Tag: recreation

Hunt for hidden treasures in a La Mesa park!

Collier Park in La Mesa contains hidden treasures!

Those who explore the city park might come across 18 coin-like plaques that feature images of local plants and animals.

If you would enjoy a fun outdoor treasure hunt, head over to La Mesa’s historic Collier Park, walk along its easy nature trail and begin your search.

Make the treasure hunt a game! Challenge your family or friends. Who can find the most?

Explore the park to find the hidden treasures of different plants and animals! Find all 18 emblems below!

Sage, Poppy, Skunk, Frog, Hummingbird, Snake, Squirrel, Beetle, Hawk, Sycamore Leaf, Raccoon, Butterfly, Rabbit, Spider, Ladybug, Dandelion, Oak Leaf, Sparrow

By strolling around Collier Park, you can also discover a bit of history.

As the city of La Mesa’s first park, Collier Park has long served as a community gathering space.

Kumeyaay – The Kumeyaay Tribe of Indigenous peoples have a rich history in the area, harnessing nature’s local resources. The natural spring in the park once served as a seasonal stopping place for the local Kumeyaay.

David C. Collier – Colonel David Charles (D.C.) Collier, a pioneer community developer in La Mesa and throughout San Diego County, was responsible for donating the land to the community for what would become the City’s first public park after incorporation in 1912.

In the next photograph, you can spot La Mesa’s historical Spring House. Curious? I blogged about it here.

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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.

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Seniors have fun dancing in San Diego!

Seniors in San Diego have a great opportunity to get out, make new friends and have fun dancing!

The City of San Diego’s AgeWell Services offers themed dances twice each month in Balboa Park. The dances (including lessons) are held in the Balboa Park Club building’s huge ballroom.

I happened to stumble upon today’s dance while walking around the park. Inside the ballroom a big, happy gathering of seniors was enjoying the day’s Western theme. Refreshments, prizes, decorations in the ballroom and a sprinkling of cowboy hats added to the festive atmosphere!

To see which dances are coming up, check out the information above. Better yet, read the very informative online newsletter published by AgeWell Services! You can do that from their webpage by clicking here.

If doing stuff on the internet isn’t your thing, you can also call Skyler at 619-525-8247. He’s a great guy and will be pleased to help you out!

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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.

Feel free to share!

San Diego Square Dance Association’s Fiesta de la Cuadrilla!

Look what I discovered today! The San Diego Square Dance Association is hosting their 75th annual Fiesta de la Cuadrilla in Balboa Park!

The lively “round dancing” was taking place inside the Balboa Park Club building’s huge ballroom. Not only was the energetic dancing fun to watch, and the dance calling with a Western twang fun to hear, but there were exhibits off to one side of the room that concerned the fascinating history and culture of square dance!

As you can see from my photographs, beautiful square dance dresses and a variety of interesting artifacts filled many tables.

Thanks to Wendy for inviting me into the big event for a peek! Everybody participating was definitely having a ton of fun!

If you’d like to learn more about square dancing in San Diego and this popular event in particular (which continues on Sunday, March 23, 2025), click here!

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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.

Feel free to share!

Art workshop for seniors in Balboa Park!

Do you love to create art? The Senior Lounge in Balboa Park should be your destination every other Saturday! You don’t need to be a senior, either. Anyone age 18+ is welcome to take part in a free Intergenerational Artist Workshop!

I poked my nose into the lounge early this afternoon and found a friendly group of people having a lot of fun being creative. I saw a beautifully crafted flower! A greeting card was about to be made!

Some basic art supplies are available, and of course you can bring your own. Not only is the activity free, but the new friendships are free, too!

I was told this artist workshop is now held every other Saturday, from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. It and other activities for seniors around San Diego can be found on the City of San Diego’s AgeWell Services quarterly Newsletter (it used to be called The Scroll).

Find all the information you need by clicking here!

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Fly your kite on this world-famous hilltop!

The first controlled winged flight in human history took place in San Diego in 1883. That’s when John J. Montgomery launched his glider from the top of a breezy hill in Otay Mesa West. So it stands to reason that the famous hill today would be an ideal spot to fly your kite!

The grassy hill, where a monument to Montgomery’s legendary flight now stands, experiences plenty of sunshine and a nearly constant breeze. The hilltop’s expansive Montgomery-Waller Community Park is a place where families gather for picnics, sports and recreation . . . and to enjoy their own special flight!

I sat on a park bench today for a few minutes and watched a kite dancing in the cloudless, blue San Diego sky…

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

A sunny New Year’s Day walk in San Diego.

New Year’s Day in 2025 was the perfect day for a long, sunny walk in San Diego. So that’s what I did!

I took these photographs as I strolled from beautiful San Diego Bay to Balboa Park.

Happy New Year to all!

A couple sits at the end of Broadway Pier gazing across San Diego Bay toward many sailboats. It’s the San Diego Yacht Club’s annual New Year’s Day Race.
Many people were enjoying a sunny New Year’s Day by walking along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
The Children’s Park playground was super busy.
Family plays foosball at Children’s Park.
A quiet day to fish out on San Diego Bay.
A perfect day for friends to throw a baseball on the grass.
The big 2-day New Year’s FNGRS CRSSD concert takes place at Petco Park.
People enjoy walking through Balboa Park’s rose garden.
Yes, a very fine day for a walk.
Musician plays in the Plaza de Panama near Balboa Park’s House of Hospitality.
Many eyes gaze down into the lush Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden.
A good crowd listens to the 110th Anniversary Concert of the Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park.
You never know what you’ll see in Balboa Park!
Nearly all of the International Cottages in Balboa Park were closed for New Year’s Day. At the House of Scotland cottage, the door was wide open, welcoming one and all!
Another year gone by. The effort to reopen the historic Starlight Bowl continues.
The United States flag above the San Diego Automotive Museum is at half-staff on New Year’s Day. President Jimmy Carter passed away at age 100 on December 29, 2024.

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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.

Thank you for sharing!

Visit San Diego’s great outdoors for FREE!

A library card is more valuable than you might realize! You can use your San Diego Public Library card to check out a free vehicle day-use pass for over 200 California State Parks!

I noticed this valuable information last weekend during my visit to the Rancho Bernardo Library. To receive a free pass, head over to your nearest San Diego Public Library branch and speak to the library staff.

The free pass will admit you into so many amazing State Parks, including beautiful Torrey Pines State Nature Preserve, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Silver Strand State Beach…

You don’t have a library card? Get one at your local library! Then grab a free State Parks pass!

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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.

San Diego’s new recreation area at Waterfront Park!

If you live in downtown San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood, or anywhere near the County Administration Center, you’re in luck! The new outdoor recreation area in Waterfront Park opened last week!

This community resource had been a work in progress for a very long time, and now it can welcome those who like to play sports, exercise, or walk their dog in the San Diego sunshine. You can see photographs of the area under construction here and here.

The recreation area occupies the northeast corner of Waterfront Park. It includes one basketball and two pickleball courts, five exercise stations, a ping pong table, plus a fenced off-leash dog area with agility equipment. Pickleball paddles and balls, table tennis paddles and balls, basketballs, and TRX suspension equipment can be freely checked out from a nearby information booth, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the summer, and from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from fall to spring. A sign on the booth’s window indicates there’s also a bocce ball set and chess set available for loan.

I’m happy to see that the 1.25 acre area spared some of the old garden where it was built. And there are benches to sit in the shade of newly planted trees, and even a Little Free Library box near the information booth with books that young or old might enjoy reading.

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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.

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, such as 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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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.

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.