There’s a surprising garden on the campus of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It’s called The McReynolds Family Coral Reef Garden.
Desert cacti and succulents planted among rocks strongly resemble an ocean’s underwater coral reef!
This isn’t coincidental. I read several information signs around the Coral Reef Garden and learned how two very different environments are alike in many respects.
You can view this fantastic garden for yourself by walking along the Scripps Coastal Meander Trail, where it heads down Biological Grade. Look for it by the Eckart Building.
Fascinated? Read more about this very unique coral reef-inspired garden here!
As I explored the garden, I saw this plaque by a bench. It reads:
Ricky Grigg
Big Wave Surfer
PhD Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Pioneer Coral Reef Ecologist
Devoted his life to the sea and all it’s [sic] splendor
Two different ecosystems compared: a coral reef and a desert environment. Harsh habitat and abundant life. A seeming contradiction called Darwin’s Paradox.The fore reef, with its many ridges and channels, contains the greatest diversity of corals, fishes, invertebrates and algae.At the reef drop off, deeper, less turbulent water allows corals to grow taller and make more intricate shapes. Much like plants not subject to strong winds!
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Perceptive people strolling down the boardwalk at La Jolla Shores beach might encounter something both unexpected and wonderful.
Decorating the north and south sides of the La Jolla Shores Lifeguard Station are colorful tile mosaic panels that depict the sun and sea. The public art is titled Shorelines.
Shorelines was installed in 2012, and was created by award-winning San Diego artist Mary Lynn Dominguez.
I really like this beachy artwork! It’s swirly and bubbly and captures the mood of the nearby beach. Looking at the panels is like glimpsing a bright, abstract world through horizonal windows.
You can learn more about Shorelines, which is part of San Diego’s Civic Art Collection, here!
At the front of the lifeguard station, facing the boardwalk, I also noticed a plaque. It remembers Ron Trenton.
The plaque is a bit corroded, as you can see in my photograph. It reads:
Now Comes the Lifeguard, Back to the Sea, Where He Found Action, Where He Found Peace, Where He Saved Others With Selfless Devotion and Where He Risked All With a Smile of Emotion
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Head west through Encinitas along J Street. When you reach the end, climb the stairs to the J Street Viewpoint.
You’ll discover beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean, unexpected works of public art . . . and a small plaque.
John Denver
December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997
John Denver, songwriter, singer, actor, humanitarian and an activist for world peace and the environment was a founder of The Hunger Project and Plant-It 2000 which sponsored tree plantings in Encinitas.
“Though the singer is silent, there still is the truth of the song.”
Your friends will always remember you.
“If peace is our vision, let us begin.”
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On the campus of UC San Diego in La Jolla, an historical marker stands on a patch of grass among some trees.
A bronze plaque embedded in a boulder explains how, for half a century, this area was the site of Camp Calvin B. Matthews, of the United States Marine Corps.
The bronze plaque is located south of the Price Center and Triton Fountain, in UCSD Town Square.
THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
OCCUPIED THIS SITE KNOWN AS
CAMP CALVIN B. MATTHEWS
FROM 1917 TO 1964, OVER A MILLION MARINES AND OTHER SHOOTERS RECEIVED THEIR RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP TRAINING HERE. THIS SITE WAS DEEDED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO ON 6 OCTOBER, 1964 FOR THE PURSUIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
Prior to World War II, the military base was simply called Marine Corps Rifle Range, La Jolla.
To learn more about the history of Camp Calvin B. Matthews, you can check out a Wikipedia entry concerning it here.
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At first glance, you might not believe this building is almost 130 years old. That’s because it appears much different today than it did originally.
During my last walk around La Mesa, I learned this is La Mesa’s oldest standing commercial building!
It’s interesting to compare the old photograph on the La Mesa Historical Society plaque with the building one sees today.
The La Mesa Lemon Company Store building is located at the corner of La Mesa Boulevard and Nebo Drive.
La Mesa Lemon Company Store, circa 1895
Opened adjacent to the La Mesa Springs rail station in 1895, the Lemon Company’s impressive building was the first to supply local settlers and ranchers. La Mesa’s oldest standing commercial building, it was expanded south in 1912. Charter La Mesa Rotary Club member Lawrence Washburn remodeled the building for the city’s first Ford automobile dealership in 1923.
Take a close look at the signs in the photos. “Dealers in everything used on a ranch” is now ballet and clothing!
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One of San Diego’s most famous houses stands in Old Town at 4015 Harney Street. It’s a modest little structure that you might easily pass by without a second glance.
For a couple of years, 1853-1854, the Derby-Pendleton House was the home of Lieutenant George Horatio Derby, an American humorist who wrote articles for California newspapers, including the San Diego Herald, under the pseudonyms Squibob and John Phoenix. It is said his style of writing, employing absurdity, exaggeration, irreverence and good fun, inspired Mark Twain, Artemus Ward, Bret Harte and others.
