The enormous parking lot around San Diego Stadium–which over the years has been called SDCCU, Qualcomm and Jack Murphy Stadium, and which has been the home of the Chargers, Padres and SDSU Aztecs–is vanishing!
Check out a few photos I took today from a corner of the raised platform at the Stadium trolley station. The west portion of the 120 acre parking lot–once the largest parking lot west of the Mississippi River–is being removed to make way for the “SDSU West” Mission Valley development.
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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!
Boats require a lot of maintenance. The 157-year-old Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, is no exception!
This afternoon I walked around the Star of India’s main deck and saw that new coats of varnish have been applied to some of the historic tall ship’s rails, posts, belaying pins, various panels, signs, the ship’s wheel and other wooden elements. And the work continues!
A friendly volunteer explained there’s a lot of sanding to do first.
Once the varnish is applied and dries, San Diego’s beloved Star once again shines brightly.
To my eyes more beautiful than ever!
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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!
After two days of sweltering heat in downtown San Diego, early this morning it was nice and cool. Fog had rolled in from the Pacific Ocean overnight. Perfect for a long Labor Day morning walk!
I set out very early while most of the city was asleep. Once the sun had risen and there was sufficient light for photographs, I took out my camera. The fog lingered throughout my walk. The sun was just breaking through as I arrived home mid-morning.
These photos begin at the G Street Pier, where several fishermen were already up and getting ready for another day out on the wide ocean. I proceeded around Tuna Harbor, through Ruocco Park and Seaport Village, did a loop through Embarcadero Marina Park North, continued past the Marriott Marina, and ended up near the fishing pier at Embarcadero Marina Park South.
I haven’t captioned these photos. I like how the fog provides a sense of mystery. But you might notice construction continues on the San Diego Symphony’s new outdoor summer concert venue, The Shell.
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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!
The annual US Sand Sculpting Challenge was cancelled this year due the COVID-19 pandemic. The world-class event takes place each Labor Day weekend and draws huge crowds to San Diego’s Embarcadero.
Having gone to this mind-blowing international competition for the past six years, I’ve accumulated lots of cool photos! The world’s top sand masters can produce absolutely astonishing works of art!
To recall past wonders from this event, I’ve linked to blog posts containing hundreds of photographs. Before you check those out, however, in no particular order, here are some of the sand sculptures I’ve particularly enjoyed!
The following links provide six years of photographs from the US Sand Sculpting Challenge…
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!
I wandered about Ocean Beach this weekend. I walked down an alley that runs parallel to Newport Avenue–on its north side–from Cable Street to the beach.
Lots of cool artwork can be found all up and down this alley! You might notice many of the murals appear like mosaics–those are community murals from past years. They’re painted by anybody and everybody who can use a brush during the annual Ocean Beach Street Fair And Chili Cook-offs.
I noticed the final mural with the painted SEASPELL and amazing turtle was created by local artists Christopher Konecki and Carly Ealey in 2019.
In the past I’ve photographed two other works of art in this alley. A mermaid holding a shell full of ocean gifts can be seen here. A very cool mural featuring Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash can be seen here.
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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!
Some irritable crabs were facing off all around a watery square arena at the Ocean Beach tide pools yesterday.
Crabs small and smaller, feeling agitated, would lift their claws threateningly, scamper right up to a rival, show ’em who’s boss, then, seeming to forget everything, would bumble off in a different direction.
I can’t say there was too much actual grappling. Just a lot of showboating.
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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!
I couldn’t believe how many surfers were out in the water on Saturday afternoon. I watched the action from the OB Pier and strove to get a few decent shots with my little camera.
So many people were paddling out, bobbing on their surfboards and catching waves that the action was frequent and entertaining! Sometimes multiple surfers would wipe out simultaneously, and boards and bodies would be flying every which way!
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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!
This afternoon I headed to PB to check out a very cool mural at Pacific Beach Elementary School. (I’ll blog about that shortly!)
