Tag: oceanside

Another beautiful mural in Oceanside!

I spotted this beautiful mural during my last walk in Oceanside. It decorates a wall on San Diego Street, between Lemon Street and Dubuque Street, about a block away from Balderamma Park.

The side of the wall that faces an alley depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe among prickly pear and other cacti. It also appears to be a neighborhood shrine. People have left fresh flowers.

The other side, facing San Diego Street, has been painted with colorful scenes, so full of life.

I couldn’t ascertain who the artist is. If you have any information, leave a comment.

…

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!

A quaint, old 19th century chapel in Oceanside.

I was exploring the neighborhood near Balderrama Park in Oceanside when I spied this quaint old structure at 1510 Lemon Street. I had stumbled upon the historical 1893 St. Mary’s Chapel.

The location of today’s much larger St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, near the Oceanside Civic Center, is where this old chapel was originally built. The wooden chapel, affectionately called the Capillita, was completed in 1896.

The city of Oceanside was incorporated a few years earlier, in 1888, when its population was only 1000.

After the city had grown and a larger church was built in 1927, the chapel served as Parish Hall. The small chapel was later moved to its present location. It was restored in 1977.

You can read about its history here.

The St. Mary’s Chapel remains very active, as I saw during my walk. A service was being held inside, and I didn’t want to intrude.

…

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!

Junior Seau mural in his home town Oceanside.

A beautiful mural in Oceanside’s Balderrama Park remembers and celebrates home town football hero Junior Seau.

The legendary NFL linebacker attended Oceanside High School and spent most of his life a resident in San Diego’s North County.

He played with the San Diego Chargers for 13 seasons, helping to lead them to Super Bowl XXIX. His play seemed superhuman. He would become one of the most popular Chargers players of all time.

Junior was active in the community, plus a surfer and restaurateur. He was loved by everybody.

His untimely death was so tragic, believed to be caused by repetitive head trauma while playing the game.

The Oceanside mural, painted by Ground Floor Murals, captures the beautiful soul of Junior Seau.

Another fantastic mural depicting Junior Seau can be viewed in San Diego on El Cajon Boulevard. It was painted by the same artists.

You can see those photographs by clicking here.

…

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!

Many amazing murals at Balderrama Park in Oceanside!

If you enjoy viewing beautiful outdoor murals, you’ll be astounded by those in Oceanside at Joe Balderrama Park. Over 45 murals decorate structures throughout the public park, including the Balderrama Recreation Center and Chavez Community Resource Center!

The murals, completed late last year, primarily celebrate the Hispanic and Indigenous heritages of many who live in the neighborhood. Diverse other backgrounds and ethnicities are included, too. Bold cultural imagery is intermingled with messages of hope.

The lead artist was renowned muralist Joanne Tawfilis. A couple dozen local artists and many local school children contributed to the massive project!

Here’s a good article about the Balderrama Park murals’ origin and dedication.

I walked around the park last weekend and was totally wowed. Take a look at these photographs! The collection of bold murals might not be on the immense scale of San Diego’s world-famous Chicano Park, but the experience is similar in many respects.

I proceeded with my camera in a counter-clockwise direction. I’m afraid I missed one mural on the tennis courts fence because someone was seated directly in front of it and I didn’t want to intrude.

Here we go…

…

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!

Murals in Oceanside at Civic Center and Horne.

My long walk in Oceanside last weekend resulted in many cool photographs. First, enjoy two murals at the corner of Civic Center Drive and Horne Street.

The first mural was painted on the west side of the Northern Pine Brewing Company building. It’s by artists Gloria Muriel and Matthew Perdoni.

On the north side of the building is a long, very colorful mural. Cars parked on the street close to the artwork caused me to take photographs in sections.

The artist is Isabel “Chavela” Figueroa. The mural’s title is The Sacred Offering (La Sagrada Ofrenda).

…

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!

Surfing celebrated at Oceanside Museum of Art!

A love of surfing and its lifestyle deeply influences Southern California culture. That love is often expressed in exuberant, very colorful surf art.

