
Check out this cool public art in San Diego’s South Bay! These colorfully tiled arches can be found in Morgan Square Plaza right next to the National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. As you can see in one photo, the plaza isn’t far from Heritage Square and historic Brick Row, which I recently covered on this blog.
It appears these mosaic arches debuted along with the plaza itself in October 2007. I searched the small pocket park for a plaque, and later for information on the internet, but can find almost nothing about this unique public art. I did see that the bust of former National City mayor Kile Morgan was created by the talented San Diego sculptor Richard Becker. According to Becker’s website, he created the POW Monument at the US National Cemetery, busts for The Emmys in Hollywood, and a bronze sculpture of Homer Simpson for Fox Studios.
Cool art in the public square next to the National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.Visible beyond the brick arch is one end of Brick Row, one of several historic buildings in Heritage Square.Across Morgan Square Plaza is a monument to a former National City mayor.The bust of Honorable Kile Morgan, mayor of National City from 1966 to 1986. He established the Mile of Cars and Plaza Bonita. Sculpture created by San Diego artist Richard Becker.Another photo through the arches. The Southwestern College Higher Education Center stands across National City Boulevard.The beautiful patterns on this wall-like artwork are composed of many brightly colored tiles.The National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center is located near the public art arches.Fun photo of one arch within another.Cool public artwork in National City at Morgan Square Plaza!
UPDATE!
During a walk in 2019 I discovered a plaque describing this Streetscape Project, titled Portals in Time. The different arches are called Brick Row, Hispanic Portal, Filipino Water Wall, Kumeyaay Water Wall, Agriculture and Ship Building, and The Bay.
Click the following two photos and they will enlarge for easier reading:
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Brick Row at National City’s Heritage Square. The long brick two-story structure was built by Frank Kimball in 1887.
To those traveling through gritty National City, Heritage Square can be a surprising discovery. Venture into the picturesque block, just south of the intersection of East 9th Street and A Avenue, and you feel like you’ve stepped back 150 years.
National City has a fascinating history. Originally used by the Spanish to graze horses, the land in the early 1800s, after Mexican independence, was called Rancho de la Nación. In 1868, a San Francisco builder named Frank Kimball bought the rancho with an ambitious dream. He intended to turn National City into the western terminus of the Santa Fe Railway.
You might remember my photographic tour of the National City depot, built in 1882 by the Santa Fe Railroad. It became the first terminus of transcontinental rail travel in the San Diego area. You can see that fascinating blog post here.
To accommodate executives of the Santa Fe Railroad and booming times caused by the arrival of rail, in 1887 Frank Kimball built Brick Row, a structure in the style of Philadelphia row house. It was designed by San Diego architect R. C. Ball. Over 240,000 bricks were used for the ten units.
Kimball’s full ambitions weren’t realized, however, when the Santa Fe Railroad soon turned their sights on Los Angeles, making that city their major center of operations in Southern California.
An early resident of the “Kimball Block” was legendary marshal Wyatt Earp, who came to Southern California after being indicted in Arizona for shooting the men who’d killed his brother. He is best known locally for opening three gambling halls in San Diego. In 1889, Wyatt Earp stayed in Brick Row when he traveled down to Tijuana, Mexico. There he famously refereed a prize fight during a fiesta that also featured cockfights, bullfights and a lassoing contest.
In the early 1970s, National City’s planning director, Malcolm C. Greschler, interested in preserving the deteriorating Brick Row, came up with the idea of creating Heritage Square, which would be a historical tourist attraction similar to San Diego’s Old Town. In 1973 Frank Kimball’s house was moved to Heritage Square.
The 1869 Kimball House has its own unique history. It was the first house built in National City. Not only did it have a bathtub, but it had hot running water, which made it the first modern house in the entire county. President Benjamin Harrison visited it in 1891 during his tour of the western United States. At the time, it was the longest journey ever made by a President while in office. President Harrison’s 9,232 mile trip by railroad took one month and three days!
