Another fun blog post full of photos taken while walking around San Diego before the start of Comic-Con 2026. It’s now Tuesday. Tomorrow is Preview Night.
Shop windows, activations rising, exhibitors arriving, a little cosplay–just random images!
Enjoy!
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Yes, Doomsday is fated for San Diego. A portent of Doomsday is arising in the Gaslamp Quarter!
The historical Gaslamp Quarter sign is undergoing a sinister transformation. Doctor Doom seems to have recruited workers to prepare for his arrival. Some say the mighty throne of God Emperor Doom will be placed here in the center of Fifth Avenue.
Or perhaps this is a dimensional portal through which he’ll arrive to conquer Earth during Comic-Con 2026!
Avengers Assemble!
UPDATE!
The next morning I saw this…
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Various signs have begun to appear in downtown San Diego that Comic-Con 2026 is fast approaching. San Diego’s epic international pop culture event is just two weeks away!
I’ve already shared photographs of new Comic-Con trolley wraps now traveling about San Diego (for example, see my previous four blog posts). I’ve also posted photos of Avengers: Doomsday banners (now all over San Diego) and street advertisements for Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes up and down Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter. But more has begun to appear!
Here’s some of what I’ve noticed so far.
The above photo is of a Pokémon banner hanging in front of the Union Kitchen and Tap Gaslamp.
What’s that in my next photo? An ESRI building wrap on the Hilton? Every year, the ESRI conference comes right before Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center. It’s an indication Comic-Con is just around the corner!
A colorful My Hero Academia poster has been placed in a Gaslamp window.
During Comic-Con, favorite baseball movie The Sandlot was scheduled to have a special showing and talk at downtown’s Balboa Theatre. Now I see the event was cancelled, unfortunately.
Batman grins from the front window of BAIT, a specialty shop that has lots of cool collectibles.
The Exclusive Collections gallery in the Gaslamp Quarter has scheduled a special Comic-Con appearance by artist DeVon from July 24 – July 26, 2026. DeVon traces his artist lineage directly back to Andy Warhol.
MTS has provided helpful information on San Diego trolleys. Reading it, I learned they’ve logged more than 250,000 extra passenger trips during the four day Comic-Con event!
These banners are now everywhere in downtown San Diego!
Are you ready?
With only two weeks to go, Cool San Diego Sights is going into (mostly) Comic-Con mode.
Don’t worry if that’s not your cup of tea. Once Comic-Con is over, I’ll be posting more cool stuff about Balboa Park, Old Town, Solana Beach, Hillcrest, North Park and much more!
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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Walking around San Diego the past week or so, I’ve seen signs that the city is getting ready for the big America 250 celebration. The 250th anniversary of the United States is coming up on Saturday, July 4th–Independence Day!
I’ve been taking photos of things that concern America’s birthday. Here’s what I’ve found so far, including event information you might find useful…
In Old Town:
In Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, an Old-Fashioned 4th of July will include a flag raising ceremony, live music, art, lawn games, a watermelon eating contest, a quilt raffle, and loads of free family fun. The patriotic event starts at 11 am and continues to 3 pm.
In the Marriott Marina:
At the Coronado Ferry Landing:
At the San Diego County Fair:
In Coronado at the VFW:
At a hotel and restaurant in East Village:
I forget where:
In Balboa Park:
In Balboa Park, the House of USA will present America’s 250th 4th of July Celebration! There will be food, dancing, music and patriotic fervor! It all takes places at the International Cottages from 11 am to 4 pm.
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Walking in downtown and Coronado today, I found many signs that NASCAR is racing in San Diego all weekend!
It’s NASCAR’s first time in San Diego–at Naval Air Station North Island to be exact–and you could tell people were excited.
The Coronado ferry was packed to the gills. Race fans were wearing shirts and gear representing their favorite drivers. The Goodyear blimp was overhead. Shops and bars were welcoming those who’d come to see some of the world’s best drivers race a wild and woolly course on the Navy base!