Surf Art: Exploring California’s Coastal Culture is an eye-popping exhibition that can now be experienced at the Oceanside Museum of Art. Works by dozens of local artists have been assembled in partnership with Oceanside’s California Surf Museum.

I paid a visit yesterday and look what I found. Stunning pieces in a variety of media created by actual surfers!

I saw bold colors inspired by curling water, warm sand and brilliant sunsets. Powerful images that convey the essence of surfing–a feeling of wild freedom, spirituality or rebellion. Images that can be splashy or surreal, often like psychedelic or pop art.

Turn a corner in the gallery and you’re dazzled once again! Check out the surfboards that have become mind-blowing works of art!

This has got to be one of my favorite exhibitions ever at the Oceanside Museum of Art. The cool thing is, once you finish here you can walk several city blocks over to the California Surf Museum and see even more surf art in an extraordinary dual exhibition!

The surf art exhibition at both museums will continue through February 1, 2026.

…

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!

Painting wildlife at Oceanside Transit Center!

Wow! WOW!!!

Look what I discovered today!

Amazing wildlife murals are now being painted at the Oceanside Transit Center! Passengers walking under the tracks to catch a train are in for a big, wonderful surprise!

These photos were taken from the steps descending to either side of the train tracks, and inside the tunnel that connects platforms.

I see the artists are JustJon Art (@just_jon1), Ground Floor Murals (@groundfloormurals), Victor Rodriguez (@tone_dog), Maxx Moses (@maxxmoses777), and Signe Montefalcon Ditona (@signeditona).

Unfortunately, none of the artists were working on the mural when I happened by.

It appears as if this fantastic project is approaching completion. One guy who works at the Oceanside Transit Center told me the artists have been at it for a couple months.

Feast your eyes on this!

…

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!

Oceanside hosts U.S. Open Adaptive Surfing Championships!

The 8th Annual U.S. Open Adaptive Surfing Championships officially opens tomorrow in Oceanside. The public can watch and cheer on the participants!

During the next four days, September 4th to 7th, 2025, physically challenged athletes will take to the surf north of the Oceanside Pier and vie for thousands of dollars in prizes in different surfing competition categories. The event is brought to the city of Oceanside by the Stoke for Life Foundation and the U.S. Open ASC Competition Committee.

Last year 96 adaptive athletes from 18 countries from around the world competed, and this year it should be bigger than ever!

You can find more info, plus the U.S. Open Adaptive Surfing Championships daily schedule, by clicking here.

Today during a walk I spotted tents set up on the beach. I missed a special opening parade because I didn’t know about it. Near the pier I noticed workers getting everything ready at the announcer stand.

After walking out on the pier, I observed one of the athletes catching a wave while prone on a surfboard. He was practicing for the competition.

Good luck to everyone!

…

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!

Very cool mural celebrates Oceanside!

This mural in Oceanside is one of the coolest I’ve seen!

The artwork is painted on the side of Security Public Storage on South Coast Highway. It celebrates all things Oceanside!

The mural contains images of surfers by the Oceanside Pier, local Chargers hero Junior Seau, Oceanside Harbor’s faux-lighthouse, the famous Top Gun house and nearby Camp Pendleton.

Sunset colors over a beach perfectly capture the SoCal lifestyle.

…

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!

A surprising art gallery in Oceanside!

There’s an art gallery in Oceanside that you might not know. I stumbled upon it by sheer coincidence the other day.

This surprising art gallery is located inside the historic Sunshine Brooks Theater building, the home of the Oceanside Theatre Company. Very fine works by regional artists hang in the lobby and down a hallway.

The current exhibition of the Brooks Theater Gallery is Black Perspectives 2. The exhibition’s inspiration was the arrival of Juneteenth. This theatre webpage explains that the gallery features previous exhibitors and new POC artists sharing their vision of Black history, culture, family and community.

Incidentally, these fine art pieces are for sale. You can support the artists!

The exhibitions in the gallery change fairly often. Next time you pass by the Sunshine Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside, why not step through the door as I did and take a peek. You might be surprised!

A few more examples in the gallery…

…

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!