This beautiful mural decorates the trash enclosure at Collier Park in La Mesa. I was told by a friendly gentleman at the La Mesa Community Center that the art was painted not too long ago.
I found an article about the mural’s creation. It was a project of ArtReach, completed last year in partnership with the City of La Mesa. More than forty community members helped to paint it!
…
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.
On May 10, 2025, a monument will be unveiled in the northeast corner of Pantoja Park. The bust of William Heath Davis Jr. will debut, commemorating the founder of downtown San Diego!
The public event will take place between 10:30 am and 2 pm. There will be speeches, informational booths, a blessing by Kumeyaay Bird Singers, and Pacific Islander traditions. William Heath Davis “Kanaka Bill” was born in Hawaii.
Many associate Alonzo Horton with the founding of downtown San Diego. Horton’s ultimately successful New Town, however, came after an attempt by William Heath Davisto build a new community closer to San Diego Bay than the original Old Town San Diego… His New Town was located west of today’s Gaslamp Quarter. The venture did not do well due to a lack of fresh water and hostility from the established settlements at Old Town and La Playa…
Pantoja Park, at 500 West G Street, was established in 1850. It was created at the center of William Heath Davis’ 160-acre subdivision and is San Diego’s oldest city park. Originally it was known as New Town Park. Appropriately, it will be home to the soon-to-be-unveiled bust.
The William Heath Davis Monument and the Monument Unveiling Ceremony are the work of the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation and The Kanaka Davis Trust Group.
(I saw a preview of the monument a couple years ago. See that blog post 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.
Members of the South Bay community gathered today in Chula Vista’s Bayfront Park for a great annual event. Today was South Bay Earth Day!
Organizations who are working toward a healthy natural environment provided information and opportunities to people who share their values. I walked about and learned a lot.
Yes–there was music and food trucks and fun activities, too. It was another wonderful day on beautiful San Diego Bay.
The City of Chula Vista had a big presence at South Bay Earth Day, including their Office of Sustainability.Learning about recycling and its benefits.A smile at The Water Conservation Garden table. I was just there yesterday! The garden is truly amazing! (My first blog post concerning that visit is here.)The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County had this plant display. Native plants in your landscaping conserves water.The Earth Discovery Institute had a display about Monarch butterflies. They were handing out seed packets for growing milkweed. Milkweed is the only food source for monarch caterpillars.Youth 4 a Sustainable Future includes 15 local schools. They are part of South Bay Sustainable Communities Network. They educate about sustainability, do community cleanups, distribute rescued food, host nature hikes…The Living Coast Discovery Center was showing this rosy boa snake.One of the creative activities at the event was making tie-dye shirts.Event visitors could also put together a small potted plant. Most appeared to be succulents.Handy members of San Diego Fixit Clinic were repairing assorted broken things–instead of sending them to the landfill.Republic Services was showcasing their electric garbage truck.A happy greeting from the San Diego Bird Alliance (used to be Audubon Society). These good people are busy protecting birds.Birds make us better!These smiles were at the Cabrillo National Monument table. (I recently walked down to their tidepools via the new Oceanside Trail. See those photos here.)If you’d like to volunteer at Cabrillo National Monument, there’s their email address!Here’s another smile! It’s at the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation table. They are a philanthropic partner of the National Park Service and help provide funds for the needs of Cabrillo National Monument. Their efforts include educational programs, conservation and community engagement.Stewie the green sea turtle was representing U.S. Navy Environmental. Check out his webpage 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.
Hey families in the South Bay, check this out! The City of Chula Vista has a Junior Park Ranger program for kids ages 5 to 15!
I learned about the program today during South Bay Earth Day. A friendly City of Chula Vista park ranger was educating those passing by about this cool opportunity.
Take the kids down to Rice Canyon Park (on North Rancho Del Rey Parkway) every fourth weekend (Saturday and Sunday) and meet park rangers between 9 am and 12 pm.
Kids who are with a guardian get to see native animal specimens from the Natural History Museum and learn how to protect local wildlife. They can also learn about native plants, then take a self-led hike through Rice Canyon Preserve and have fun identifying them!
Kids who fill out an activity book will become a Junior Park Ranger. How cool is that!
…
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 new Sweetwater Park in Chula Vista opened early this month. Many people have already explored its nature trails. I did so, too, a few days ago.
One trail runs the length of the park on its west side, nearest San Diego Bay. It offers benches and blinds from which one can view bird activity in a wide expanse of native coastal vegetation.
I took photographs as I veered off the bikeway at the south end of Sweetwater Park and started up this main trail. It’s an easy level walk. This is what you might see should you walk as far as the gate restricting access to Gunpowder Point Drive.
(If you choose, you can continue up the trail, which curves around the Sun Outdoors RV resort. Then, using your wits, taking a dirt road and path, you’ll end up at E Street at Bay Boulevard, near Interstate 5.)
