Walk along the Imperial Beach Pier and you’ll find humorous signs at intervals on either railing. Many of the signs, placed by the Port of San Diego and City of Imperial Beach, feature witty sayings and puns that relate to activities on and under the pier.
I asked a friendly lady at the Tin Fish restaurant at the end of the pier when these signs debuted. She told me five or six months ago.
I photographed many of the clever sayings, but not all. You’ll have to wander down the pier to see them all yourself!
EAT. SLEEP. BEACH. REPEAT.IB FISHIN’SEA-HABILITATEDDAILY DOSE OF VITAMIN SEAWE MERMAID FOR EACH OTHERIB LOUNGIN’CAST YOUR CARES AWAYHOOKED ON FISHINGCATCH A WAVEWAVES FOR DAYSSEAS THE DAYBEACH HAIR, DON’T CAREA REEL EXPERT CAN TACKLE ANYTHINGENDLESS SUMMERSURF BEACHES, NOT BROWSERSHANGING WITH MY GULL FRIENDSENJOY LIFE ONE WAVE AT A TIMERELAX AND STAY AWHILESALTY SOULEAT. SLEEP. FISH. REPEAT.HANG TEN, DUDE.BEACH VIBES EVERY DAYSAND ON, STRESS OFF
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This morning, before I head out to watch the big stickball tournament in Little Italy, I’m going through hundreds of old, unused photographs stored on my computer. All are from various past walks. A few of the photos are so old I’ve forgotten when and where they were taken!
Here are the fun pictures of street art and signs that I’d like to share. It would be a shame not to post them!
A very colorful East Village mural.He who plants a garden plants happiness.Sunshine on a Little Italy window by @artbysoup.Sunshine, surf and surfboard in Oceanside behind the Regal Cinemas.Voted #1 ice cream in the world by my daughters.Street art by Jorge Mendoza.dreamer @nestmuralsOceanside chalk art on a sidewalk.Long live the rose that grew from concrete -Tupac Shakur
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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)!
Jack Gechter stands next to Historic Route California US 101 sign at South Bay Historical Society booth during Chula Vista Lemon Festival.
A very cool project is now being undertaken by the South Bay Historical Society. I learned about it last Saturday as I explored the Lemon Festival in Chula Vista.
A number of Historic Route California US 101 signs (like the one you see above) have been created, to be installed in National City, Chula Vista and San Ysidro along those streets where the legendary highway used to run.
Old timers might recall how US 101 ran north from near the US/Mexico Border in San Ysidro, along Beyer Blvd toward Chula Vista, along National Avenue (now Broadway in Chula Vista and National City Blvd in National City) to 8th Street, then along 8th Street west to Harbor Drive, before heading up through downtown San Diego and eventually into North County. Old U.S. Route 101 during its history saw various realignments, before being entirely replaced south of Los Angeles by Interstate 5 in 1964.
Here’s a great article detailing where the historic highway ran through San Diego and the South Bay cities. You’ll see current photographs of those places where it ran. Here’s another article with a map depicting an earlier US 101 Route, running up today’s National City Blvd to Main Street.
Many similar Historic Route US 101 signs have already been installed in San Diego County, particularly through the coastal cities of North County.
Once these new signs are installed, they will add a fine, nostalgic touch to those South Bay communities that the old highway once connected to the rest of California. And they will resurrect many fond memories.
Historic 101 Route Sign in San Ysidro, California. Image courtesy Jack Gechter.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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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 Twitter!
Did Charles Lindbergh, first aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, devour sandwiches in Ocean Beach? Historical information posted on the Kraft Building at Newport Avenue and Bacon Street suggests that!
A sign explains that the 1927 Kraft Building had a drug store and soda fountain downstairs, and that “local legend states Charles Lindbergh ate sandwiches at Kraft while waiting for his plane the Spirit of St. Louis to be finished at nearby Ryan Aviation (near the site later dedicated as Lindbergh Field).”
On May 10, 1927, after a series of test flights, Lindbergh took off from San Diego in the The Spirit of St. Louis.
On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island and began the daring solo transatlantic flight that would make world history.
Public domain image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
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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 Twitter!
When many think of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, the iconic Gaslamp Quarter Archway at the south end of Fifth Avenue comes to mind. The landmark sign welcomes one and all to downtown’s popular historic district.
This morning I noticed the old archway is being refurbished! Workers on two cherry pickers had finished painting the structure and were beginning to apply new graphics.
According to this web page, the last time the Gaslamp Quarter Archway was refurbished was 2012. The arch was originally installed back in 1990.
Here’s a pic I took a few years ago…
And here’s what I saw this morning…
I’ll head back to the Gaslamp this afternoon and see what progress has been made. I’ll post an update with more photos!
UPDATE!
This is what I saw mid-afternoon…
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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!
