I took these this morning during a walk through the Gaslamp Quarter–mostly up Fifth Avenue. The Gaslamp trolley station was decorated, as were many restaurants, bars, hotels and store windows.
This year there are even inflatables and Christmas trees on patios and sidewalks. Some businesses are going all out!
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My friends in Balboa Park’s Senior Lounge told me the AgeWell Services Holiday Dance was taking place this afternoon, so I had to poke my nose into the Balboa Park Club building to see what might be going on. What did I find? All sorts of fun holiday sights!
Folks were enjoying a break between dances when I arrived, so I just wandered about the big ballroom.
I spied Santa, Frosty, the Grinch, silly elf Minions, very beautiful Christmas trees, and a sparkling variety of colorful holiday decorations! Happy people, too!
Look what I found!
A smiling, dancing Christmas tree!
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I walked around Balboa Park this afternoon and into the early evening. There were so many colorful sights to be seen in San Diego’s big holiday festival…
First up, a couple of Santa’s helpers with Save Starlight smiled for my camera. If you’d like to help this worthy organization revive the historic Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park, please check out their website here.
I was completely surprised to find a honest-to-goodness live reindeer! His name is Murphy. He’s visiting San Diego from Wild Things/Conservation Ambassadors.
Checking out Spanish Village Art Center during December Nights…
This beautiful little Christmas tree was created by artist Helen Munroe, who works out of Studio 34B and 25 in Spanish Village.
Okay, what was going on in the Plaza de Panama?
What was going on at the International Cottages?
I swung by the Spreckels Organ Pavilion when the Peninsula Singers were performing on the stage by the big Christmas tree…
Folks were checking out the Community Christmas Center nativity scenes…
I bought a soda at the Gingerbread House.
Entry to the San Diego Natural History Center was free, so I had to check it out. There’s a dinosaur Santa!
And a Homo sapiens Santa (and friends) by the elevator!
View of Plaza de Balboa and Bea Evenson Fountain from the museum rooftop. December Nights is just getting underway…
Now I checked out the Festival of Trees in the Casa del Prado. The theme for 2025 is Rooted in Wonder!
This cool gentleman is with San Diego Civic Dance Arts. Youth would perform on the nearby stage later in the evening.
Inside the Municipal Gymnasium, families were lined up to greet Santa Claus at the North Pole!
Dozens of food vendors filled the Palisades parking lot!
Superheroes greet visitors to the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park during December Nights!
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I went on another fun “Holiday Season” walk today–this time in the South Bay through downtown Chula Vista.
Given that Christmas is about three weeks away, it wasn’t surprising that I found lots of holidays related sights!
Most of my photos are of shop windows along Third Avenue.
Can you believe the Grinch, Gingerbread Man, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Charlie Brown were painted all in one window? Those characters together would make a very inventive, peculiar Christmas television special!
Wandering through Chula Vista’s historic downtown, I discovered plenty of great stuff…
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!
I know, I know–Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin is more of a Halloween thing, but I liked this anyway…
Downtown Chula Vista will celebrate the holidays on Saturday, December 6, 2025 with the Starlight Festival from 3 – 9 pm, and the Starlight Parade at 6 pm!
If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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The Holiday Season is upon us and the Village of Carlsbad is ready!
I rode the Coaster train north to Carlsbad a few days ago for a pleasant walk, and this is what I found!
Festive decorations everywhere one turns: at storefronts, in windows, on street banners and signs. I saw Christmas trees, Santa, elves at the North Pole, candy canes, wreaths, Frosty, snowflakes, poinsettias, Rudolph, gingerbread houses…
A free Musical Kickoff to the Holidays will take place this Friday, December 5th, from 4 to 7:30 pm. It will be at the Carlsbad fountain parking lot at 2898 State Street.
You can expect middle and high school student musicians, hot cocoa and more!
A smiling Steven Blake was playing Happy Holidays music at the Carlsbad Village fountain! (His Instagram is @deverb.band.)
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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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One week to Thanksgiving and a little more than a month until Christmas. The year has flown by and the holidays are almost upon us!
Walking around San Diego the past few days, I’ve noticed that preparations are well underway for the Holiday Season.
