I learned during the Adams Avenue Street Fair that a new community garden is coming to Normal Heights!
The community garden will occupy the south end of Ward Canyon Neighborhood Park, north of 40th Street and Madison Avenue, where the fenced Large Dog Park used to be.
As this webpage explains, amenities will include 28 garden plots, 9 waist-level garden boxes, compost and trash areas, a tool shed, running water, ADA compliant graded paths, and a native/pollinator plant garden. The existing pergola and bench will be retained.
I see local schools will be involved, allowing kids to learn about growing food, the environment, and leading a healthy life outdoors.
Very cool!
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Last Sunday, members of the House of Somalia in Balboa Park greeted visitors inside the Hall of Nations. They were pleased to showcase traditional crafts and artifacts that represent Somalia.
The House of Somalia is the first African house to join the International Cottages in Balboa Park. Like about a half dozen other nations, they don’t yet have a cottage, but perhaps they might at a future time.
The table in the Hall of Nations contained a variety of beautiful drums, cups, sandals, beads and other cultural objects. Both members were super nice when I asked if I could take photographs!
To see the Hall of Nations hosting schedule, click here. Next Sunday it will be the House of Lebanon.
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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.
75 musical acts on seven stages! Over eight city blocks of fun, food, vendors, more food, and entertainment!
Yes, today was the final day of this weekend’s epic 43rd annual Adams Avenue Street Fair!
This super popular street festival in Normal Heights is one of the biggest in San Diego. Indeed, it’s said to be Southern California’s largest free two-day music festival!
I walked along Adams Avenue, stomach rumbling from all the delicious smells. I stopped at several of the stages to listen to live music. Then, in the early afternoon, I enjoyed a performance by San Diego’s own Fern Street Circus!
The friendly folks in the next photo were representing the volunteer-based Adams Elementary Parent Teacher Community Organization. They were raising funds to support the neighborhood school. Check out their website here.
Have you seen the huge new Merrill Madness mural on Market Street in downtown San Diego?
The smiling guy in the next photo is one of the driving forces behind it: Marco (@marcticc).
Check out his website Marctic Creations for cool Padres related gear 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.
The kiddo in the above photo is named Paxton. He desperately needs your help!
I learned from his dad that Paxton has a very rare genetic mutation. He has a devastating neurodegenerative mutation on the CLCN6 gene. Paxton will be part of a clinical trial for a promising new lifesaving treatment, but funds need to be raised.
Scientists at UMass Worcester, Chan School of Medicine, Horae Gene Therapy Center, are developing a first of its kind gene therapy for CLCN6 mutations. Paxton will be the patient in the clinical trial.
I learned from Paxton’s father during the Adams Avenue Street Fair that funds can be raised via GoFundMe and WeWard. Also, you can donate via VENMO (@Cure_CLCN6_Inc) or ZELLE (Cure CLCN6, Inc.).
You can easily raise funds simply by walking and using the WeWard App. Create your profile (using referral code ZealousBumblebee1136), then from the Social Tab click Communities then +Join. Enter Code CURE2360 to join the Cure CLCN6 Community.
Enjoy a few festive photographs that I took in Balboa Park today.
The House of Germany was having their lawn program at the International Cottages when I walked through the park, so I paused, grabbed a bratwurst on a roll with sauerkraut, ketchup and mustard, and sat down to listen. (At about two thirty the beer was already sold out!)
I’m not sure who these musicians were, but I saw on the House of Germany’s flyer pertaining to the program that four different groups would provide entertainment.
Before resuming my afternoon walk, I ventured into the House of Germany cottage and viewed interesting educational displays.
The summer lawn program season is approaching its end. Check out the HPR International Cottages website here to see fun events that remain!
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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.
An amazing free event that attracted creative talent from around our region was held in Chula Vista today. FilAm CreatorCon 2025 brought together lots of Filipino-American artists and their fans!
I was surprised by the huge popularity of this annual convention. It was my first time.
The interior of the Chula Vista Library was filled with artist tables overflowing with fantastic artwork: posters, prints, comic books, graphic novels, stickers, jewelry–you name it!
Several community rooms hosted panels or screenings; a fundraising art auction was open to all; and outside, on the library patio, there was plenty of food and even musical entertainment. Neighborhood families came out to the fun event, kids were active and exploring, and smiling artists were busy showcasing and selling their artwork.
What a great experience!
I loved the positive creative energy! I even recognized some of the artists or their great work!
I started out on the patio…
I saw the following information poster.
Bridge the Gap is a nonprofit organization based in San Diego dedicated to celebrating and preserving Filipino-American representation and heritage.
In the spring they have a Creative Summit which supports the next generation of Filipino creatives.
Now I’m inside the main Chula Vista Library.
Look! It’s super nice artist Mary Jhun!
You’ve seen many examples of her distinctive art on Cool San Diego Sights. Click here and here and here and here.
Some of her work:
Here’s another cool artist and illustrator: Robert Rodriguez (@robz_drawings).
Some of his great stuff…
Watch out! Godzilla is energizing his dorsal spines!
