If you don’t venture down into Balboa Park’s mostly hidden Zoro Garden, you won’t experience its colorful spring flowers that are now in bloom.
I headed to Balboa Park for a special Memorial Day program today, but I had a couple of hours to wander around. I’m so glad I caught a small glimpse of this color as I walked along El Prado. I couldn’t resist turning down a path that descends into the park’s sunken stone grotto garden.
Look at all the flowers! And another hidden surprise!
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The residents of Sherman Heights are very fortunate. They have a community center that radiates positive energy with loads of incredible art!
The Sherman Heights Community Center welcomes visitors with its many colorful outdoor murals and mosaics. Low walls, planters, columns . . . even an electrical box has been decorated! Yesterday, when I walked up Island Avenue and saw all the artwork, my camera became very busy!
The center’s website explains: The community we serve is predominantly Mexican- American with many families facing economic hardship. This community has preserved itself by using art as an avenue towards empowerment & collaboration. For many years the community has supported and participated in creating, preserving, and cultivating a culture of rich history through the arts here at our center.
Sherman Heights, just east of downtown San Diego, is famous for its Día de los Muertos celebrations. That’s reflected in some of the artwork.
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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.
Today was Africa Day at the International Cottages in Balboa Park! The event was presented by the House of USA.
The joyful program celebrated African culture with storytelling, drumming, song, dance and more. The nations of Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Liberia, Uganda and Kenya were represented, with the 48th anniversary of San Diego’s sister city relationship with Tema, Ghana a special highlight.
When I arrived in the early afternoon the event was already underway. I was privileged to listen to a tale about the “upside-down” baobab tree from Linda Brown of the Black Storytellers of San Diego, then watch youthful dancers from the House of Somalia. Somalia is the first African nation with an official membership in Balboa Park’s International Cottages. Other nations are taking steps to join, as well!
The lawn at the International Cottages featured a table concerning San Diego sister city Tema, Ghana. It was filled with crafts and beautiful cultural artifacts.
Another table showed how the Rotary Club of El Cajon Sunset has worked to improve the life of villagers in Kenya by planting gardens and trees and training farmers, by building a community center with the help of paid youth, and by supplying wheel chairs, water tanks and other useful items.
I also learned how the organization My Chosen Vessels is uplifting Maasai communities in Kenya by delivering clean water through an indigenous women-led water bottling enterprise. Sales of jewelry hand made by Maasai women would benefit those communities, as well.
What I loved most was dancing that was joined by many in the audience. I believe it was an energetic dance that is popular in Ghana. Without hesitation, many joyfully dancing people came up onto the stage!
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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.
An exhibition of student art recently debuted at the San Diego History Center. This outstanding artwork caught my eye today during my visit to Balboa Park!
High school students from California’s 50th Congressional District submitted these fine pieces to the An Artistic Discovery nationwide visual art competition. Winners are recognized in their district and in Washington, DC, where winning works are displayed in the Capitol Building.
I enjoyed each and every one of these pieces, and you might, too, should you step into the ever-wonderful San Diego History Center!
Here are several examples…
Self Comparison, Emily Lu, Grade 11.Niente, Victoria Baltzer, Grade 12.Lady of Shalott, Joshua Alper, Grade 12.Life in the Mountains, Jazon Zhang, Grade 11.
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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.
Demolition has begun of the crumbling structure on the east end of Navy Pier. The old building is the last remnant of San Diego’s historic Naval Supply Depot, which grew over the years into a major complex. You can read the fascinating history here.
Over the next few years, the surface of Navy Pier, including the large parking lot next to the USS Midway, will be converted into beautiful Freedom Park! The project is a partnership between the Port of San Diego and the USS Midway Museum.
Today I learned from a museum employee that before the walls of the old headhouse are torn down, workers are busy removing asbestos and doing the preliminary things that are necessary.
You can visualize how Freedom Park at Navy Pier will appear when completed by visiting this web page. I was told the park, which will honor “ordinary” heroes, will likely be finished in 2027.
When I was a young man I observed dozens of Army tanks parked inside this building and lined up along the pier. I wish I’d taken photographs. I believe that was back in the 1980s.
UPDATE!
The exterior demolition had begun in August…
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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.
Did you know there are beehives high up on an office building rooftop in San Diego? The beehives are atop the Pacific Center I building in Mission Valley, which rises on Frazee Road north of Friars Road.