As the Sunday race action came nearest downtown and Coronado, it almost sounded like an F-18 roaring its high powered takeoff from North Island!
I took these photos while walking around…
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A sign posted inside the playground at Solana Beach’s Fletcher Cove provides some history of the place. I discovered the sign this morning and thought you might enjoy a look.
An old aerial photograph allows the viewer to see how Fletcher Cove had changed between 1923 and 2023.
In 1923, Colonel Ed Fletcher began a project that would provide easy public access to the beach. High pressure water sprayed with a fire hose would carve a path down to the beach through the sandstone bluffs.
On July 4, 1924, Fletcher Cove opened with great fanfare!
Walk for a few minutes south down Seacoast Drive from Imperial Beach Boulevard and you will come to the Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge Viewing Station.
Near a pair of benches, two free scopes allow curious people to view the wide green Tijuana River Estuary and search for birds. Four information signs help describe what is seen.
I took photos of the signs, but glare from the bright sun can make them difficult to read. I altered the contrast quite a bit.
The first sign explains that Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is the largest remaining coastal wetland in Southern California.
The Tijuana River touches the lands and lives of people of three nations: the Kumeyaay Indian Nation, United States, and Mexico. Starting in the mountains of Baja California, the river crosses the international border just four miles from here before emptying into the Pacific Ocean…
In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt established the first wildlife refuge in Florida. Today there are more than 560 refuges… Tijuana Slough shares the mission of all refuges: to conserve wildlife, restore habitat, and protect threatened and endangered species for the benefit of present and future generations.
More than 370 species of birds frequent this area, including six threatened or endangered species, four of which can be seen from this spot. High diversity means healthy habitat, where many species find food and a safe place to rest or nest.
The landscape in front of you might appear flat and quiet, but there is more than meets the eye. Between the beach behind you and the bluffs at the southern end of this reserve, inches of elevation and slight changes in water level and chemistry create many different habitats–each specially suited to a surprising diversity of plants and animals. From the elusive long-tailed weasel hunting rodents to the tiny pygmy blue butterfly perching on pickleweed, fascinating creatures are everywhere.
This place has a pulse, and just like you, it depends on healthy circulation. At high tide, oxygen-rich ocean water pumps into the marsh, while the ebb of water at low tide carries sediment out to sea…
Scientists constantly monitor the marsh’s vital signs. Data loggers, placed around the estuary, record and transmit temperature, oxygen level, water level, and more…
The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, one of 29 and counting, was established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study how human activities and natural events affect estuarine habitats in the United States. People that work at the reserve include staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California State Parks, City and County of San Diego, the U.S. Navy, and the Southwest Wetlands Interpretive Associates.
An old plaque is embedded in a nearby rock…
Tijuana Estuary Restoration Project
1.25 Acres
Dedicated March 24, 1999
Trying to put this plaque in context, I found this website.
Peer through one of the scopes and you might see a yellow-crowned night heron!
(At least, I believe that’s the species. I framed the nearby bird with my camera.)
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At either end of the 3800 block of Grim Avenue in North Park you might see a street sign. Honorary Lucky Lane.
A couple days ago I photographed the sign while walking down University Avenue. And I wondered: What makes this lane so lucky?
Well, this article provides an explanation. The block was renamed Lucky Lane last year after “Lucky” Wong, who opened Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant on the corner of North Park Way and Grim Avenue in 1975.
Lucky was known and beloved by many in the community. He ran his restaurant for an incredible fifty years, kindly greeting and serving everyone, never changing his prices. Lucky died in December at 90 years old, in the restaurant where he lived.
A petition to change the block’s name to Lucky Lane quickly gathered signatures. Within weeks, more than 4,200 people signed.
North Park residents who traveled down this lane for half a century were indeed lucky. They were fortunate to have Lucky call the place home.
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