It was drizzling very lightly this morning when I stepped out my door. I walked from Cortez Hill down to Broadway, then over to Santa Fe Depot. My camera was under my umbrella.
The light was dim and uncertain, causing many photographs to come out unfocused. A few strange photographs seem to contain mysterious phantoms from some half-remembered dream. Haunting visions on a wet, drizzly morning.
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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!
People gather near the beach to watch the 2nd Annual Ocean Beach Pier Surf Classic.
Here come some cool surf photos!
I went to the 2nd Annual Ocean Beach Pier Surf Classic today and enjoyed walking around and watching the action from atop the OB pier.
What a beautiful, perfect day. Check it out!
The OB Pier stretches into the Pacific Ocean on a beautiful morning in early February. A fun surf competition is underway.I believe these guys were signing up people for a beach cleanup.Catching a football on the beach while two surfers head toward the water.Considering the event is only two years old, a nice turnout was evident along the boardwalk.A musician plays in OB during a surf community celebration.I believe the winners in different categories would take home one of these small surfboards.Hanging out on the sea wall and the sand berm. The latter protects the nearby street and businesses from high water during winter storms.A horn sounds. The 10:30 heat is starting out across the beach! May the best surfer win!The surf competitors enter the water.One of the surfers has caught a nice wave. The surf was high today and not terribly choppy, making for some pretty good rides.Pacific Beach and La Jolla can be seen in the distance.Two surfers tackle a good breaker!OB is a haven for Southern California surfers. It’s fun to watch from the pier.A nice shot. This local surfer went under the pier and emerged near the competitors.A fun surf photo. (About the best my little camera can manage at a distance.)People on the pier look out across the foamy water.Keep having a good day!More cool action at the 2nd Annual OB Pier Surf Classic.A line of pelicans flies overhead.People enjoy a warm San Diego winter day on the OB pier. One of my favorite places.Leaning over the rail watching surfers below.The guys surfing the south side of the pier were catching some fairly big waves.Today San Diego beaches were under a high surf advisory. Perfect for experienced surfers!Surfer in a wetsuit about to paddle under the pier.Some photographers and videographers were recording the action.Wow! Check out this pic of the surf competition! Very cool!Riding smoothly in toward the shore.Meanwhile, along the beach people were simply enjoying life.An artist was displaying some colorful surf art at the competition.An announcer calls the action so everyone can follow along.A wonderful day at the 2nd Annual Ocean Beach Pier Surf Classic. Here’s to many more years of success!
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Early morning sunlight reflects from a building’s shining windows in Mission Valley, casting heavenly beams of light through a slight fog.
It was very foggy this morning in downtown San Diego. I had my camera out as I walked from the top of Cortez Hill to the Civic Center trolley station. By the time I reached Mission Valley, the fog had mostly dissipated. I was very fortunate to capture that almost heavenly first photo! Those slanting beams are exactly as they appeared to the eye!
A bird flies past Cortez Blu, which rises into a foggy downtown San Diego sky.Vantage Pointe in downtown San Diego rises into a fog illuminated by the rising sun.Fog and sunlight create a magical morning photo of skyscrapers on B Street in the heart of San Diego.Beautiful light on tall ghostly buildings.
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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!
Just sitting on a bench at the Chula Vista Marina. Masts of sailboats touch the clear sky. Another sunny day by the water.
Last Saturday morning I did some walking around the Chula Vista Marina and the neighboring Bayside Park. It was a perfect day for a leisurely stroll. Sunlight reflected from the water onto the smooth shiny hulls of boats. A forest of masts tickled the blue sky.
I sat down for awhile to drink in the calm and beauty. Another reason to love San Diego!
The Chula Vista Marina and adjacent Bayside Park are perfect places to relax and recreate.An abstract sculpture near the Dockmaster’s Office.The sculpture is titled To Remember Me, by Ross Barrable, 2001. In tribute to Ron McElliott who believed in the potential of the South Bay.Some street art on a nearby utility box depicts a tall ship on the ocean.Sitting at a table by the marina feeding the birds.Hundreds of sailboats and pleasure craft in the Chula Vista Yacht Harbor await an opportunity to glide across San Diego Bay.Walking the dog across Chula Vista Bayside Park’s fishing pier, next to the marina.A fisherman out on San Diego Bay. The Coronado Cays are visible across the calm blue water.A happy sun shines on the marina building.A beautiful fountain on the grass near the Chula Vista Marina office.
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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!