Continuing north. I’ll take the short branching path on the left that passes a bench, then return to the main trail…
Gazing to the south, one can see Marine Group Boat Works and their immense boat-lifting Travelift. It was a bit foggy this day…
I believe these are bush sunflower…
Another side trail and bench…
A short trail leads west to this rusty blind with a bench…
Looking north, you can see the Living Coast Discovery Center and the adjacent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services building. Way in the distance I see Point Loma, the Coronado Bridge and downtown San Diego…
Heading back up the main trail…
…
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 super fun Story Trail for young children has been created at San Diego’s Waterfront Park!
Parents and children can follow the very easy Story Trail along a pathway between the basketball court and County Administration Building, on the north half of Waterfront Park. The Story Trail is a project of the San Diego County Library and encourages reading and imagination. Simple signs along the trail can be read one at a time in sequence, resulting in a happy story!
I was told this Story Trail was created a few days ago. I had to walk along and check it out!
The title of the little story is Wheels on the Van. It was written by Stephanie and designed by Earl Joseph and Stephanie.
Here are a few photos…
Thank you for journeying with us through this book. Remember, San Diego County Library celebrates our communities and dedicates our passion and expertise to help you create your own story!
…
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 new 39-acre Sweetwater Park opened earlier this month in Chula Vista. It’s located on the edge of San Diego Bay, adjacent to Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. It you’ve had a chance to visit the public park and walk its nature trails, you’ve no doubt seen a towering 25-foot tall sculpture that looks exactly like a wishbone!
The steel sculpture, created by artist Roberto Salas, is titled Rigors of Flight.
Why the wishbone shape? The wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds. It strengthens the bird’s skeleton, helping it to withstand the rigors of flight. Birds are plentiful in the park!
I walked through Sweetwater Park yesterday and approached the sculpture. I took these photographs.
…
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.
Sweetwater Park will be opening later this year beside San Diego Bay in Chula Vista. Everyone will be able to enjoy recreation, nature trails, a big playground and more in the 21-acre public park.
Sweetwater Park will stretch from Bayside Park (to be redeveloped into Harbor Park) and the new Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, north to Sweetwater Marsh and the Sun Outdoors San Diego Bay RV resort.
Back in October, I walked up the footpath that was already open along the east side of the park (which I now see is called Sweetwater Bicycle Path & Promenade). The park itself was fenced off at the time, and it still is today. But changes have occurred!
You can see how Sweetwater Park appeared late last year by checking out my old blog post here. Since then a number of new structures have been built, including landmark signs at either end, a tall, quite strange wishbone-shaped sculpture near the center of the park, and the big, awesome-looking playground!
Here I am walking south to north yesterday…
I took the following photographs over the construction fence…
…
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.
On the south side of San Diego’s popular Waterfront Park, a stairwell descends to an underground parking lot. This colorful mural greets people as they begin to descend the stairs.
The public art, dated 2014, is a photo reproduction on aluminum of San Diego-based contemporary artist Allison Renshaw‘s original painting Last Call, which is on display inside the nearby County Administration Building.
As the artist’s website explains: Allison’s work offers multiple perspectives, discordant vocabularies, and malleable boundaries. Her art is informed by particles of our urban and natural landscape along with culture found in the everyday…
I can’t believe it took me 11 years to finally share a good photograph of this eye-catching art. Back in 2014, I posted a blog documenting opening day at Waterfront Park, and you can get a glimpse of the mural in one of those photographs!
…
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 Loma Alta Creek Nature Trail is a short, easy path in Oceanside where people in the city can see many birds.
Also known as the Loma Alta Marsh Footpath, the urban nature trail extends west from South Coast Highway (just north of Paradise by the Sea Beach RV Resort) to Buccaneer Park. The distance is about one quarter mile.
I walked the nature trail several days ago and took these photographs. I began at South Coast Highway where it passes over Loma Alta Creek. You’ll see the following sign at the trailhead.
As part of the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, the Loma Alta Creek and Watershed makes up part of the northern section of the Carlsbad Hydrologic Unit. Gathering water runoff as far as 7 miles inland and following much of Oceanside Boulevard, this watershed provides a habitat for seabirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds that migrate to its outlet at Buccaneer Beach. A vast array of salt marsh plant species flourish in the tidal area near the coast to provide nesting and foraging for birds.
Following the trailhead from South Coast Highway toward Buccaneer Beach, you will find many wonderful and diverse species that depend on you to keep their Coastal Wetland Habitat clean and free from pollution.
I observed a Great Blue Heron perched in a tree across the water. My camera on its automatic setting didn’t take such a great picture, unfortunately.
An old sign (I increased the image contrast) indicates that bird species one might see while walking along the Loma Alta Nature Trail include Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, American Coot and Black-Necked Stilt.
The trail passes under railroad tracks.
A northbound Coaster train rumbles by…
There are two beautiful murals painted under the railroad bridge. You can glimpse part of one in the next photograph. To see both murals, click here!
In the next photo, I continue to head west toward grassy Buccaneer Park, a popular spot for families. That bridge in the distance is where South Pacific Street passes over the creek. On the other side is Buccaneer Beach.
Lots of birds on the rocks!
…
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! 