After having a good look at the mural, I kept my camera out for what might be considered a slightly weird walk. I headed west toward the Pacific Ocean and eventually found myself approaching the grassy park overlooking Law Street Beach. I then turned south and followed the oceanfront boardwalk down to Crystal Pier.
Exactly how weird was this walk?
A friendly guy with the welding company that owns this cool truck talked to me near a steel sculpture of a bison. It was in a work lot by the sidewalk. I forgot to snap a photo of the sculpture. Bummer.Who wants to take surf lessons? Make this the best summer ever!As I neared the Pacific Ocean, I found this peeling street art that seems to portray Neptune on a seahorse.Looking north toward the ocean off La Jolla from the grassy park at Law Street.After I took this photo, I rested on this bench for a little bit.In honor of our parents Bill and Jean Manion. Thanks for the sunsets and the dawns.Look at all the beach goers! I see Crystal Pier in the distance.Tons of surfing action and swimmers today at Pacific Beach.As I began south, I found another perfect bench overlooking the beach. A gull must think this guy has some food.The Pacific Beach boardwalk is part of the California Coastal Trail.Lots of bicyclists out on a warm summer Friday afternoon.I passed on a Chips Galore! ice cream sandwich this time.Wooden stairs down to the beach.Sign explains how marine protected areas stretching north from here–directly off La Jolla–safeguard our ocean’s beauty. (Click this photo and it will enlarge for easier reading.)I was very tempted to descend.Here come some inline skaters.A cool mural at Kono’s Coffee by @HannasMurals.La Playa Nudista? Never heard of it. Where’s that?Gone surfing.Stay weird.
Well, honestly, this particular walk didn’t seem that weird to me. But if sunshine, a beach full of sunbathers, distant surf, passing bicyclists, skaters and walkers, and an ice cream vendor with a tinkling bell on his cart are considered weird, I’ll take it!
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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!
This morning, as I walked through downtown along Kettner Boulevard, I had to pause for a few moments in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
Right smack dab in front of my eyes was some of the most amazing contemporary art.
What I saw was fantastic, complex, perplexing, sublime. The artwork contained numberless potential meanings, contrasts, mysteries. And it was created by the thoughts, longings and creative hands of thousands.
As clouds moved and the sun rose and a truck turned in front of me, I realized it was living art. And dangerous.
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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!
Exquisitely beautiful art shines at the Nancy Lorenz-Moon Gold exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art.
One terrible thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is the ongoing closure of so many great cultural institutions. Including museums.
One of my very favorite museums is the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park. Not only does SDMA feature masterpieces by important artists from all around the world, but it draws major exhibitions to our city. (Plus, my museum docent friend provides awesome tours!)
I’ve blogged about events and exhibitions at SDMA many times over the years. Because I miss visiting the museum–and perhaps you do, too–I figured now would be a good time to revisit some memories. Click the upcoming links to take a look at past exhibitions that I personally really enjoyed!
If you want to visit the San Diego Museum of Art virtually while it’s temporarily closed, check out their online activities page by clicking here! You’ll find podcasts, a cool app that allows you to remotely view the galleries, videos of lectures and performances, creative ideas for artists and art students, a book club, and a whole lot more!
Child Holding Book, Los Angeles, 1983, Guy Crowder.
Bathing, Alfred Mitchell, oil on board, undated.The Native, oil on canvas, ca. 1936. Alfredo Ramos Martinez, Mexican, 1871-1946.Across this room soars Like a Bird. Laminated wood, 1984. Richard Deacon creates spacious wonders that tickle the mind and expand the spirit.
Fighting Buffalo, Arthur Putnam, 1900. Photo courtesy San Diego Museum of Art.Amazing early American quilts on display at the San Diego Museum of Art feature beautifully contrasted colors and abstract designs.Vincent Van Gogh, The Old Mill, 1888, courtesy the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 