Tag: photography

Photos of St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2026!

A big San Diego event today! It’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival 2026!

The parade this morning was as epic as ever, lasting well over an hour as it headed through Bankers Hill. The festival is taking place on the west side of Balboa Park, near Laurel Street.

Everyone was wearing green–parade participants and those lining the sidewalks cheering them on.

Irish organizations were front and center, with Irish clubs and societies and dance school students strutting their stuff. Law enforcement and fire fighters were a huge presence, too. There were Shriner clowns, high school marching bands, Irish setters, Irish wolfhounds, roller skaters doing their routine, cars decorated with shamrocks, dignitaries, beauty queens, ballet folklorico dancers, fierce Vikings in their longship, happy leprechauns . . . you name it!

I took many photos before the parade and during it. These are some of my better shots…

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Captain America arrives in San Diego!

Captain America has arrived in San Diego. He was spotted in Bankers Hill this morning with his awesome Capmobile!

The Marvel superhero and Avenger would participate in St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival 2026!

This was too cool not to share right away. I’ll be posting photos of the parade coming up once I sort through them all.

I learned this gentleman who was engaged in Captain America cosplay is part of the Science Fiction Coalition. I’d never seen his car before because, he told me, it was wrapped with these cool graphics just recently.

Red Skull, Hydra and Baron Zemo, BEWARE!

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A mystery behind the San Diego Convention Center!

These metal benches line the boardwalk behind the San Diego Convention Center. They face San Diego Bay. They were commissioned in 2008 and created by noted artist Nance O’Banion.

As her website explains: Nance produced 13 original designs, each of which was fabricated, once in its original form and once as a ‘mirror image’, in plasma-cut powder-coated steel. The installation of 26 art benches was titled Reverie.

I took these photos yesterday…

Today, a plaque can be seen embedded in the boardwalk near the benches, very close to the entrance to the Fifth Avenue Landing Superyacht Marina. It resembles the Reverie plaque shown in the gallery on Nance O’Banion’s website. The plaque includes her name and the same 2008 year.

But the title of the current plaque is different!

Why is the title Caesure, and not the original Reverie?

At some point, was the name of the installation changed to Caesure? The Latin word caesūra means “a cutting” or “a separation,” which might apply to the mirrored bench designs, or possibly how these benches were made.

Or . . . does Caesure concern another work of public art somewhere nearby? If so, what and where?

It’s a mystery with no solution that I can find!

If you know more about the history of this art bench installation, and why there have been different plaques with two different titles, please leave a comment!

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A surreal mural in Ocean Beach!

This cool mural was painted in Ocean Beach back in 2023, but I saw it yesterday for the first time. Check out the surreal imagery!

The large mural can be found on the exterior of the The Template, facing the parking lot.

Signatures by the artists appear to be MURALIS, ART BY SOUP, EATHDUST, HAILYBROUS, JORDINDAVID, and SOURCE!

To me, it seems the theme might be: When trying to determine the essence of life, don’t go crazy. I noticed that “Stay Sane” is included among all the surreal, spray painted images!

This is the same wall where a History of Electricity mural was painted years ago. You can see those photos by clicking here.

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Another cool walk in Ocean Beach!

I headed to Ocean Beach today. Wandering along and around Newport Avenue, and near the beach, I took these cool photographs. Every walk in OB is an adventure–there’s always more to discover!

How to describe laid-back Ocean Beach? Counterculture meets the beach? A funky hippie paradise? A place where locals, professionals and tourists mingle with skaters, surfers, and stoners playing guitar on the boardwalk near the pier? You never quite know what you’ll encounter!

Some of the best weird sights are in shop windows. There’s a ton of colorful street art, too, which I’ve covered many times over the years. (I did happen upon one awesome mural which I’ll share in my next blog post.)

Anyway, these photos are from today’s sunny walk. They were taken before and after a lunchtime pollo asado burrito…

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San Diego Wave FC Season Kick-Off Rally!

San Diego Wave FC held their 2026 Season kick-off rally this evening in Balboa Park! A bunch of fans came together at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion to root for the team and make great memories!

Activations around the pavilion included unique giveaways, a merchandise station, kids activity station, and numerous photo ops. The San Diego Sirens independent supporters group was present. So was Forever Balboa Park. Upbeat music gave the event a fun, festival vibe.

When the players filed into the pavilion around 5:30, everyone cheered! The players would then pose for photos with fans at the different stations, and even autograph posters and clothing before photos were taken.

I saw many families. Young ladies were particularly excited to see their sports idols.

