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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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.
Thousands of video live streamers and fans will soon be converging on the San Diego Convention Center. San Diego is getting ready for TwitchCon 2024!
This year, TwitchCon will be bigger than ever, and evidence of its popularity has begun to pop up around downtown–in particular the Gaslamp Quarter.
TwitchCon 2024 will run this weekend from September 20 to September 22. The San Diego Convention Center is already decorated for the event, as you can see from these photos taken Tuesday afternoon.
The TwitchCon Block Party will be held in the Gaslamp Quarter near the convention center on Fifth Avenue this Saturday, September 21, beginning at 7:00 pm. Head on down for three hours of food vendors, live music options, themed photo ops, plenty of spots to chill with friends, and more.
A bunch of advertisements concerning TwitchCon have appeared up and down Fifth Avenue. Here are two “glitchy” ones…
And check this one out. Find five marbleverse marbles and get free loot!
Gamers! This is really cool.
Bards & Cards at 936 Fifth Avenue will be hosting a free event. On Saturday, September 21, from 11 am to 4 pm, you can meet Briana White, the voice of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Remake! Get her autograph and photos!
Briana White is also a Twitch streamer. She’s known as TheStrangeRebel.
Finally, if you’re a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, go check out the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café at 910 J Street, just north of Petco Park. They debuted before Comic-Con and will remain open to the public until early November.
Inside they’ve got fun graphics for photo-ops, all sorts of Sonic merch, and really great fast food. Tonight I took home one of their Knuckles chicken sandwiches and it was tasty good!
UPDATE!
Next day, street lamp banners were appearing in the Gaslamp…
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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.
If you love art and have a chance to visit the Rancho Bernardo Library, make sure to head up the stairs or elevator. A long hallway on the second floor doubles as an art gallery!
On view in this gallery through the end of September are colorful works by award-winning San Diego artists Terry Anderson and Marlene Levitt. The two artists paint acrylic abstracts on the same canvas at the same time!
According to the artists’ website, their Temáre abstract paintings evoke an emotion of color and contrast...
As my photographs demonstrate, their bold, dynamic art really grabs your attention! Need some home decor? I noticed these pieces at the library are also for sale.
Are you a local or regional artist with work you’d like to exhibit in a branch of the San Diego Public Library? Check out SDPL’s Visual Arts Program and fill out an application by clicking 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.
San Diego artist James E. Watts will be hosting an art show inside his downtown studio this coming Sunday, September 22, 2024. Visitors will have the opportunity to be transported by his wonderful Portal to Heaven!
I swung by his studio this morning and was able to sneak a look at his completed Portal to Heaven project myself.
An astonishing wall appears like a puzzle piece sky full of clouds. Each of the 105 hand sewn clouds, he explains, gather and radiate orgone life energy like a battery! Stand at the heavenly portal and feel its energy!
I blogged about this ambitious project last December. You can read more about it here.
After James showed me the amazing Portal to Heaven, I turned about and saw how he’s creating bunches of apples. They’re in groups of five. He calls them all together the Gates of Hell!
The apples are of different sizes, just as sins are. Would you take a bite of these apples? Perhaps a little one?
James Watts’ studio never ceases to amaze me. Creativity fills it wall to wall, and every time I visit it seems there’s a new, fantastic project.
James loves ideas, theories, philosophy, literature . . . different ways of seeing this world. With his art he inspires, teaches. He explained during our talk today that he’s a teacher without a classroom.
You’ll note he also has a big smile.
Next he showed me what he called a sense board. This particular work of art, which is titled Six Senses, actively interacts with a person using sound, smell, touch, taste, sight and intuition! Should you attend his art show next Sunday, perhaps you can try it out!
Interested, yet?
James E. Watts will host the 100 Clouds 100 Apples art show this coming Sunday, from 12 to 8 pm. His studio is located in the heart of downtown at 1046 Seventh Avenue.
Lovers of art just might find heaven!
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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.
This morning, during a downtown San Diego walk, I spotted two huge new murals! They’re on the north side of the 800 Broadway high-rise, which has been under construction for some time. The tall building, when completed, will offer apartments with great city views.
People strolling down the sidewalk will have great views, too–of these big, super colorful murals!
I presently know nothing about the artwork. Should I find out more, I’ll provide an update. If you know something, feel free to leave a comment below!
On the Eighth Avenue side:
And on the Ninth Avenue side:
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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.
Enjoy a collection of colorful photographs. I took them today during the Fiestas Patrias event in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.
These young ballet folklórico dancers are from Gift of Dance, a school Where Love, Technique, Joy and Tradition brings Communities and Families Together!
I’ve seen this group at other San Diego events. When they perform, I feel that life is indeed good. All the troubles of this world melt away, and one can see how the human race might be. Simply joyful.