This is Raina Ramos (@thrillustrated). She likes to create dog portraits and other cool stuff, like Star Wars art!
Ron Rubio (@rubiobroscartoonstudio), Director, Animator, and producer of smiles!
He has worked on King of the Hill and The Cleveland Show! His brother who has worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender, and for Pixar and others was present, too.
Little Yellow Jeepney author Jocelyn Francisco, Ph.D. was at the con, too! Literacy is more important than ever.
The FilAm CreatorCon panel From Roots to Resonance: Crafting Filipino Stories with Universal Appeal was fully attended.
Look at all the people at FilAm CreatorCon in Chula Vista!
Big respect!
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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.
Then don’t miss the annual Trolley Dances, which are being performed in 2025 near three San Diego Trolley stations in Mission Valley!
The weekend event, produced by San Diego Dance Theater, is a fun outdoor adventure for mobile audiences.
I caught the first of six dances and took some photos. As you can see the Trolley Dances begin near the Fashion Valley Transit Center, in a corner of Town and Country’s resort’s riverfront park.
Mobile audiences go in groups from dance venue to venue, riding the trolley’s Green Line and walking a bit. Yes, it’s a very unique social experience!
The dancing is fluid, athletic, graceful. The performers I watched seemed to defy gravity as their dynamic movements and gestures expressed powerful emotion.
To learn more about Trolley Dances, visit this website, before all tickets sell out!
I snooped around and got these friendly dancers to smile before the noon audience arrived…
Here comes the audience now!
A lone figure approaches across the grass…
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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.
Check out what arrived at the Maritime Museum of San Diego yesterday! This super cool “Deep Flight” submersible!
This electric, one-man submersible was developed about 15 years ago by Hawkes Ocean Technologies. It’s now on display in the museum’s steam ferry Berkeley, in a spot where many model ships can be viewed.
I’m reasonably sure this is DeepFlight I, a submersible that served as a technology testbed for DeepFlight II. You can see a photo and learn more about Hawkes Ocean Technologies on this website.
The exhibit is so brand new, the submersible is still on rollers and there’s no information sign in the museum yet. (I was told that to roll the submersible into the Berkeley, part of the museum’s front desk had to be removed!)
While I don’t know too much right now, I’ll endeavor to learn more tomorrow when the Maritime Museum of San Diego has a special member event. I’ll provide more info here in an update.
But look at how cool this thing is! Imagine lying prone, squeezed inside the narrow craft, down in the mysterious depths of the sea, flying along silently like an underwater aircraft, water and sea life all around!
UPDATE!
A few days later, I noticed two of the historic submersible’s wings had been reinstalled.
A sign also points visitors to a cool YouTube video concerning the DeepFlight I. Watch it here.
UPDATE!
A sign appeared later. I was surprised to learn DeepFlight I briefly appears in the introductory film sequence of Star Trek: Enterprise!
Long construction fences along Kettner Boulevard in downtown San Diego protect workers who are implementing a public transit upgrade. The work is being undertaken by the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS).
As this webpage explains: MTS has embarked on the America Plaza/Santa Fe Depot Pedestrian Enhancement Project to improve the pedestrian experience in and around this important transit hub.
Today, while walking past Santa Fe Depot’s old baggage terminal building, I noticed how the sidewalk is being widened and made more attractive. Several bus routes have stops in the vicinity.
(Years ago the historic baggage terminal was the downtown location of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In the future, the roomy building will be part of a new UC San Diego arts campus, referred to as “The Depot.”)
MTS will be making different improvements in the neighborhood of the Santa Fe Depot and America Plaza, and I’ll continue to follow the progress!
UPDATE!
Three months later, I saw how the different bus routes will have their own loading spaces, as is the case at other transit centers…
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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.
A lifelike bronze statue of a Navy SEAL frogman was installed this morning in downtown San Diego!
The frogman sculpture arrived by box truck, which parked on Kettner Boulevard near One America Plaza, just outside the future Navy SEAL Museum San Diego. (The museum opens very soon–on October 4, 2025.)
With extreme care, slowly, methodically, the new public art was removed from its crate and elevated to its black marble pedestal, which had been installed outside the museum a few days ago.
I and some bystanders were wondering how exactly the operation would proceed. We watched with great interest, and I snapped a bunch of photos.
Words engraved on the pedestal explain:
This statue is adapted from the original at the Navy SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida. It depicts a SEAL placing a limpet mine, an underwater explosive device.
It was designed by master bronze portrait sculptor Lena Toritch, and honors the U.S. Navy SEAL combat diver: a symbol of unwavering courage, stealth, and precision, standing as a testament to their dedication, rigorous training, and selfless service to our nation.
Cleaning the top of the pedestal…
Injecting epoxy into four holes atop the supporting pedestal…
Aha! They’re going to use straps.
Tilting the diving frogman sculpture upright.
Up it goes!
So far, so good!
Centering it…
Workers screw in four rods, which will descend into the epoxy-filled holes on top of the pedestal.
Success!
As I understood it, the statue would remain this way for a while as the epoxy hardened. So I left.
I returned several hours later and found…
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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! 