Colorful lion heads in a row. It’s the Year of the Rooster and many throughout the world are celebrating!
I enjoyed strolling around the San Diego Tet Festival today. I arrived a few minutes after the annual free festival, held at Mira Mesa Community Park, opened its gate. People were slowly streaming in, and everyone was happy. It’s the Year of the Rooster!
Here are some colorful photos…
Visitors enter the San Diego Tet Festival as it opens late Sunday morning.A free annual celebration of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, takes place at Mira Mesa Community Park.A dragon near the festival entrance.Many booths in the park had all sorts of glittering goods for sale.A representation of the Hoàn Kiếm Lake Turtle Tower.Model of a small fishing boat used by 69 people to flee the Vietnamese communist regime.History of the Escape Boat. Fleeing brutal communism, the refugees arrived at a camp set up by the United Nations on the island of Galang, in Indonesia. (Click the sign to enlarge it.)Large bronze drum with ornate design. These drums are a traditional symbol of power, used in religious ceremony, festival and war.The Year of the Rooster has begun. It’s the tenth in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.Martial arts students demonstrate some moves for the gathering crowd.Taking photos of the stage on a sunny San Diego day in late January.The friendly martial arts group poses.A representation of the sacred Hùng Kings’ Temple, which is located on the Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain.Lots of Asian food could be found around the San Diego Tet Festival, as well as more ordinary American fare.Pikachu sits protecting a spot where food is picked up.Donations help keep the Tet Festival alive.More area in the park was dedicated to kids games and carnival rides than anything else! Oh, to be young again!A child rides a dragon.A beautiful wishing tree at the San Diego Tet Festival.A wish for abundance of love and health. Togetherness.
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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!
Folks enjoy taking a ride in an old-fashioned covered wagon in Old Town San Diego during 2017 Mormon Battalion Commemoration Day.
I’ve got lots of colorful photos! The annual Mormon Battalion Commemoration Day was held today in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. I covered this event last year, but I love history and scenes from the Old West so much that I swung by again!
San Diego’s history is remarkably diverse, considering our city is relatively new, and that it is situated in what for a long time was a thinly populated, desert-like wilderness. Many peoples and cultures have converged to help shape our dynamic city, including the original Native American Kumeyaay, missionaries from Spain, Mexicans who have called San Diego home, immigrants from Asia, an influx of Italian and Portuguese fishermen, and among many others, the Mormons.
Please enjoy these photos and click the big sign that provides a little more background about the event and the historical importance of the Mormon Battalion in San Diego. More information can also be found on my previous blog post concerning the event last year. Check the related links below!
The public was welcome to swing by the annual Mormon Battalion Commemoration in Old Town. There were many historical reenactments and costumes to see.One tent concerned letters home, featuring historical journals, maps and genealogy.Today we commemorate the first arrival of the U.S. Army in San Diego on January 29, 1847. This detachment was called The Mormon Battalion, recruited from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Click image to enlarge the sign if you’d like to read it.)Lots of interesting historical activities were being enjoyed by a large, enthusiastic crowd.Map shows Mormon Battalion Routes 1846 – 1847. The soldiers, recruited by the U.S. Army to fight in the Mexican-American War, undertook the longest military march in United States history. After arriving, they helped to build early San Diego.People draw the star and bear symbols of the California Republic.I believe these families were making biscuits, a staple of the Old West.Guys in pioneer clothing just kick back by plastic chairs and watch some dancing and musical entertainment during the event.Some colorful, joyful Mexican folklorico dancing on stage in Old Town San Diego!This guy with the huge saw was demonstrating another aspect of life in old San Diego.Visitors to Mormon Battalion Commemoration Day try their hand at sawing a thick log!A bunch of steampunk enthusiasts were attending the historical event!A fez and a golden arm. These guys should be in some sort of cool adventure movie! Perhaps they belong in a blimp!Like last year, a tent showed people how bricks were once made in San Diego.These assembled bigwigs were judging a Dutch Oven Bake-off!Scouts and other youth learn how rope was once made, using twisted fibers from native Yucca cacti.Lots of folks, old and young, were in one tent learning about and making frontier dolls.Some mountain men were camped at the Black Hawk Livery Stable, near the Old Town blacksmith shop.A sign tells about various Western trailblazers, including Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson and Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.Five anvils!Shaping red hot iron in the old blacksmith shop.These guys are keeping the ancient art of blacksmithing alive in a high tech world.Running out onto the wide grassy area behind Seeley Stable. Like travelling back in time.Some beautiful quilts on display during Mormon Battalion Commemoration Day in Old Town San Diego.Kids were learning how acorns were mashed by the Kumeyaay and others in San Diego’s early history.Someone poses for a photo with an old rifle.History, culture, bonnets and period dress. I saw many smiles in Old Town.People in nostalgic frontier garb and a modern t-shirt with a jolting urban message pose together for an unusual photo.Playing lively old frontier music.Kids playing simple, old-fashioned games.Another unique and memorable scene from Mormon Battalion Commemoration Day in Old Town San Diego!
