Tag: recreation

Model of new Freedom Park at Navy Pier.

Near the center of the hangar deck of the USS Midway Museum, there’s a scale model of Freedom Park at Navy Pier. When completed, this large, new public park will occupy the historic pier that the USS Midway aircraft carrier has called home now for 20 years.

One can walk around the model and visualize in three dimensions how Freedom Park will appear when it has its Grand Opening, which is scheduled for Spring 2028. The park will include a formal parade ground, plenty of grass for recreation, gardens, benches, play structures, trees and winding walkways, and a monumental flag at the pier’s end which will be visible from downtown and across San Diego Bay.

This informative presentation provides an excellent overview of the plans for Freedom Park, including a detailed map and timeline for completion.

The parade ground will feature a central statue of John William Finn, San Diego area resident and last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor. The park will also feature a Family and Sacrifice Monument, honoring the sacrifices thousands of military families have made, telling their stories. Navy Pier was once where many families waved goodbye to departing sailors.

A Footsteps of Freedom interpretive path will follow the length of Navy Pier and circle around the USS Midway, connecting with the present-day Greatest Generation Walk, where many military monuments exist today. (Including this Navy plaque, whose exact origin was a mystery, until some of this blog’s readers provided amazing information!)

Other features will enhance the new Freedom Park, including a Digital Journey that people can follow with their smartphones.

Today, after viewing the model and taking a few photos, I asked a docent at the Midway Museum: where will visitors park their cars? (Most of the parking lot now atop the pier will be vanishing.) He informed me there is underground parking at the new RaDD complex across Harbor Drive. A small parking lot will remain near the entrance of the museum.

Of course, a project of this magnitude requires a lot of funding. There’s more money to be raised. If you’d like to buy a Freedom Park Legacy Brick and help with this effort, click here.

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New banners for Cortez celebrate the outdoors.

New street lamp banners have recently popped up throughout San Diego’s downtown Cortez neighborhood. They celebrate the outdoors!

Cortez Hill might be considered the sunny “summit” of downtown San Diego, where the historic El Cortez rises and jacaranda trees flourish. As the banners suggest, Cortez is a fine place for outdoor activities, too, like bicycling, walking or running!

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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.

Basketball court takes shape at Waterfront Park!

A new basketball court is taking shape at Waterfront Park, just north of San Diego’s County Administration Building! Check out the above photo taken this afternoon.

A large swath of the garden that originally existed on the north side of Waterfront Park has been removed, and recreational facilities are beginning to appear. Right next to this basketball court will be two pickleball courts. There will be table tennis and fitness equipment. A dog park will also be created.

These facilities will be welcomed by many downtown residents.

According to a banner on a construction fence, estimated time of project completion is July 2024.

(I’ve been told the Serpent Tree, a colorful sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle that used to rise here, will not be returning. If true, that’s sad.)

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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)!

San Diego FC brings Chrome Ball to Santee!

San Diego’s future MLS soccer team, San Diego FC, brought its Chrome Ball Tour to Santee today!

A huge crowd turned out at the Town Center Park East recreational fields to watch and play in a big multi-team soccer tournament. In addition to the games, there were opportunities to learn about San Diego FC, meet sports fans and enthusiastic booster clubs, obtain team merchandise, and generally have a good time. The party continued even when the rain began!

The fun included the big, shiny Chrome Ball, which features the names of tour cities throughout San Diego County. The Chrome Ball Tour will continue through the end of 2024 and stop in 18 cities! You can see which cities are coming up by clicking here.

As I walked around and spoke to participants, I learned that the Star Wars group 18th Battalion supports San Diego Football Club, and that the Riptides are super passionate fans who also perform community service. And there were others–click here to see many diverse supporters of San Diego FC.

Are you excited that Major League Soccer is coming to San Diego? I absolutely saw that many people are!

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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)!

Free art contest for seniors in San Diego!

Do you love to create art? Are you a senior? Answer yes to both questions and you might want to enter a free art contest in San Diego!

I learned about this art contest by reading The Scroll, a quarterly newsletter for seniors published by San Diego Parks and Recreation AgeWell Services.

If you’d like to read the Spring 2024 edition of The Scroll, and discover all sorts of activities and opportunities for seniors, click here! You can find information concerning the art contest on page 7. Or check out the graphic I’ve posted above.

Art submitted for the contest will be on public display for an entire month at the Cathy Hopper Clairemont Friendship Center. Media include acrylic, drawing, pastel, mixed media, oil and watercolor. Time to get inspired!

