Tag: photography

Mysterious public art in Lemon Grove!

Take a look at this mysterious public art. You can find it by wandering around Treganza Heritage Park in Lemon Grove.

Three simple structures (that I found) seem to have been constructed for seating. Each resembles a fruit packing crate made of marble, and each features a unique lemon growers brand label. Two brands that are recognizable are On Honor Brand and Temptation Brand.

I asked a docent at the nearby Lemon Grove Historical Society & Parsonage Museum about these “marble crates” but he didn’t know they existed. I can find nothing on the internet about them.

Somebody out there must know the history of these very unique seats! If you do, please leave a comment.

The three different label images are faded, and, as you can see, one is now unreadable. I’ve added a lot of contrast to my photographs to bring out as much detail as possible.

This beautiful park was established in 2003 as Civic Center Park. It was renamed Treganza Heritage Park in 2020.

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Blue Door Bookstore exhibit at Central Library.

Readers who fondly remember the old Blue Door Bookstore in Hillcrest will enjoy viewing a new exhibit at the San Diego Central Library.

Several glass display cases contain photographs, store flyers, art, a newspaper clipping . . . even one of the bookstore’s bags with its image of an ugly, scrunched-up face!

The Blue Door Bookstore once stood in the heart of Hillcrest at 3823 Fifth Avenue. Founded in 1961 and first owned an operated by Bill and Mary Peccolo, the store was purchased in 1988 by retired high school English teach Tom Stoup. Working hard, he grew the business, doubling its clientele and inventory in just four years.

The Blue Door Bookstore would become a favorite destination in San Diego for lovers of literature, culture and progressive politics. It would host up to 80 authors a year at a series of Wednesday and Friday poetry and literature readings and book signings. New authors were included with those who had achieved international fame. In one of my photographs, you can see Tom Stoup standing next to Gore Vidal.

The store with its blue door would finally close in 2001, largely due to the advent of e-commerce.

The Blue Door Bookstore exhibit can be viewed on the San Diego Central Library’s First Floor, in the wide area in front of the building elevators.

Are you both a San Diego resident and lover of books? To one side of these display cases you’ll find shelves of books by local authors!

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

The Art of Science exhibit by UC San Diego.

The Art of Science is a photographic exhibit that explores the intersection of art and science. Curious eyes can view this cool exhibit inside the Sally T. WongAvery Library at UC San Diego, and at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.

The above fluorescent image of a pine tree stem cross-section was taken using a microscope. A stem that is scientifically examined might be a natural object, but like any art the resulting image is human-created, and can stimulate complex thought and emotion.

Many would say the above image is beautiful.

Do you consider it to be beautiful?

Why or why not?

Aren’t all things in this world potentially beautiful?

Is beauty entirely in the eye (or mind) of the beholder?

The Art of Science presents several intriguing images that appear simultaneously familiar and strange.

Here’s a web page that describes the exhibit, including: Now in its third year, the Library’s Art of Science contest celebrates the beauty that can emerge during scientific research at UC San Diego and beyond. This year, librarians and staff pre-selected items from the Research Data Collections repository. From these selected images, winners were chosen by the campus and the broader San Diego community via online voting.

More samples from the exhibit…

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Evening’s golden hour on the Embarcadero.

This series of photographs attempts to capture the magic of the “golden hour” along San Diego’s Embarcadero. This evening, about an hour before sunset, I walked south from the Maritime Museum of San Diego to Tuna Harbor.

As the sun approached the horizon across San Diego Bay, its light reflected from downtown’s many windows, creating a magical scene.

When San Diego’s blue sky contains big fluffy clouds, the drama is heightened! The weather experts say a small storm is approaching–showers late tonight.

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Historic U.S. Route 101 signs debut in South Bay!

Thirteen new Historic California US 101 Route Signs have debuted in San Ysidro and Chula Vista, marking where the legendary highway once ran through the South Bay. The signs recall a time when motorists relied on old Highway 101 to travel from San Diego down to Mexico.

The signs, recently installed by the City of San Diego and Chula Vista, are part of a project undertaken by the South Bay Historical Society, led by Jack Gechter. Seven additional signs have been created for National City. Hopefully those will debut soon, too!

Here is Jack’s Facebook page with a post that describes exactly where these new Historic California US 101 Route Signs have been placed.

I walked along Beyer Boulevard in San Ysidro this morning to capture a few photographs. Had I continued north into Chula Vista, where Beyer turns into Broadway, I would have seen more of these awesome new signs!

Here’s a blog post from last summer where I share more details about the project. You’ll find links to maps depicting where U.S. Route 101 once ran south of downtown San Diego.

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

House of Ukraine kids sing Christmas carols!

The spirit of Christmas lives on in San Diego!