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Did you know there’s a world record bridge in San Diego’s North County?
The David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge is the longest stress ribbon bridge in the world!
You’ve possibly seen the 990 foot long bridge when driving up Interstate 15 next to Lake Hodges. I walked across the remarkable bridge yesterday and noticed several information signs describing its history and unique characteristics.
The San Dieguito River travels 55 miles to the Pacific Ocean. In 1918 this section of the river was dammed creating the reservoir Lake Hodges, which has 27 miles of shoreline. The watershed of Lake Hodges covers 248 square miles.
Lake Hodges was designated a Globally Important Birding Area in 1999.
(When I was a young man, I fished with a friend for bass in Lake Hodges.)
Historic old U.S. Highway 395 became a wide hiking trail that passes by these signs.
Several bridges have spanned the water over the past century, including a wooden pile bridge near Mule Hill that was washed away after the creation of Lake Hodges.
Pictured in the above sign is the Bernardo-Lake Hodges Station Bridge in 1919. It was demolished when a nearby 1955 bridge was replaced by the dual bridges that serve Interstate 15 today.
The David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge opened in 2009.
The world record bridge’s design features a long thin ribbon of concrete that produces low visual impact. Enlarge my photo of the above sign to read details of the stress ribbon bridge’s construction.
The bridge provides an elegantly simple passage through the beauty of the lake and its trees.
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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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As I walked along the Coast to Crest Trail a couple days ago, a bit south of the San Andres Drive trailhead, I came upon a sign that pays tribute to Peter Douglas. He was an important coastal advocate who worked to protect the nearby San Dieguito Lagoon.
I learned that I was walking beside the Peter Douglas Wetlands.
As you gaze at the beauty of the San Dieguito Lagoon, watch birds flying, diving and foraging in the wetlands and wildlife scampering among the scrub and chaparral, you can appreciate the vision that led to the conservation and restoration of this scenic and biologically diverse open space, known as the Peter Douglas Wetlands.
Peter Douglas (1942-2012), one of California’s most visionary and inspirational environmental advocates, led a successful grass roots effort in 1972 that resulted in the creation of the California Coastal Commission…
The support and passion of Peter Douglas significantly influenced the ability…to realize (a) collective dream of preserving these wetlands in perpetuity…
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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 Twitter!
Walk the Coast to Crest Trail along the San Dieguito River where it passes under Interstate 5 and you’ll see signs of life.
Indeed, several signs east of the freeway bridge concern river life that can be found nearby!
Walking east in Del Mar along the San Dieguito River, approaching the Interstate 5 bridge. It’s early March and native vegetation is green from recent rains.About to pass under the concrete freeway bridge.On the other side, near bush sunflowers, we arrive at a place where one can relax and learn about the San Dieguito Lagoon environment.Several old signs ahead…Fish of the San Dieguito Lagoon. Over twenty different fish species have been observed in the lagoon providing evidence that habitats here act as a fish nursery. Species include California Halibut, Giant Kelpfish, Staghorn Sculpin, Kelp Bass and four species of Gobies. Small jumping fish are Mullet.Pickleweed likes the salty environment in the lagoon. It is also known as sea asparagus, Pacific swampfire, or glasswort!What’s for dinner for various wetland animals who live here, including raccoons, American kestrels, killdeers and bats?In one day a Great Blue Heron will eat……23 anchovies, 2 mice and a frog. Yummy!A place near the freeway bridge to rest, gaze at the river and think about life.In Life, Choose Happiness.
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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!
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Those who love to watch birds are in for a treat at Lindo Lake County Park in Lakeside.
Walk along the shore of beautiful Lindo Lake and you’re almost certain to see hundreds of birds. What’s more, some of the birds seem fearless in the close presence of humans.
An informative signs shows a variety of birds one might encounter, including Cooper’s Hawks, Red Shouldered Hawks, Red Tailed Hawks, Great Blue Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Killdeer, Snowy Egrets, Black-Crowned Night Herons, American White Pelicans, Canada Geese, Mallards, and Wood Ducks.
Even though I’m far from an expert, during my walk yesterday I also identified Red-winged Blackbirds, American Coots, a distant Double-crested Cormorant, Domestic Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Brewer’s Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles.
Yes, and a whole lot of pigeons–I mean Rock Doves.
Enjoy these photographs!
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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 Twitter!
In San Diego this afternoon, blue and yellow umbrellas sheltered a tight-knit gathering from the rain. Supporters of Ukraine met near the El Cid statue in Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama, waving flags, giving heartfelt speeches, asking for help.
It’s now a year since Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, and in San Diego many are appalled that dictatorship and murderous barbarism can rise again in the 21st century.
Powerful images and messages that concern one year of Defending Freedom surrounded the group.
As I stood in the crowd listening, a young person voiced her optimism that Freedom, in the end, would prevail.
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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 Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 