My friend Mark greeted me last Saturday when I poked my nose into the Balboa Park Senior Lounge while walking around. Folks had just finished playing bingo that morning in the lounge.

Mark reminded me that seniors 65 years or better get free admission to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park during this month of February! If you want to learn more about that amazing offer, click here!

Spread the word!

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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)!

Learning to folk dance in San Diego!

Spirited people were learning how to folk dance this afternoon in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park Club building!

During today’s Dance Festival, which was sponsored by the San Diego Park and Recreation Department and the International Dance Association, folk dancing lessons were provided for beginners. The spacious ballroom was filled with joyful music representing diverse cultures. Several friendly teachers were on hand.

I watched for a bit as participants learned fun new steps in the ballroom.

As you can see from my photos, the dancing sculpture at the center of the grand foyer of the Balboa Park Club had been decorated for the event. Next door, in the Santa Fe Room, international crafts were for sale by a variety of smiling vendors. Some puppets were also visiting from the nearby Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater!

Would you like to learn how to folk dance? Or ballroom dance? Go to the website of the International Dance Association of San Diego County by clicking here, then check out their information and future events!

“Laughter, song, and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone.”

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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)!

A talent show for San Diego seniors!

Did you know there’s a special talent show for seniors in San Diego?

I learned about the AgeWell Services 48th Annual Talent Show today when I wandered into Balboa Park’s Senior Lounge. The talent show is quite popular, and is held in the War Memorial Building in Balboa Park–just north of the San Diego Zoo. Participants must be age 60 or better.

Here’s a photo of the flyer if you (or someone you know) would like to participate or purchase tickets to the show!

Auditions are coming up very soon–on February 7, 2024. The talent show itself will take place on March 28, 2024. Tickets will go on sale starting February 7.

There are group discounts available for 10 or more. The entertainment is inexpensive and promises to be great fun!

If you’d like to either sign up for the audition or purchase show tickets, you can visit this web page. You can also call (619) 525-8247.

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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)!

Cool labyrinth under the San Diego Trolley!

I know some of my readers like to walk winding labyrinths. Here’s a new one that anyone can enjoy–under the elevated tracks of the San Diego Trolley!

The new river park at SDSU Mission Valley has many recreational features, from basketball courts to exercise stations to a large children’s playground. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover this cool labyrinth while I explored the newly opened park!

You can find the beautiful labyrinth by walking west from the Stadium trolley station about a quarter mile (my estimate). Look for a cluster of picnic tables.

A relaxing way to meditate while walking off lunch?

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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 re-opening of downtown’s Children’s Park!

Children’s Park in downtown San Diego will celebrate its Grand Re-opening early next week, on November 14th at 9 am. Finally!

The major redesign of the park is going to make this space much more fun and community friendly. A huge playground is perhaps the upgraded park’s centerpiece, but there will also be exercise equipment, a leash-free dog area complete with obstacle course, and, eventually, an open concession shack offering food and refreshments.

As you can see in these photographs, which I took this morning, the familiar pool near Harbor Drive still features sprinkling fountains that attract seagulls and the eyes of convention-goers and passing trolleys.

The last time I took photos of Children’s Park the renovation had just begun. This blog post from May 2022 provides more information concerning this project.

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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)!

An autumn hike in San Diego’s Tecolote Canyon.

A special Autumn hike was enjoyed this Sunday in San Diego’s beautiful Tecolote Canyon Natural Open Space Park.

The hikers, equipped with plenty of water and sturdy shoes, started at the Tecolote Canyon Nature Center and proceeded north up the main trail.

The dirt trail passed under sycamores whose leaves were beginning to turn; it proceeded under ancient coast live oaks, past bright yellow bush sunflowers, and roller coastered up and down sun-drenched hills and through shady tunnels of wrinkled gray willows.

Much of this special hike skirted the narrow Tecolote Canyon Golf Course, whose green fairways could be viewed from above.

A southern alligator lizard with a very long tail sunned at the edge of the path. Birds flitted nearby. As the hikers approached the Genesee Avenue trailhead, an impassable stream forced the half dozen adventurers to turn back. And then we saw three amazing, perfect spider webs suspended up there above our heads.

Those webs made this hike special. As did the San Diego sunshine and a cool October breeze. And the fluttering leaves. And footbridges and wooden fences. And aromatic sage, and monkey flowers, and the call of a red-tailed hawk, and hikers and mountain bikers who passed by smiling. And, of course, the fact that the hikers with me were friends.

Trailside sign explains: This area is being filled with plants native to this canyon. Plants such as toyon, California wild rose, blue elderberry, black sage and others will increase not just plant biodiversity but also animal diversity…

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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)!