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The swollen San Diego River after three winter storms in six days. A gauge beside the water shows the river has subsided to about the 8 foot mark, after reaching a high level–I believe–of around 11 feet.
I did some walking in a drizzle this morning before work.
I got off the trolley at the Fashion Valley station and proceeded to investigate the San Diego River in a section of Mission Valley that is often hit with flooding. Three very rainy winter storms were finally coming to an end. What did I see?
Palm trees surrounded by flowing river water. Photo taken from the pedestrian bridge between the Fashion Valley Transit Center and the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center.A tall, shallow-rooted eucalyptus tree knocked over by the gusty winter storms. A common sight around San Diego.Fashion Valley Road this morning was still blocked off from traffic, even though the San Diego River’s water had subsided to street level.A friendly San Diego Lifeguard makes the rounds to make sure nobody needs a swift water rescue. My photo just missed his wave!The parking structures at Fashion Valley Mall that are susceptible to flooding were definitely well underwater. Thank goodness, I saw no submerged cars.Bright green grass and dark clouds. I was sheltered from raindrops by the trolley tracks overhead.As usual, the San Diego River was flooding Avenida del Rio just south of the mall. The short, dipping street is appropriately named!Yesterday someone foolishly trying to walk through this powerful moving water had to be rescued. They got washed away. A helicopter was even brought in.No worries about flooding for the trolley–at least right here!The Highway 163 underpass was flooded and muddy. I had to walk another way around to reach work. Good thing I got an early start!Sign by the San Diego River. The low rainfall and the geologic composition historically allowed the river to run below ground much of the year, hence the nickname: the Upside Down River.The beautiful river this morning through leaves.Morning sky and clouds through bare winter trees.The San Diego River is unusually wide in its swollen state after the storms. It looks like an honest-to-goodness actual river!Walking along Mission Center Road in the rain by the San Diego River.
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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!
These arches in National City’s Morgan Square Plaza delight the eye with their colorful tiles and designs.
Check out this cool public art in San Diego’s South Bay! These colorfully tiled arches can be found in Morgan Square Plaza right next to the National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center. As you can see in one photo, the plaza isn’t far from Heritage Square and historic Brick Row, which I recently covered on this blog.
It appears these mosaic arches debuted along with the plaza itself in October 2007. I searched the small pocket park for a plaque, and later for information on the internet, but can find almost nothing about this unique public art. I did see that the bust of former National City mayor Kile Morgan was created by the talented San Diego sculptor Richard Becker. According to Becker’s website, he created the POW Monument at the US National Cemetery, busts for The Emmys in Hollywood, and a bronze sculpture of Homer Simpson for Fox Studios.
Cool art in the public square next to the National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.Visible beyond the brick arch is one end of Brick Row, one of several historic buildings in Heritage Square.Across Morgan Square Plaza is a monument to a former National City mayor.The bust of Honorable Kile Morgan, mayor of National City from 1966 to 1986. He established the Mile of Cars and Plaza Bonita. Sculpture created by San Diego artist Richard Becker.Another photo through the arches. The Southwestern College Higher Education Center stands across National City Boulevard.The beautiful patterns on this wall-like artwork are composed of many brightly colored tiles.The National City Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center is located near the public art arches.Fun photo of one arch within another.Cool public artwork in National City at Morgan Square Plaza!
UPDATE!
During a walk in 2019 I discovered a plaque describing this Streetscape Project, titled Portals in Time. The different arches are called Brick Row, Hispanic Portal, Filipino Water Wall, Kumeyaay Water Wall, Agriculture and Ship Building, and The Bay.
Click the following two photos and they will enlarge for easier reading:
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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!
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Another storm today. Enough outdoor drenchings for me. A good day to watch football and reorganize shelves. And maybe order a large pizza. And watch a DVD. And maybe sort through more photos!
Cool San Diego Sights! 