Where can you find one of the best burger and fries combinations in San Diego? At the downtown Santa Fe Depot!
You don’t need to be an Amtrak or Coaster passenger to enjoy this tasty, restaurant quality meal. Simply walk into the train station and place your order at the Silver Streak Cafe.
What you’re seeing is today’s cheeseburger and French fries lunch, which I enjoyed inside the beautiful old train station. The historic Santa Fe Depot was built to accomodate people arriving in San Diego for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.
And here’s a smile at the Silver Streak Cafe kiosk that will greet you!
In 1983 a modest Orange Julius stand in Pacific Beach was converted into a palace. It would become the original palace of Ralph Rubio, who today is known as the Fish Taco King.
Rubio, credited with making fish tacos popular in Southern California, opened this very first restaurant on Mission Bay Drive. Lovers of nostalgia and tasty Mexican food can still visit it today.
The first Rubio’s location retains its simple charm. To me it resembles both a taco stand and a vintage roadside diner. The menu might have expanded from the original (when fish tacos sold for 99 cents), but I can attest their food remains mouth-watering good. I enjoyed a couple fish tacos the other day. I also took this photo.
If you’d like to visit the original home of Rubio’s Coastal Grill, head over to 4504 E. Mission Bay Drive, just off Interstate 5 in Pacific Beach. Then perhaps head to the beach for a perfect San Diego day!
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Tony Bingham is presently the artist in residence at the California Center for the Arts Museum in Escondido. Visitors to the museum have the opportunity to meet Tony and experience his work when he is present. I was privileged to meet him a couple days ago. He loves to interact with curious people!
Tony told me about his fascination with A. E. “Fred” Coleman, a former slave who discovered gold in Julian back in 1869, launching a gold rush. The gold mining camp Coleman City quickly sprang up by what today is named Coleman Creek, a tributary of the San Diego River. Among other accomplishments, A. E. Coleman created a toll road into Julian.
Short-lived Coleman City is now a vanished ghost town, but the legacy of A. E. Coleman remains an important part of African American history in the San Diego region. Tony Bingham’s art honors that history.
Tony, with his art, also honors two African American trailblazers: Albert Robinson and Margaret Tull Robinson. In 1887 they started the Robinson Restaurant and Bakery in Julian. Today the establishment is called the Julian Gold Rush Hotel.
Tony Bingham loves to create images using pinhole photography.
He went up to the property through which Coleman Creek runs and took a series of pinhole photographs, often experimenting with different exposures. Here are some of the results…
The words you see above are the names of different mines that were established around Julian during the gold rush.
Tony has also created clay plates that recall the historic Robinson Hotel & Restaurant. The earthy plates among them were formed using the actual grassy soil along Coleman Creek.
Tony has conjectured what food items the restaurant might have had on its menu, and if any vegetables were grown on location.
He has produced plant music that reflects different vegetables, resulting from bioelectrical activity within a living plant. It was very cool listening to a plant “symphony” from his laptop! The potatoes were quite lively!
Tony Bingham is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator from Birmingham, Alabama. His very unique work invites contemplation. It honors the life and legacy of African Americans.
Perhaps his most notable work is the Praise House, an open-air sculpture at a former plantation in Harpersville, Alabama.
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I think this is a burro. It has long ears. This particular critter, whatever it might be, is also extremely colorful! Perhaps it’s a huge piñata.
I spotted the painted metal sculpture as I walked down Adams Avenue in North Park, just east of 30th Street. It stands on the sidewalk in front of El Zarape Mexican Eatery.
I like this fun burro so much, I took several photos!
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Painting of Pho Xpress and Stout Public House on Sixth Avenue in downtown San Diego. By artist James Watts.
I love these fanciful paintings of neighborhood eateries! They were created by San Diego artist James Watts (@jewattso) as part of his ongoing 100 Paintings project.
I happened to walk down the sidewalk in front of his downtown studio today and he was there outside in the sunshine with his two cats, working with a smile on painting #93. Read about his 100 Paintings project here.
I ventured into his amazing studio, and he showed me some of his latest work. Among many great new paintings, he showed me these three colorful pieces. You might recognize the restaurants they depict!
James Watts is a creative dynamo who is a true San Diego treasure. He’s a super cool friendly downtown neighbor, too!
Read the photo captions. (More on his paintings in my next blog post!)
Painting of Ichiban Sushi & Japanese Cuisine on University Avenue in Hillcrest. By artist James Watts. Painting of Las Cuatro Milpas on Logan Avenue in Barrio Logan, now permanently closed after 92 years. By artist James Watts.
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Very few people see this beautiful mural. It was painted in an extremely narrow space next to Scoops Ice Cream on Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla.
Someone eating ice cream at an outdoor table feet from the mural didn’t notice it until they saw me taking photographs!
The nice lady serving ice cream at Scoops thinks the artwork was painted years ago. The artist is Charlene Mosley (@cm__art).
Painted on the wall across from a scene of undersea life is an image of two kids eating ice cream. The employee I spoke to believes they were painted by the same artist.
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These photographs were taken this morning. I found myself at the Cliffhanger Café and Bar, overlooking the ocean at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla.
It was cloudy but predictably beautiful. The wide Pacific Ocean and sky above was painted with complex light and subtle variations of color. Green grass in the foreground, below the deck of the café, produced a stunning contrast. No gliders were up yet. A happy dog was running about.
In all of San Diego, is there a more amazing place to sit outdoors, eating a bite? Take a look at the scenery! Imagine a typically sunny day.
I posted an elaborate blog concerning the Torrey Pines Gliderport almost ten years ago. (Time flies.) From what I observed today, not a whole lot has changed. Just as amazing. See those many past photographs here.
After finishing a snack on the deck, I wandered down to the bench you see in the above photo…
This bench with an amazing view beyond many potted plants has a plaque…
Morgan Meredith Rohde… Drawn to the ocean and kissed by the sun, radiant, exuberant, always smiling, Morgan lives in our hearts forever.
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For many years, a fantastic elephant mural has decorated the side of the Crest Cafe in Hillcrest. Last year, another mural was painted at the restaurant. The beautiful artwork can be seen at the front entrance.
San Diego based artist Austin Gosswiller painted the colorful flowers, birds and butterfly last year.
I took photos the other day…
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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.
No, these gigantic flowers can’t be delivered. Their beauty can, however, be picked up . . . by a driver’s eyes at this Jack in the Box drive-thru!
Hungry customers must simply look right at a nearby wall as they await their fast food order. (Tacos, anyone?)
This beautiful mural was painted in Point Loma last May on the building at 1310 Rosecrans Street. The larger-than-life floral bouquet awaits directly across from a Jack in the Box pick-up window.
The artist is Hanna Daly (@hannasmurals). The public art was a project supported by the Point Loma Association.
Beautiful!
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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.
You know how the windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront are painted every year for Comic-Con? The same artist, Shirish Villaseñor (@shirishtheartist), has painted beautiful scenes from around the San Diego area inside the yogurt shop!
I noticed the colorful art a few days ago when I dropped in to purchase something to drink. So I took photos of this unexpected treat!
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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.