In 1976 two more historical houses were moved to Heritage Square: the 1887 Stick-style Rice-Proctor House and the 1879 Steele-Blossom House, which is depicted on National City’s official logo.
A plaque that reads Heritage Square – Marked in honor of the National City Centennial by San Miguel Chapter NSDAR, 1987.Heritage Square in National City contains several historic structures from the mid to late 19th century.The Steele-Blossom House, built in 1879, is used by the city of National City in its official logo. Elizur Steele was real estate agent for Frank Kimball and his enterprising brothers.The 1869 Kimball house was moved to Heritage Square in 1975. It is now the Kimball Museum operated by the National City Historical Society.The 1887 Stick-style Rice-Proctor House in National City’s Heritage Square.The two-story Brick Row is composed of ten units with common walls.Sign reads National City Historic Site – Kimball Block – Also known as Brick Row, this block of Eastern-style flats was completed in 1887 at the then considerable cost of $22,000.Photo of a section of the handsome Brick Row. The building now houses several specialty shops and the National City Historical Archive Room.Walking through the historic block of Heritage Square in National City is like a wonderful voyage back in time.
UPDATE!
I took the following three photographs in 2021 during another walk through National City.
The first photo is of a sign providing information concerning Brick Row. I cropped the top of the photo off because the outdoor sign was plastered with unsightly bird poop!
The second photo is of a sign concerning the Kimball House. I see its dates are different than what I previously wrote. I got that info from some other source. Do your own research!
The third photo is of the Steele-Blossom House, which appears to have been repainted with different colors.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Join me, says Darth Vader. Never, replies Luke Skywalker. An epic lightsaber battle commences.
Here’s more super cool street art! A classic battle between the dark and the light, and iconic movie characters recognized around the world are painted on two utility boxes in National City! You can spot them near the intersection of 8th Street and National City Boulevard.
This bold street art is an homage to the original Star Wars trilogy. The final four images might make you laugh!
Like a comic book or graphic novel, the right side of this utility box is painted with two more panels of Star Wars street art. I see good old R2-D2 and the white helmet of an Imperial Stormtrooper.Bounty hunter Boba Fett, a popular Star Wars character, makes for some super cool street art! I photographed this image on the left side of the same utility box.Pop culture icon C-3PO from Star Wars movies, television and other media has also been painted on the side of this utility box.Wannabe Stormtrooper on a second National City utility box seems to idolize Darth Vader and his mastery of the Dark Force.Live Set Stormtrooper likes listening to tunes while battling the Rebel Alliance. Perhaps that’s why those lasers never seem to hit anything.Poker Face Stormtrooper has beer hoses entering his helmet and a hand of cards.Selfie Stormtrooper thinks he looks good. Some funny Star Wars street art in National City!
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Blanka of Capcom’s Street Fighter video games. Fun street art in National City.
A bunch of fun, colorful Japanese video game characters have been painted on several utility boxes near the center of National City. I spotted them while walking near the intersection of National City Boulevard and East 8th Street.
A whole universe of video game characters created over the years in Japan have contributed in a very big way to our popular culture. From Sonic the Hedgehog to Mario to the magical creatures of Pokémon, they populate video games, television shows, movies, comic books, toys . . and, as you can see, even some really fun street art!
Painted utility and transformer boxes near the corner of National CIty Boulevard and East 8th Street feature a variety of colorful Japanese video game characters.Sonic the Hedgehog of Sega Games has been painted on a utility box in National City.Bub and Bob originally from the 1980s Taito video game Bubble Bobble.Street art depicts Link of The Legend of Zelda video game series.A cute street art rendition of Princess Peach from the Mario video games.Pikachu sits atop a Pokémon Poké Ball. Fun street art in National City.The character beneath the Poké Ball looks somehow familiar, but I can’t figure this one out… Okay, a coworker identified him! It’s Finn the Human from the animated television show Adventure Time. Not of Japanese origin, apparently, but he has appeared in video games!Chocobo from the Final Fantasy video games. Happy street art painted on a utility box.Luna from the popular Japanese manga series Sailor Moon. I’m not sure if Luna appeared in any video games.Nintendo’s pop culture icon Mario fights Gooper Blooper in this fun, nostalgic street art.A green Super Mario Koopa Paratroopa flies over a castle while our leaping hero steps on a Goomba!A villainous Rocky Wrench pops out of a hole to attack Mario in this video game street art!I believe these are various images of enemies from the Mario video game franchise on top of the transformer.Super Mario Galaxy has our hero capturing Power Stars in Outer Space! More street art in National City!
