Major League Baseball’s big 2022 National League Championship Series begins in a matter of hours. And the San Diego Padres have home field advantage!
Downtown San Diego has been busy getting ready for the upcoming games at Petco Park. Huge, super excited crowds will be filling the streets this evening!
I wandered around the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village this morning and saw flags and banners going up, sidewalks getting spruced up, news reporters hanging out near the ballpark, and fans in Padres hats and jerseys walking around.
Lots of video production trucks are now parked on two sides of Petco Park.NLCS graphics were up on one of Petco Park’s big videoboards.City workers were repainting stripes on the street near Petco Park.Those barricade “planter boxes” near the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge have recently been painted with orange, brown and yellow. Together they spell P A D R E S.Nearby shops, bars and restaurants are welcoming baseball fans.The Gaslamp Quarter has these Capture the Moment banners.Transit buses everywhere root for our Padres!The Donut Bar has these yummy Padres doughnuts!I hope this place has the game on!A television news cameraman stands by near Petco Park.And this cool guy gave me a thumbs up!
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This morning a unique ceremony was held in San Diego. The 66th Massing of the Colors and Service of Remembrance honored the flag of our country and those who’ve served to protect it–and the Freedom it represents.
The annual Massing of the Colors is presented by the San Diego Chapter of The Military Order of the World Wars. The organization is made up of officers from the uniformed services, their spouses and descendants.
This year about 25 color guards from all around the city came together for the ceremony at the U.S. Army of the West Mormon Battalion Historic Site, which is located in Old Town. The MCRD Marine Band provided patriotic music.
I watched as the many color guards arrived, streaming in from nearby parking lots and down sidewalks. There were youth belonging to the ROTC and Junior ROTC programs. There were proud Veterans who’d fought for their country. There were descendants of those who’d served.
Before the ceremony began, the color guards paraded single file through the grassy area where the audience would watch, forming a line of flags to one side. Then several color guards brought more flags forward before an Invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and singing of the National Anthem. Coming to the podium, Anaeya Baez, from Girl Scout Troop 6116, read My Name is Old Glory.
A guest speaker, the Honorable M. Janet Chin, reminded everyone of the sacrifices many have made. She expressed hope that present and future generations will remember that history, and will continue the tradition of service.
The motto of the Military Order of the World Wars is: It is nobler to serve than to be served.
The ceremony ended with Taps, a Benediction, and the Retiring of the Colors.
As you can see in the following photographs, I arrived and took my seat very early…
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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Many community volunteers had gathered at Cortez Hill’s Tweet Street linear park to tidy up and beautify a special corner of the neighborhood!
They were assisted by two friendly members of downtown San Diego’s Clean and Safe program.
As I hurried off to a morning appointment, I snapped a couple pics of the work crew getting started. When I walked past again around noon, oh, what a difference! The planted areas were more beautiful than ever!
If you want to join these good people or help them out, check out their Facebook page here!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Are you ready? Major League Baseball’s playoffs have returned to San Diego!
Beginning tonight, the San Diego Padres have two consecutive home games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s the 2022 National League Division Series!
Early this afternoon people working the game were streaming in, and super fans were already lining up outside Petco Park. Bars and restaurants in the Gaslamp and East Village were beginning to get busy.
I took a walk with my camera out to take a few photos. I also managed to capture the enthusiasm!
Let’s go Padres!
BEAT LA!!!
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
The Torrey Pines Lodge has been welcoming visitors for nearly 100 years. In 2023 the historic adobe building, nestled in the beauty of Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, will celebrate its centennial!
When I visited the Torrey Pines Lodge this weekend, several docents told me that plans are now being made for observing its centennial. I hope to attend public celebrations next year!
As I walked through the old building, which today serves as a Visitor Center, I viewed a few displays concerning its history.
I’ve taken photographs for you to enjoy. (If you’d like to see more of the Lodge’s interior, and several of it’s museum-like exhibits, check out an old blog post here.)
The San Diego Union newspaper article, dated January 1, 1923, describes the new Beautiful Adobe Lodge.Tableware from the days when the Torrey Pines Lodge served as restaurant.Dinner was one dollar! Motorists on their way through to San Diego or Los Angeles could also purchase Mexican and Indian rugs, blankets, pottery, baskets, etc. at the Lodge.The Torrey Pines Lodge was dedicated on April 7, 1923.
In the summer of 1922 when construction began on the Torrey Pines Lodge, this area consisted of a treeless and windswept sandstone bluff.
Miss Ellen Browning Scripps, a noted San Diego Philanthropist and the sole contributor to the acquisition of what was called at the time, “The Torrey Pines City Reserve,” donated the funds to build the Torrey Pines Lodge…
…Architect Richard Requa was noted for his pueblo and Mayan style of architecture, and designed many buildings in San Diego’s Balboa Park…
The Lodge was built from sun baked adobe bricks, made on the construction site from local clays. Miss Scripps also brought Hopi Indians from the Southwest to aid in the making of authentic adobe bricks…
The Lodge and its restaurant opened to the public in February of 1923 and was an immediate success, perhaps due to its stunning scenery and location adjacent to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Highway…the main road between Los Angeles and San Diego until the mid-1930’s…
…the Lodge was a favorite day trip…as well as being a popular stop for tour buses of the era. The Model T Fords of the 1920’s found the highway’s steep grade a challenge…
Old photographs shows dining tables on the Lodge’s front terrace.The beautiful Torrey Pines Lodge in 2022. Some restoration work is visible.A wooden plaque inside the Lodge.The Torrey Pines Lodge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
What will the San Diego region look like in the future?