This afternoon, kids performed traditional Ukrainian Christmas carols at the International Cottages in Balboa Park. They sang and played guitar in front of the House of Ukraine cottage.

I saw small wise men, an angel, a bright guiding star, and possibly Mary and Joseph on donkeys. When I asked about the riders, I learned animals from the stable where Jesus was born are often represented in traditional Ukrainian skits performed by kids wandering from door to door during the holiday season.

In this world where adult wars never seem to cease, let us remember the children. May there be Peace on Earth.

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Fine stamp collection displayed at Central Library.

Postage stamps from the award-winning Helen Cushman Philatelic Collection are now being exhibited at the San Diego Central Library. Several large display cases inside the Special Collections Center contain dozens of colorful stamps that should interest art lovers and philatelists alike.

As one sign explains, Helen Cushman, a prominent civic activist in San Diego, participated in many regional and national competitions that showcased her Topical stamp collections. Her 1974 book entitled “San Diego Vacation” won the top prize at the national SOJEX Stamp Exposition. The book illustrated the best of San Diego using postage stamps to illustrate why San Diego is a great place to visit.

Peering into the display cases, I noticed postage stamps of different shapes and sizes from many nations. Her collection, in fact, spans 234 countries and over 160 years of production. Many of the stamps she collected commemorate events and/or people of historical significance, capturing a glimpse in time.

I fondly remember collecting stamps when I was very young. I would carefully tear away the corners of received mail, soak the stamps in a sink to separate them from the envelope, dry the stamps on a towel, then use a licked hinge to attach my new finds to the correct pages of a big stamp album. That was long ago. I’m not sure what became of my album. Sold at a swap meet, perhaps. It’s fun to imagine that those stamps I gathered might now be in the collection of another young person!

If you’ve never visited the San Diego Central Library’s rooftop Ninth Floor, you really should. There are beautiful views of the city, an art gallery, and the Marilyn & Gene Marx Special Collections Center, where you’ll find not only these stamps, but a museum-like collection of research materials, fine art and rare books!

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Construction improves Gallagher Square at Petco Park!

Gallagher Square at Petco Park is being greatly improved. Construction is now underway outside the Padres’ home ballpark in East Village, and I was able to take photographs that include a bird’s-eye view of the activity!

A sign on the fence surrounding the construction site indicates the new Gallagher Square will include an expanded playground and play area, an off-leash dog park, an improved Play Ball Field for kids, a new Tony Gwynn Terrace viewing deck and picnic space, plus state of the art technology and sound mitigation. The latter might be helpful during future concerts here.

I remember when this innovative outdoor area beyond Petco Park’s outfield was called Park at the Park. Several changes have occurred since then! I believe the Tony Gwynn statue will be moved onto the viewing deck that will bear his name.

A special thank you to Chris, super cool bartender at Fairweather Rooftop Bar and Grill, whose outdoor patio overlooks Gallagher Square. What a perfect place to sit, drink and dine, while watching a live concert, or taking in the ambience of a baseball game . . . or viewing the progress of this project!

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Extinct mammoth unearthed near Petco Park.

The skull of an extinct Columbian mammoth that was unearthed near Petco Park is presently on display at the San Diego Natural History Museum!

The approximately 500,000 year old fossil, which includes two large molars, was found in 2009 about two blocks from the East Village baseball home of the San Diego Padres. The rare discovery occurred 25 feet below street level, during the construction of Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

Here’s an article about the dig and the rare find.

Visitors to the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park can view the remnants of this Mammuthus columbi on Level 3 near the building’s north stairs. The upside-down skull is massive! These extinct mammals were even larger than woolly mammoths!

Would you like to see early San Diego artifacts found by archaeologists during the grading of Petco Park? If so, click here!

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

The amazing Rock House in Normal Heights!

If you’ve driven down Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, just west of Interstate 15, there’s an excellent chance you’ve seen the amazing Rock House. Walking past it recently, I wondered about its history and construction.

The Rock House, with its distinctive cobblestone façade, was built in 1926 in the Mission Revival Style. It was designated a historic landmark almost a century later, in 2016.

This City of San Diego Report to the Historical Resources Board document provides detailed information about the Rock House, including: The cobblestones used to cover the house are native to the region and were most likely found in a nearby canyon. Homes constructed of cobblestone are rare in California and required a skilled craftsman to construct. The stones are loosely laid in courses and give the appearance of quoins at the building’s corners. An interior fireplace is also constructed of cobblestones and is included in this designation.

The way the rounded cobblestones protrude from the symmetrical exterior is very pleasing to my eye. The house appears a bit like a castle carved from a sheer rocky cliff or river bank. Like something fantastic from a fairy tale.

One real estate website that I found includes photographs of the home’s interior. See those here.

Next time you drive down Adams Avenue and spy the unique Rock House, you’ll know a little more about it!

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

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 (formerly known as Twitter)!