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
You can go kayaking on a cool Eco Tour and try to spot green sea turtles in San Diego’s South Bay! Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Harry Orgovan.
At last weekend’s Earth Day on the Bay, I learned about some awesome Eco Tours on San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Experienced guides take you by kayak around the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge to search for green sea turtles, or by bicycle around San Diego Bay to view all sorts of migratory birds, or by boat off our coast to spot gray whales and other marine life! These tours are provided by Ocean Connectors.
Why am I blogging about this? What makes these tours so amazingly cool? Ocean Connectors uses the money they make from their San Diego Eco Tours to directly benefit local students! Every year, Ocean Connectors introduces hundreds of kids in the National City School District to the beautiful natural world along San Diego’s coast, educating them about migratory wildlife and stewardship of the environment–all at no cost!
That’s right! Thousands of students in Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grades have had an experience of a lifetime thanks to Ocean Connectors. In their formative years, these young people, many from low-income situations, have ventured out from the city and have experienced profound wonders they otherwise might have missed. They are taken on fun and inspiring educational field trips that are sometimes described as the best day of their lives!
Thanks to Ocean Connectors, local school students can learn about marine wildlife during a whale watching tour off the San Diego coast. Image courtesy of Ocean Connectors. Photograph by Ralph Pace.
Seeing green sea turtles, wild birds taking flight, and majestic gray whales out on the wide blue water deeply affects a young person’s view of the world, teaches one about the web of life, helps one to grow into a thoughtful, responsible adult. I know this is true. Because I had a similar experience when I was growing up.
Back in junior high school, I went on a sea adventure with some classmates along Alaska’s Inland Passage. I saw breaching humpback whales, bald eagles, even an orca. That memory is still vivid in my mind. That unforgettable experience broadened my horizons, made me appreciate the wonders of nature, gave me a sense of belonging to a larger world, a world that should be carefully preserved. I’ve been an avid hiker and lover of the outdoors during my adult life, and I have no doubt my own personal adventure those many years ago is one big reason why.
So . . . have you been considering having your own unforgettable adventure in ecotourism? Would you like to possibly spot one of the 60 green sea turtles that spend part of their lives feeding on eel grass in San Diego’s South Bay? Would you like to bike around the Bayshore Bikeway and see hundreds, even thousands of wild birds? (And some are quite rare!) Would you like to head out onto the ocean with trained, knowledgeable naturalists, and see gray whales, dolphins, and a huge variety of other sea mammals and coastal wildlife?
Ocean Connectors’ mission is to educate, inspire and connect people to the outdoors. And one of those people could be YOU!
Click here to have your own unique Eco Tour in San Diego. Book a tour, and you’ll benefit kids in San Diego’s South Bay! It’s a win-win!
Someone learns about the amazing Eco Tours and the educational programs provided by Ocean Connectors during Earth Bay on the Bay at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
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There’s more than refreshments and snacks at the National City Depot. There’s a huge, cool collection of local railroad and trolley history!
If you’re a train or streetcar lover, prepare to go nuts! The friendly guys at the National City Depot, which is home to the Trolley and Railroad Museum operated by the San Diego Electric Railway Association, allowed me to take loads of photographs a couple weekends ago! The place is so crammed with cool stuff, I hardly know where to start!
(Before I get started, however, I learned the National City Depot is in desperate need of volunteer docents and cashiers. So if you live around San Diego and have some free time, please consider this opportunity. Railroading enthusiasts would be in heaven. If you’d like, you might actually roll up your sleeves and help work to revitalize several vintage streetcars. You can have a great time preserving and enlivening our local history of trolleys by explaining exhibits and sharing knowledge with curious visitors, tourists and school students. SDERA’s stated mission is to restore and preserve the history of electric railways and trolleys in the San Diego region. Click here for more info.)
