Time flies. Hard to believe, but it’s been over five years since I last walked in Chollas Creekside Park. Today I returned and made these discoveries!
At the south end of the main walkway, electrical boxes have been painted with positive messages about nature, life, love and compassion. I also noticed that along the dirt trails on either side of the creek, boulders have been painted with more fun, inspirational art!
I happened to notice this change from across the street, so I hopped on over to investigate. Enjoy my photos.
(To learn more about the Chollas Creekside Park, and see additional photos, check out my past blog post by clicking here.)
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In 1997 the 100 Years, 100 Stones monument debuted at San Diego State University. It was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of SDSU.
If you’ve ever walked down the campus’ central Campanile Walkway you’ve no doubt seen this unique stone-like sculpture with its two portals. It has an appearance suggestive of ancient temples or ruins.
Those who look closely at the monument will see small rock samples embedded in it, with informative labels. The rocks come from locations all around our region, within a hundred miles of SDSU, including places in Mexico. The art blends culture with geology.
Installation artist Eve Andree Laramee designed 100 Years, 100 Stones. There’s no plaque by this public art with any sort of explanation (that I’ve noticed), so I wonder if students walking past it understand its origin and nature. For years I myself didn’t know. Thank you Google!
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A rather unusual exhibition of art can now be viewed in La Jolla at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. Yes, those shelves in the above photo are full of 3D printed “rocks!”
They’re actually a kind of lightweight plastic material, but they do resemble black volcanic rocks. Visitors to the Athenaeum’s Joseph Clayes III Gallery can watch a rock being printed and handle a specimen and consider the deeper meaning of Nolan Oswald Dennis: Demonstrations (i).
As the exhibition webpage explains, this collection of art, selected by The Athenaeum and INSITE from many entries, is informed by the study of geological and planetary systems—and situated within African and diasporic relations to the land, cosmos, and anti-colonial political structures.
A further description in the gallery includes: This artwork explores the political and spiritual history of the land in South Africa as a proxy for an after-history of the planet as a discontinuous but interrelated whole, imagining that we can use the digital shadow of a simulated rock (the thing without itself) to hold the immaterial social, spiritual and political relations which are also part of the geo-physics of the planet.
I’m afraid I’m not terribly sophisticated, so those explanations are a little beyond me. It struck me the exhibition is about something that is universal: the enormous complexity of essence and connection. That’s probably too simple.
Visit this very unique exhibition, turn over a simulated rock, and arrive at your own particular conclusion!
Nolan Oswald Dennis: Demonstrations (i) can be experienced through January 17, 2026.
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I recently walked past Dog Beach in Del Mar and was surprised to see the Dog Memorial Garden and its hundreds of painted rocks had vanished.
Today I learned what happened to the special memorial garden, which is also called Gwen’s Garden. It was relocated to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, and now occupies the space in front of the Del Mar Historical Society’s Alvarado House!
I was told the Dog Beach Memorial Garden was moved because construction work is slated to begin on the nearby bridge.
If you’re going to the San Diego County Fair this year, make sure to visit the Alvarado House. The historic beach cottage is located to one side of the outdoor Paul Ecke Jr. Garden Show.
When you walk up the ramp to the Alvarado House, you’ll see many heartwarming photographs of the beloved rock garden at Dog Beach, before everything was moved.
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Anyone having a bad day should step into Dave’s Rock Garden in Encinitas.
Thousands of colorfully painted stones in the garden radiate with happiness and positivity. For those with an open heart, it’s an awesome, uplifting experience.
Dave’s Rock Garden can be found at the corner of B Street and 2nd Street, a short distance from Moonlight State Beach. Paths into the garden invite people who might be walking down the nearby sidewalk.
“Bringing Unity to our Community” states the website that describes Dave’s Rock Garden. Bringing unbounded creativity and joy would also be appropriate!
The garden had a humble beginning. In 2015 David Dean picked up trash and pulled weeds on this sliver of abandoned public property. A painted stone that he discovered led to inspired efforts that have resulted in what visitors see today.
What did I see when I visited earlier this year? I took photos…
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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.
