Tag: sky

A spirit soars forever in Carlsbad.

In Carlsbad, there’s a special place where a spirit soars forever. That place is known as Dave’s Beach.

Hobbyists who fly radio-controlled gliders, or sailplanes, love to launch their small model aircraft from atop the bluffs at Dave’s Beach. Their gliders dance in the blue sky.

The upsloping ocean wind carries these surprisingly fast RC gliders aloft for sustained, acrobatic flights above the beach. Today, as I took these photographs, I saw as many as four zipping through the air at the same time.

I learned some of the hobbyists using Dave’s Beach as an RC glider port also launch their gliders at the Torrey Pines Gliderport in La Jolla, where similar wind conditions prevail.

In Loving Memory of Our Friend

DAVE KELLOGG

Whose spirit will soar on here forever

April 5, 1948 – October 18, 2006

The above memorial plaque explains why this spot is now called Dave’s Beach. Dave Kellogg loved to fly gliders from atop the bluffs here many years ago.

If you’d like to visit Dave’s Beach, you can find it right next to the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Solamar Drive.

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Lakeside’s beautiful Lindo Lake east basin!

Lindo Lake in Lakeside is a beautiful, peaceful retreat in San Diego’s East County.

Recently the lake has become even more beautiful!

A year ago when I took a walk at Lindo Lake County Park, the east basin was fenced off and closed to the public. That’s because numerous major improvements were then being made.

Today the paths around the large east basin are wide open!

Improvements include new plants and trees, wide ADA accessible pathways, scenic viewing platforms and a couple of bird-watching stations with blinds facing the water.

If I lived nearby, I’d be walking here often. There are native flowers, birds, shady trees, sunshine and the tranquil, shining water. Nearby mountains rise into blue sky.

Even on this winter’s day the lake was filled with life. (I’ll be blogging about the many birds coming up!)

I took the following photographs as I walked around Lindo Lake’s newly improved east basin…

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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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Dreamy ocean photos beyond Point Loma.

Today was an almost perfect day to head out into the Pacific Ocean beyond Point Loma.

For a mid-February day, the water was amazingly smooth and the cloud cover thin. The chilly wind was not unexpected.

I and many others, wrapped in jackets, enjoyed a four hour trip aboard Flagship’s whale watching ship Marietta.

We saw a mother gray whale with her young calf and followed the two from a respectful distance. In two of the upcoming photos you can see a spout. In my previous blog post, I gazed down upon some of the hundreds of dolphins we encountered very close up.

Enjoy a few hazy, dreamy photos I took from the deck of Marietta. There are sailboats, a line of pelicans flying, downtown San Diego, Point Loma, and the Coronado Islands of Mexico off in the distance.

I haven’t edited these photographs at all, except to crop the one photo where the whale spout is most evident.

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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!

Stones, water and light at Torrey Pines.

Our recent winter storms in San Diego thrust small stones high up onto the beach in places. At Torrey Pines State Beach, smooth stones covered much of the pedestrian pathway that runs down to and under the bridge near the north parking lot.

The stones, combined with a high tide and descending sun, made for some silvery photographs this afternoon! Bands of reflected light approached the shore with every crashing wave. Newly wetted stones gleamed like magic.

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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!

Balancing high in the sky above San Diego!

I never tire of tall ships.

When crew members are working aloft, I have to stop and stare.

That was the case this afternoon at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Up in the rigging of visiting tall ship Exy Johnson, members of her crew balanced high in the sky, like circus performers, unfurling sails.

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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!

The planet Mars vanishes in San Diego!

The planet Mars vanished from San Diego’s night sky early this evening!

Members of the San Diego Astronomy Association had telescopes trained on the Red Planet near the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park when it disappeared!

But nobody seemed in the least distressed.

That’s because those gazing skyward understood the moon in its orbit around the Earth had begun to pass “over” much more distant Mars, in what is called a lunar occultation of Mars.

Random people walking through Balboa Park came up and were invited to peer through the telescopes. At times the instruments were aimed at the planet Jupiter and its four largest moons that were made plainly visible: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Families and kids looked into space with a sense of wonder. Many then entered the Fleet Science Center to view the monthly planetarium show The Sky Tonight, where we saw the latest jaw-dropping images from the James Webb Space Telescope.

When the presentation ended an hour later, and we all went outside, Mars had returned!

The next image was captured by my small camera a few minutes before the lunar occultation of Mars. I set it on maximum zoom.

You can’t see the moon’s craters, but you can see fuzzy little red Mars!

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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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Reflections where an old courthouse stood.

The old downtown San Diego Superior Court building that once stood on Broadway was demolished over two years ago.

On the vanished courthouse’s large city block a 37-story mixed-use tower, called West, has risen. The project is now rapidly approaching completion.

New windows installed on the building’s exterior have brightened downtown with more mirror maze reflections!

I took these photographs today as I walked west on Broadway, then north up Union Street beside the Hall of Justice toward San Diego’s five-year-old Central Courthouse.

On a sunny day the blue sky seems painted on the shining glass!

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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!

Books rise into the Escondido sky!

How could I not share these photos?

I was walking near the Escondido Public Library, after checking out the library’s huge new mural, when I glimpsed distant books flying into the sky!

I’d discovered a mural painted in the alley behind Helen’s Book Mark, a used book store on Grand Avenue.

I headed directly to the artwork to see the rising books. (Or are they descending from a lofty place?)

The mural has two signatures. RWBrown, 2000, and Hanna’s Murals, 2021.

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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!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Fiery sunset photos in Mission Valley!

Many in San Diego saw a fiery sunset this evening!

I was walking in Mission Valley along Friars Road when swaths of brilliant yellow, orange and red caught my eye. The clouds above were afire! The dark branches of nearby trees seemed engulfed in flame!

I aimed my camera skyward to capture a few moments of nature’s beauty.

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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!

Butterflies and views at the Stairway to Hell!

A steep outdoor staircase in Tierrasanta has been called both the Stairway to Hell and the Stairs of Death. Take your pick!

The 112 steps start from the Clairemont Mesa Boulevard sidewalk and ascend northward. They can be found a short distance west of Antigua Boulevard.

As you climb this popular neighborhood exercise spot, you might notice colorful butterflies all about your feet. They seem to be flying skyward, too.

Once you reach the top, you’ll find yourself by a large grassy sports field near Vista Grande Elementary School. And look at the views!

Stairway to Hell? Perhaps these steps should be called Stairway to Heaven…

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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!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!