As you can see from the first photo, the depot has a number of old railroad cars and streetcars sitting outside on either side of it. The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, MTS, has provided the private association with three old Vienna streetcars and one Presidents Conference Committee (PCC) streetcar. The latter is undergoing restoration, and will eventually be used as a cool tourist attraction, running over the Coronado Belt Line of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railroad!
You might recognize the name San Diego Electric Railway. It was the mass transit system built by locally famous “sugar heir” and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. His network of railroads was established in 1892, and active streetcars served a large area of the city for many decades. The San Diego Electric Railway Association proudly displays some examples of the rolling stock that were utilized in those glory years of electric streetcars.
The National City Depot has its own fascinating history. It was built in 1882 by the Santa Fe Railroad, and became the first Pacific Coast terminus station of their transcontinental line. Today, it’s the last representative of the original stations built on the West Coast by the five different transcontinental railroads. After various changes in its operations over the decades, the depot was abandoned in the 1960s and suffered severe neglect. Before finally reopening as a museum, it was also used as a unique building for a couple of restaurants. It’s now owned by the city of National City.
I learned so much during my visit, my brain is still whirling. If I’ve captioned the photos incorrectly, or have made some sort of factual error, please leave a comment!
Here come the photos, just a taste of what you might see should you swing on by. Enjoy!
The National City Depot was built in 1882. It was the first Pacific Coast terminus station of the Santa Fe Railroad’s transcontinental line.Plaque in front of National City Depot, the first Pacific Coast terminus station of Santa Fe’s transcontinental railroad. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 1023.Sign describes Santa Fe Rail Depot in National City. It’s the only original transcontinental railroad terminus still standing.Inside the small depot are display cases full of model trains and streetcars, plus artifacts and memorabilia. The walls are covered with old photos and historical information.The famous old train station sits alongside BNSF tracks which are still active. The National City Depot played in instrumental role in American railroad history.There’s so much cool stuff crammed inside the museum, a railfan could spend hours closely examining all of it!A magazine article on display for train buffs and history enthusiasts to check out. Buses finally replaced the old network of San Diego trolleys in 1949.One of many old photos in the museum depicting San Diego’s very rich electric streetcar history.A collection of old lanterns. Everything imaginable concerning San Diego railroads and trolleys can be found inside the National City Depot.Faded writing on the brick fireplace recalls when the eventually abandoned depot was used as a restaurant. Black panels on the walls cover graffiti.One section of a wall has lots of photos of vintage streetcars and trolleys.A second room inside the National City Depot contains a huge model train layout! The exhibit is run when the depot is open Thursdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm. It appears that SDERA members have a lot of fun!The best photo I could get of a big antique Raymond and Wilshire safe in the historic transcontinental depot. I had to squeeze up against the model train layout.Now we’re outside beside the depot at a picnic bench! I like these two planters in the shape of steam locomotives!Two of National City Depot’s three old Austrian streetcars. These were going to be used by MTS for the San Diego Trolley in the Gaslamp Quarter, but couldn’t meet ADA standards, as I understand it.Sign inside one Vienna street car details the history. They were originally built at the Simmering Machine and Railcar Works, Simmering, Austria.Now we’re stepping like a passenger into one of the old Austrian streetcars!The controls used by this electric streetcar’s operator. Notice a seat that folds under the dashboard.Looking back where passengers would sit. There didn’t seem to be much capacity in the small cars.Now we’re checking out Birney Car 336, out in the open lot beside the National City Depot. This is one type of streetcar that transported people in San Diego decades ago.Birney Car 336 was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1917, and first served in Bellingham, WA. It later was used for dining inside the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Diego, from 