Surprising as it might be, Rancho Bernardo has some of the most unique and extraordinary rock art in North America!
Five hundred to one thousand years ago, indigenous people created both pictographs (rock paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings) in present-day Rancho Bernardo. I didn’t know this until I observed an interesting Rancho Bernardo Historical Society poster at last weekend’s RB Alive! street festival.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, there’s an informative YouTube video you should watch. A history presentation from 2018 features analysis of Rancho Bernardo’s rock art. Photographs of the badly faded art were enhanced using special software previously used by NASA.
I met Elie Kennedy today. She was at a table painting small, smooth stones inside the UC San Diego Park & Market building. She was participating in today’s Destination JOY event, which would bring San Diego Trolley riders into her smiling presence.
Elie makes lives in San Diego better. She does this by spreading hope and love with positive, affirming messages painted beautifully on stones. Perhaps you’ve seen Elie at art and craft events around the city. I also met her seven years ago in Balboa Park.
Elie has helped sick kids at Rady Children’s Hospital paint happy, hopeful stones. Above all, she’s an advocate for Suicide Prevention and Awareness. Her own family experience, and a day of painting stones on the beach for a loving memorial, propelled her down this road. The selling of her stones raises funds to bring awareness to the issue of suicide prevention.
Today, seeing the stones arranged on that table and her smile lighted my day. Chased away dark thoughts. Reminded me of important things.
If you’ve driven down Adams Avenue in Normal Heights, just west of Interstate 15, there’s an excellent chance you’ve seen the amazing Rock House. Walking past it recently, I wondered about its history and construction.
The Rock House, with its distinctive cobblestone façade, was built in 1926 in the Mission Revival Style. It was designated a historic landmark almost a century later, in 2016.
This City of San Diego Report to the Historical Resources Board document provides detailed information about the Rock House, including: The cobblestones used to cover the house are native to the region and were most likely found in a nearby canyon. Homes constructed of cobblestone are rare in California and required a skilled craftsman to construct. The stones are loosely laid in courses and give the appearance of quoins at the building’s corners. An interior fireplace is also constructed of cobblestones and is included in this designation.
The way the rounded cobblestones protrude from the symmetrical exterior is very pleasing to my eye. The house appears a bit like a castle carved from a sheer rocky cliff or river bank. Like something fantastic from a fairy tale.
One real estate website that I found includes photographs of the home’s interior. See those here.
Next time you drive down Adams Avenue and spy the unique Rock House, you’ll know a little more about it!
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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 cracked stone stands in Encinitas, enfolded by a rock wall whose ends appear unfinished. Those who walk past might pause and wonder.
The vertical stone seems timeless–like an ancient monolith.
When I first saw this unusual monument near the intersection of Encinitas Boulevard and Vulcan Avenue, I wondered what it might be.
Plaques near the standing stone explained this was a Veterans Memorial, established by the City of Encinitas, dedicated on December 7, 2003. It soon will be National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, when this memorial will be twenty years old.
I took photographs of the Veterans Memorial, then sought more information. I found this blog that transcribes the various plaques, one of which I didn’t observe during my walk. It reads:
These memorial walls are meant to be reminiscent of ancient walls, the shapes referring to “the waving flag.” Both ends of the large memorial wall are left unfinished, representing the unfinished lives of those who have perished in the line of duty. The large monolithic stone water feature within the memorial, trickles water slowly as tears, speaking back to those who mourn.
The ultimate goal in the design of this memorial wall is to offer a sense of quiet sympathy to the visitor, reminding those of us who take so much for granted, just how much others have given in protecting our freedoms.
Here’s an article from 2003 that provides a good explanation of the memorial and its creator, Michael Ames Clark, from nearby Cardiff.
I was interested to learn the artist’s vision was made real by landscape architects Schmidt Design Group. They’ve created dozens of outdoor projects around San Diego over the years. Their redesigned Children’s Park in downtown San Diego opened a couple weeks ago.
During past architectural Open House events, I enjoyed tours of their Waterfront Park and Briercrest Park. To enjoy those tours, click the links!
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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)!