Derby’s Wikipedia page states: According to the newly (2010) published Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. One, Ulysses S. Grant was a classmate of “Squibob’s” and the General told Twain some stories of Squibob at West Point.
In 1856 Derby’s immensely popular book Phoenixiana was published. It contains many of his humorous pieces, including articles he wrote concerning San Diego. I like the gentle humor of his description of Old Town’s Fourth of July in 1854. It is found on page 123: At 9 A.M. precisely, the San Diego Light Infantry, in full uniform, consisting of Brown’s little boy, in his shirt-tail, fired a national salute with a large bunch of fire-crackers. This part of the celebration went off admirably; with the exception of the young gentleman having set fire to his shirt tail, which was fortunately immediately extinguished without incident.
Why was Lt. George H. Derby, a West Point graduate and engineer of the United States Topographical Corps, in San Diego? To survey the San Diego River and build a dike that would divert its water into False Bay–now Mission Bay.
While in San Diego, he and his wife rented a prefabricated house that was originally brought by ship around Cape Horn. Learn all about the Derby-Pendleton House’s complex history here. It has had many owners, including William Heath Davis and Don Juan Bandini, and has been moved repeatedly.
You can see an historical marker concerning Derby Dike here. You might note that the marker was placed by Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus.
The San Diego chapter of E Clampus Vitus, “a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of the American West,” is named after Derby’s pseudonym, Squibob. The motto of Clampers is Credo Quia Absurdum, which purportedly means “I believe it because it is absurd.”
In 1962 an historical plaque was placed on The Derby-Pendleton House by the San Diego chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution. I took a photo of it yesterday.
Public domain photo of Lieutenant George Horatio Derby.
From the book cover of Phoenixiana.
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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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Veterans are conspicuously honored at the new VA Medical Center trolley station. The station opened for service last month as part of the San Diego Trolley’s Mid-Coast extension. If you’d like to see photos from the Blue Line extension’s big opening day, click here.
Plaques and flags representing five branches of the United States Armed Services, and words like Duty and Sacrifice embedded in the station’s platform, salute those who’ve worked to defend our nation and the freedoms we enjoy.
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A small, unremarkable brick structure in the Gaslamp Quarter is actually one of downtown San Diego’s oldest buildings!
You could easily walk past the current home of Lucky Brand and not realize this modest building has almost a century and a half of history.
I looked at its historical plaque yesterday to learn more about it. As you can see, the plaque is now very corroded and not easily read, so I took a photograph and enhanced the image by increasing the contrast.
The Combination Store, 1880.
Constructed in 1880, the Combination Store is one of the oldest brick structures still standing in the Gaslamp District, dating further back than the Yuma. Originally, the building was built for one store, and had a 35-inch parapet, a metal cornice, and a frame porch extending to the street. It was first known as the New York and Boston Combination Company, specializing in dry goods and clothing. In 1914, the building was divided into two stores. Later, the parapet was shortened and the porch removed.
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Four years ago, Military Tribute Plaza was dedicated at Civita in Mission Valley.
This monument, saluting the United States Armed Services, features flags above black marble columns. Bronze plaques recall the history of each military branch in San Diego. Veterans are also honored.
I took these photographs a few weeks ago when I enjoyed a walk through the large Civita residential community. I thought now would be a good time to post them, because Veterans Day has arrived.
In Memory of The Five Grant Brothers Who Honorably Served Their Country During World War II.SAN DIEGO’S COAST GUARD. One of the predecessors of the modern Coast Guard traces it presence in San Diego to the opening of the Point Loma Lighthouse in 1855…SAN DIEGO’S AIR FORCE. Originally part of the U.S. Army, the Air Force took shape with military aviation at Rockwell Field at North Island, beginning in 1912…Lt. Col. Ronald Grant, USAFR.Lt. Tom (Suds) Sudberry.SAN DIEGO’S NAVY. San Diego’s development owes much to the Navy, starting with the visit of the Great White Fleet of 16 battleships in 1908…SAN DIEGO’S MARINE CORPS. Beginning in 1914, strife in Mexico created a continuing presence in San Diego for the U.S. Marine Corps…SAN DIEGO’S ARMY. The U.S. Army was naturally in the forefront of San Diego’s American beginnings…
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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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I recently rode a bus to the SDSU Transit Center on my way to another destination. I had plenty of time, so I walked a couple of blocks south to the corner of Montezuma Road and Campanile Drive to have a good look at the Clay Gateway.
The Clay Gateway opened in 2016. Rising simply but elegantly, decorated with patterned tiles, the gateway serves as a formal campus entrance to San Diego State University. Shining plaques on either side of the entrance state: THROUGH THESE GATES WILL PASS OUR FUTURE LEADERS.
You can learn more about the Clay Gateway, named after SDSU supporters Ben and Nikki Clay, by clicking here.
Here are my photos…
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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!
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