Santas and Christmas trees are popping up. Signs and banners around downtown anticipate festive events. Balboa Park is beginning to ready for December Nights…
JOY has returned to the Broadway Pier.Jingle Jets begins on the flight deck of the USS Midway on November 28.Seaport Village is decked out for the holidays.Alamo Flags is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.Holiday programming is coming up at the Rady Shell, including Noel Noel.Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings banners in the Gaslamp Quarter.Santa Claus is riding a motorcycle at the Hard Rock Hotel.Mannequin in Gaslamp shop is dressed for a Christmas party.Museum of Illusions has a Christmas tree and fun North Pole photo op!Santa and reindeer are practicing landings in Balboa Park.Celebrate the holidays with local artists at Balboa Park’s Spanish Village.The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet will perform The Nutcracker in December.Getting the Balboa Park Miniature Railroad ready for the holidays!
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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.
It’s hard to believe another year has sped by. We’re almost a quarter of a century into the 2000s! How did that happen so quickly?
I think I’ll take the next couple weeks off from blogging. To relax a bit, recharge. After the New Year, Cool San Diego Sights should be back–in its 12th year–with more cool photographs from more walks! That’s the plan!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May our adventures next year be better than ever!
I was considering what photographs to post here, and I decided to share old Christmas photographs taken about ten years ago with a lesser camera. But these half dozen photographs somehow made it into a great book written by historian Bill Swank: Christmas in San Diego!
Bill Swank for many years played Santa Claus at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion during Christmas on the Prado and December Nights. He’s an award-winning author and leading authority when it comes to the history of the San Diego Padres. Learn a little more about him and his many merry endeavors here!
Anyway, the six photographs you see in this blog post appear in the pages of Bill’s 2015 book Christmas in San Diego. I feel very honored that they were selected.
San Diego is a city full of surprises. Here’s to more great memories!
Richard
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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.
The holiday season wouldn’t be the same without a new San Diego tradition: the Holly Jolly Trolley!
Excited people gathered this morning for a festive ride aboard the original, now vintage 1001 car of the San Diego Trolley.
Today only, the Holly Jolly Trolley travels in a loop through downtown San Diego. Before and after the trip, passengers meet Santa, enjoy hot cocoa, get a trolley Christmas tree ornament, take photographs at a special booth and more at the Gaslamp trolley station.
This year–the event’s Second Annual–seats were quickly sold out, but that didn’t prevent me from walking around the Gaslamp station and seeing the fun!
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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.
Two walks through downtown San Diego. Yesterday, and early this morning before sunrise.
Another helping of colorful and tasty holiday photographs!
San Diego’s famous U.S. Grant Hotel is brightly lit Christmas green and red for the 2024 holiday season.Advertisement on a downtown San Diego bus stop shelter promotes the Holiday Bowl, which is coming up on Friday, December 27.The plaza in front of 550 West C Street has become a magical holiday wonderland.A beautifully lit wreath in the same plaza.Last year’s illuminated “Christmas crane” is back in the sky above downtown San Diego!Santa has landed at a building under construction!Someone from Italy also took photos of this Christmas spectacle while standing on the sidewalk beside me. She commented this is a sight you’d only see in America. I’ll take that as a good thing!If you want to feel good, drop into the Donut Bar and say Hi to my friends.Hungry for a super scrumptious chocolate yule log? Call the Donut Bar and they’ll make one for you!
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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.
Natalie Miragliotta, 2024 California Cinderella Teen, smiles at the La Jolla Holiday Festival!
Before the 68th Annual La Jolla Christmas Parade kicked off today, a Holiday Festival beside the parade route got underway in the late morning. Fun-seekers and families gathered for the colorful event in front of the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library!
A variety of activities could be freely enjoyed, including robotics demonstrations by students, a kids entrepreneur exhibit, face painting, and, of course, the opportunity to take photographs with Santa Claus!
I arrived for the afternoon’s Christmas Parade much too early. To pass the time, I took a long walk around the Village of La Jolla, which included a visit to the Holiday Festival!
I found plenty of smiles and fun!
Look at all the Santa hats!Photos were snapping at the Kiwanis Santa’s Village. Was that dog naughty or nice?La Jolla Youth Robotics had a cool demonstration table.A sophisticated robot created by Overclocked, Team 2485, a FIRST Robotics Competition team from Francis Parker School in San Diego.Table featuring Young Entrepreneurs Club. I think those tubs contain slime!The Kumeyaay First Peoples exhibit featured native wildlife images that kids could color.Friendly guy from The Salvation Army with a red kettle.My Gym Children’s Fitness provided more fun at the La Jolla Holiday Festival.A nearby shooting star above the Village of La Jolla.La Jolla Christmas Parade participants smile for a photo near the Holiday Festival!
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 