1971 to 2004!Inside the old Birney Car. I’m hungry for some spaghetti! Where are the chairs?Cool vintage advertisements along the car’s ceiling include this one for Burma-Shave.A big, heavy tamping machine used for maintaining railroad tracks and placing them more firmly onto packed ballast.A second ballast tamper outside the National City Depot. I always wondered what these unusual machines that you see on train tracks are for.Part of the machinery that pushes down on the steel rails and ties. This makes sure train tracks are solidly in place and level.Gazing back north past various rail exhibits outside the National City Depot. Isn’t this fun?Now we’ll check out PCC Car 539, which was donated to SDERA by the Metropolitan Transit System.PCC Car 539 was built in 1946 by the St. Louis Car Company. It served as a streetcar in St. Louis until 1956. Restoration is underway. One day it might run nearby as a tourist attraction.Inside the fabulous PCC car. The San Diego Trolley now has two completely restored cars of this type, running in a downtown loop called the Silver Line.I believe this is a Fairmont Speeder Car. Tiny crew cars were used to transport a few individual workers up and down tracks. I’d love to ride one!Oh, man! I bet you’d love to sit in one of these seats and ride the rails! Just turn the throttle to go!Seriously? This one is basically a bicycle for train tracks! Except it has four wheels! And a bike chain, of course!This luggage cart near the entrance to the National City Depot was donated by the Maritime Museum of San Diego–it evidently was aboard the steam ferry Berkeley at one time.One of several cool vintage handcars. Just like you see in those old Western movies.This unusual three-wheeled handcar reminds me of a canoe outrigger!San Diego Electric Railway Association’s fun Herbie is a Brill streetcar replica. A parade and car show’s popular Streetcar on Wheels!An antique open air streetcar at the National City Depot. This a grip car, like the cable cars in San Francisco. Few people realize that San Diego had a cable car line that briefly ran from the Gaslamp to University Heights in the early 1890s!Elegant number 54 is a unique composite, built using two different San Diego Cable Railway cars. I see panes of stained glass. The yellow paint is peeling.The third Vienna streetcar in the National City Depot’s collection, number 6888, is yellow.There’s a ton of very cool stuff to see at the National City Depot, in San Diego’s South Bay!
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Rusty old train tracks are overgrown with wild vegetation, including many California bush sunflowers.
I made a cool discovery the other day. A little-known hiking path in San Diego’s South Bay provides a view of a beautiful natural wetland.
According to signs that I saw, the small estuary between Bay Marina Drive, Marina Way, Interstate 5 and the Sweetwater River is a protected wildlife refuge. I believe, after looking at Google Maps, that the water flows from Paradise Creek. But I’m not certain. Perhaps someone reading this knows.
Long-unused train tracks that are partially concealed by vegetation run along the edge of the wetland, and so does a narrow footpath. I didn’t see any signs naming the trail, or any that prohibited a short hike. So I walked down it a bit, enjoying the fresh air and peaceful surroundings.
Information sign near edge of estuary identifies native plants. California Buckwheat, White Sage, Southwestern Spiny Rush, and Black Sage.View of National City wetland from observation area south of the Best Western Marina Gateway hotel parking lot.Beginning down the footpath on a sunny weekend day.Some eroded sandstone adds beauty to the scene.Prickly pear and chaparral yucca above a green estuary.Beyond the sign lies a fragile wetland where native plants and animals are protected. I saw some birds out in the wildlife refuge.I turned about after a short hike and headed on back to the hotel parking lot.
UPDATE!
On a later visit I discovered additional signs beside the hotel parking lot. They contain more interesting information.
I learned this wetland is called Paradise Marsh. It’s an environmentally important tidal salt marsh that’s part of the much larger San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Water reflects bright sunlight in National City’s Paradise Marsh.Paradise Marsh is a small part of the 2600 acre San Diego Bay National Wildlife RefugeThe birds of Paradise Marsh include the Willet, Mallard, American Avocet and the Great Blue Heron.For hundreds of years, Native American tribes such as the Kumeyaay, Iapi or Tipai made their homes around the estuaries of San Diego Bay.A beautiful tidal salt marsh wetland can be viewed in National City.
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