I saw the above sign while walking near Pacific Center the other day. It explains how coexisting with bees in cities is easy and natural. This web page tells all about the beehives at Pacific Center, which were established on the roof in 2021. The bees, which collect pollen from miles around, are very gentle and thriving!
I see that many of the tenants are bee enthusiasts and have enjoyed jars of honey and created crafts with beeswax!
Very cool!
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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.
Several detailed scale models at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum show what life was like for the Chinese inhabitants of early San Diego. Visitors can peer at these meticulously constructed scenes and imagine walking through the city over a century ago. San Diego’s Chinatown is historically bounded by Second and Fourth Avenues.
After entering the museum, the first model I noticed was of a Chinese fishing village that once existed where today’s San Diego Convention Center stands. The fishing village included small shanties, drying racks and salting tanks. Here it is:
The next two photos show a model of San Diego’s old Chinatown along Third Avenue, between Island Avenue and J Street. This amazing model, which represents the years 1910 to 1920, is based on photos, documents and former residents’ descriptions.
A sign in the museum explains: Notice the red batik wall… That building was an opium den according to the 1890 city directory. The large building with an awning a few doors down were the Woo Chee Chong and Gim Wing stores. The two story building on the other side of the street was Chinatown patriarch Ah Quin’s house, where he and his wife raised 12 children.
Next is a model depicting the back of the Woo Chee Chong Company at 450 Third Avenue. Like other Chinese stores in early San Diego, groceries and various goods were sold downstairs, and the upstairs rooms were available for let.
Finally, visitors can peer down into a very detailed model of a Chinese laundry in San Diego.
Between 1886 and 1970, there were over 100 Chinese laundries in San Diego… Opening a laundry was the quickest way for Chinese immigrants to become their own boss without needing to speak much English or having much money. All it took was a little soap, water, and hard work.
Apart from the model, this exhibit includes artifacts like old irons. There is also a map of the known laundry locations and various historical descriptions.
Anyone interested in the important role the Chinese played in our city’s history, including aspects of their life, work and culture, really should visit the small but excellent San Diego Chinese Historical Museum!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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Beloved artist James Hubbell has passed away. When I heard the very sad news today, I immediately thought of all the beautiful art he has left as a legacy around San Diego.
If you live in or near San Diego, there’s a good chance you’ve seen his public artwork. His sculptures and mosaics can be found from El Cajon to La Mesa to Del Mar to Oceanside to Mission Valley to Coronado to Shelter Island. His Hubbell Studios/Ilan-Lael Foundation compound in Santa Ysabel (which I’ve not visited, but have seen in photos) is an inspired, absolutely unique architectural marvel.
James Hubbell designed and created so many beautifully organic forms–often with the help of his wife, son, artists in residence or volunteers–that I’ll often encounter his work during a walk. To me, each work possesses a spiritual quality.
This world we live in has been greatly enriched because of James Hubbell’s genius and vision.
Here are some photos I’ve taken over the years…
Pearl of the Pacific on Shelter Island.Pearl of the Pacific.Pacific Spirit on Shelter Island.Pacific Portal on Shelter Island.Pegasus at Olaf Wieghorst Museum in El Cajon.San Gabriel Arcángel sculpture at Mission San Diego de Alcalá.Opus in front of Oceanside Museum of Art.Marker on walkway at SDSU Mission Valley. Coffeeberry (Frangula californica).Sea Passage in Coronado.Mosaic on restroom at Briercrest Park in La Mesa.Fountain at Dr. William C. Herrick Community Health Care Library in La Mesa.A River of Time at the Del Mar Library.Art displayed at exhibition James Hubbell: Architecture of Jubilation, now on view at the Central Library Art Gallery.
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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 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.
Congratulations go to the Scripps Ranch High School Orchestra! World-renowned musician, San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez offered high praise for their performance this afternoon at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.
The students excited a large audience with their booming rendition of the Camille Saint-Saëns composition Finale, from Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Opus 78 “With Organ.” Raul was surprised that such a challenging piece could be conquered by young musicians!
Russell Shedd, Conductor of the Scripps Ranch High School Orchestra was thrilled, and visibly moved. He’d dreamed of performing this amazing piece of music for twenty years!
Bravo!
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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! 