Glimpses were provided today of future possibilities during a free family event at Ruocco Park. The SANDAG (The San Diego Association of Governments) Community Fair brought together a variety of public and private entities who are advocating and working for change–primarily when it comes to mass transit.
The projects previewed include a future Central Mobility Hub, which will connect regional transit to San Diego International Airport; a solution to relocate train tracks that run near eroding bluffs in Del Mar; and the upcoming Otay Mesa East Port of Entry. I also saw intriguing plans for a trolley station in Tijuana, Mexico.
Other SANDAG initiatives include advancing digital equity in neighborhoods, the Youth Opportunity Pass Pilot Program of MTS, and the creation of affordable housing.
I saw lots of charts, maps, infographics and smiles. I asked some questions and learned a few things.
I also walked by the kid activity stations, picked up a new bike map, learned about the trails of San Elijo Lagoon, and learned about butterflies, birds and replenishing beach sand.
Then I got some free popcorn and flavored ice, and watched Hanna paint a cool mural, which would eventually depict a scene of San Diego’s beautiful environment.
The SANDAG Community Fair was a great way for the public to interact with those making plans to shape our shared future. Public input, including concerns, were welcome.
And it all was fun, too!
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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!
A very special event was held today at the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. National Wildlife Refuge Week was celebrated! And the public was freely invited!
I arrived around noontime and started down the refuge’s nature paths toward San Diego Bay.
At one station near a brackish wetland pond, a friendly ranger was inviting kids (and curious adults) to play Bird Bingo! How many wild birds could visitors spot? I saw a beautiful Snowy Egret.
At a second station, rangers were encouraging people to dip a net into the nearby water. Netted plankton was then observed under magnification!
The event was a fun opportunity to learn about the value of wildlife refuges, where animal and plant life–some of which is endangered–can thrive undisturbed. And where we humans can reconnect with nature, absorbing all that goodness that awaits us in wild places.
San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge consists of the Sweetwater Marsh and South San Diego Bay Units, preserving coastal salt marsh and intertidal mudflat habitat.What’s in here?
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Living Coast Discovery Center, SeaWorld San Diego, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife are working together on a captive propagation program to rear the endangered light-footed Ridgway’s rail…
I checked out the Bird Bingo first.A Snowy Egret hunts for food in the pond.Now heading through the wildlife refuge toward the Plankton Netting activity. I see downtown San Diego in the distance.A curious kid was netting microscopic specimens.At the Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge today, there was much to experience and learn!
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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!
Roaring San Diego officially opened today in the lobby of the City Administration Building!
Throughout the month of October, the Office of the City Clerk is presenting the 4th Annual Archives Month. In 2022 the event focuses on the history of San Diego a century ago during the Roaring 1920s. The educational event includes an exhibit, lectures at the Central Library, and a very special tour of the City Archives!
I listened this morning as the City Clerk and other notable speakers introduced Roaring San Diego in front of the exhibit inside the City Administration Building.
The archive photographs in the exhibit provide a fascinating window to our shared past. I paused to gaze at notable moments in history, wondering what life might have been like during the 1920s. It was a very different era–and yet people remain people, and you can see the humanity in their faces.
To learn more about Roaring San Diego, and how you can attend a lecture or take a tour of the City Archives, click here!
The City Clerk Archives has been preserving public records in San Diego since 1850.San Diego City Clerk Elizabeth Maland introduces Roaring San Diego.San Diego Mission Beach, Opening Day. August 4th, 1925. The historic old wooden roller coaster looks much the same today!Early Black Firefighters in Logan Heights, circa 1927.Several dresses in the Roaring San Diego exhibit represent American fashion in the 1920s.Morena Bridge during the Great Flood in 1927.People in pose front of Charles Lindbergh’s plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, which was custom built by Ryan Airlines in San Diego.
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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!
In mid-September I noted colorful new trashcans are being placed in the various neighborhoods of downtown San Diego. The one’s I photographed back then celebrate the Business District and Cortez Hill.
Today, during a downtown walk, I noticed additional new trashcans that celebrate East Village and the Columbia District!
These colorful trashcans are being placed on street corners by the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s Clean and Safe program.
Here’s what I spotted today…
The East Village trashcan design features Petco Park on one side and a flowery East Village mural on the other.
(To see photographs I once took of the actual flower mural, click here.)
The Columbia District trashcans depict three prominent downtown buildings: Emerald Plaza, One America Plaza, and the Santa Fe Depot. On the other side is an image of the America Plaza trolley station at night.
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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!
The world’s largest single-masted yacht has returned to San Diego!
The M5, originally called the Mirabella V, is now docked on the Embarcadero near the Maritime Museum of San Diego. You can find it directly across from the County Administration Building.
I spotted the towering mast while walking nearby, so I had to go take a look. That mind-blowing mast, over 290 feet high, is visible from many streets downtown!
I first saw the M5 in San Diego eight years ago behind the convention center and blogged about it here. Read that old blog post (including its comments) to learn more about this incredible sailboat.
It took these photographs this morning. It’s hard to depict the staggering size of this sloop-rigged super yacht. Suffice it to say, the mast rises higher than many downtown San Diego buildings!
You can see the mast from the other side of the County Administration Building in the next photo. (The exterior of the historic building is being painted.)
UPDATE!
The first weekend of October I noticed the M5 had moved to a spot behind the San Diego Convention Center–where I first saw it eight years ago…
Yes, it’s enormous!
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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!
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