San Diego Wave FC is celebrating their fifth year. They’ll have their Home Opener in several days at Snapdragon Stadium.

The club made the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs last year. Hopefully in 2026 they’ll have even more success!

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The amazing Bill of Rights kiosk in Chula Vista!

An incredible tall ship makes its home in Chula Vista. Walk along the Chula Vista Marina and you’re bound to see the beautiful Bill of Rights at her dock.

Nearby, a kiosk is operated by the South Bayfront Sailing Association, which maintains and operates Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights is a historic, 136 foot gaff rigged schooner launched in 1971. Here’s their website. The tall ship is open to tours, charters and is often used to train U.S. Navy Sea Cadets, members of Navy Junior ROTC, and other youth organizations.

Last time I walked along the marina, I noticed the tall ship’s kiosk was open. So I took a peek inside!

Look at all the amazing stuff I discovered! In addition to lots of great gifts, there’s an art gallery featuring the work of local artists. As you might imagine, a nautical theme prevails.

I was greeted by the smile of Susan. She informed me the kiosk is open from 9 to 11 am, Tuesday through Sunday. It is operated entirely by volunteers. (They welcome new volunteers, too!)

I encourage a visit. The “Gallery & Gifts” kiosk is located at 604 Marina Parkway. By purchasing a souvenir or beautiful art, you’ll be supporting the educational programs of Bill of Rights, too!

My final photograph shows the October, 1971 issue of Sailing magazine. That’s Bill of Rights on the cover!

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Sweetwater Park native garden teaches ethnobotany.

Chula Vista’s new Sweetwater Park on San Diego Bay is a place where our natural environment is protected and celebrated. Visitors can enjoy long walking trails that wind among native plants.

In the Council Ring near the restrooms and parking lot, an easy circular path features many such plants, and two informative signs explain how these plants were an important part of Kumeyaay culture.

Ethnobotany is explained as the study of how different cultures use plants native to their environments. This includes plants that provide food, medicine, shelter, soaps, fibers, dyes, waxes and more. The Kumeyaay people, who have lived in the San Diego region for thousands of years, have a deep ethnobotanical knowledge and connection to their surrounding environment.

Visitors are invited to look for certain plants, such as Sugar Bush, California Buckwheat, Mulefat and Bladderpod. Did you know that tea made from Singlewhorl Burrobush has been used to control dandruff? Or that boiled root of Lanceleaf Liveforever has been used to treat asthma?

Pause at these signs during your visit to Sweetwater Park and learn more about the history of our region, and the native inhabitants the natural environment has supported.

Look for other signs around the park identifying plants, too!

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Padres bobblehead collection at San Diego library!

A new exhibit was recently introduced to the Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center on the 8th floor of San Diego’s Central Library. Filling two display cases are a bunch of Padres player bobbleheads!

How cool is this?

There are Padres past and present, including Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Jackson Merrill and many more. The one exception I noticed is a bobblehead of Hamilton (Ham) Porter from the classic baseball movie The Sandlot.

The figures on display, I was told by a librarian, are only a small part of the extensive bobblehead collection owned by Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) member Oscar Murrieta.

Head up to the 8th floor of the Central Library for a better look!

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Exhibit celebrates Irving Gill’s architecture in Oceanside.

The Oceanside Museum of Art occupies a building that was designed by renowned architect Irving J. Gill. They soon will be expanding into an adjacent building also designed by Gill. So it’s appropriate museum visitors can now enjoy an exhibition titled Modern Simplicity: The Architecture of Irving J. Gill in Oceanside.

Irving Gill is a name you might recognize. His architectural work can be found all around San Diego. He’s considered a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture. Twelve of his buildings throughout Southern California are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (In nearly thirteen years of blogging, I’ve photographed much of his work. To find those past blog posts, click here.)

As the exhibition webpage explains: The City of Oceanside is home to several notable examples of Gill’s later work, including two landmark buildings that define the east-west axis of the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) campus: the former 1934 City Hall and the original [1929] Fire Station #1 and police station.

In Oceanside he also designed the Americanization School (1931), the Nevada Street Kindergarten (1931), the Blade Tribune building (1936), and several others. The exhibition documents his buildings with fascinating information and historical drawings and photographs.

The exhibition explains how Irving was inspired by Southern California’s climate and stripped architecture of unnecessary ornament and focused on pure geometric form.

People might not realize it, but many buildings and houses around San Diego were greatly influenced by the vision of one man: Irving J. Gill. In Oceanside–and now at the museum exhibition–that inspired vision comes to life.

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