After a fun Fiestas Patrias parade around Old Town’s central plaza (in which the costumed dancers participated), two separate dance performances were staged on the grass. Onlookers enjoyed a variety of traditional Mexican baile folklórico folk dances, including La Raspa, Los Machetes, and even a Mexican Waltz. Beginning dancers included a two-year-old!
At the end of each performance, the audience was invited to come up and dance on the grass, too!
I hope these photos convey the joy…
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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.
A great event was held today in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Mexico’s Independence Day was celebrated with a fun, cultural Fiestas Patrias!
California State Park employees and volunteers teamed up with the Boosters of Old Town San Diego and the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce to bring an assortment of free activities.
It all began with a late morning kick-off parade circling the historic park’s Plaza de las Armas. The very colorful Fiestas Patrias parade was led by Old Town’s beloved rescue donkey Dulce. Then there were two wonderful performances of ballet folklorico by beautifully costumed young people, representing Gift of Dance.
On the perimeter of the grassy plaza, living history activities could be freely enjoyed by anyone, young or old. There was a calligraphy learning table, tortilla making and traditional crafts. Kids were excited to make corn husk dolls and Mexican cascarones.
What’s more, there was a Guac’ Off Competition! For five bucks the public was invited to try samples of guacamole and judge which was best!
For those who wanted a good look at San Diego’s early history, Historic Adobe Tours were also available to the public, with groups setting off from the Robinson-Rose House Visitor Center.
I walked around the event late this morning and took some photos…
Everyone could get a small Mexican flag to wave during the fun, cultural event.Here comes the Fiestas Patrias parade!Dulce the Old Town donkey leads the Fiestas Patrias parade.Smiles and period attire on parade!The parade included volunteers of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.Many traditional Mexican folk dances would follow the parade.Young dancers from San Diego ballet folklorico school Gift of Dance.Pure joy.Fiestas Patrias activities for families in Old Town’s historic central plaza.A smile from Strenger Studio, which provides calligraphy workshops and supplies in Old Town.A young Fiestas Patrias visitor learns calligraphy.Kids were learning how to make confetti-filled cascarones here.Traditional tortilla-making demonstration.Friendly Boosters of Old Town work the Guac’ Off Competition tent.Which guacamole is best? Winner gets bragging rights for a year!
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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.
A colorful parade moved through Old Town San Diego State Historic Park late this morning. At eleven o’clock, to kick off a big, family-friendly Fiestas Patrias celebration, the parade gathered near the Cosmopolitan Hotel then proceeded around the State Park’s grassy plaza!
The parade, celebrating Mexico’s Independence Day, was led by Old Town’s rescue donkey Dulce. It was her first parade in years. Sadly, Dulce was not joined by her old companion donkey Don, who passed away earlier this year. (I’m told Dulce is now doing well.)
Included in the parade were Old Town San Diego State Historic Park volunteers in period attire and young ballet folklorico dancers from Gift of Dance. The procession moved past restored buildings from San Diego’s early history. The park interprets a fascinating period of time, back when the newborn city was a part of Spain, then Mexico, then the United States.
After circling the plaza, the costumed dancers filed onto the grass in front of the stage, where they would entertain the gathered crowd. (Later today I’ll post photographs of the dancing!)
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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.
Many electrical boxes in Hillcrest are being painted this summer with beautiful new street art. I happened upon three artists today working on a box on University Avenue!
I’ve learned this latest explosion of Hillcrest street art is another project of the Hillcrest Business Association. Volunteer artists are adding more life and color to this already dynamic San Diego community!
Upon speaking to the three artists, I learned they’ll be covering this entire box with their beautiful work. And I learned they are helping to restore historic murals in Chicano Park!
Awesome!
Ni La Muerte Nos Separa. Not even death separates us.A beautiful sun and moon rise together on the side of an electrical box in Hillcrest!
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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.
Extraordinary photographs by preeminent mid-20th century photographer Garry Winogrand are currently on display at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.
Images of people in the act of being very human line the walls of the museum’s free-to-the-public Galleries 14 and 15. The exhibition is titled Garry Winogrand: Man of the Crowd.
Yes, there are photographs of celebrities and social activism, but images of ordinary people on the street are perhaps more interesting. Moments captured spontaneously in different settings show unexpected contrasts, humor, pathos, and quirks of human nature. These often surprising photos reveal truths about life and living.
Nowadays, in our brave new world of social media and smartphones, most photos seem taken to gain self-centered attention. It’s refreshing to view extraordinary photographs that are dedicated to investigating this captivating world that is all around us.
I took my own photos from a video in the exhibition, where Garry Winogrand provides his thoughts on photography. (That explains the subtitles.)
Garry Winogrand: Man of the Crowd will be on view through January 12, 2025. The free exhibition can be accessed through a door next to Panama 66 that leads to museum restrooms. Look for the following sign:
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 