Without a doubt, these two murals delight the eyes of people driving down Third Avenue in south Chula Vista. Very beautiful artwork is painted on two sides of the Flowers Tino flower shop!
Both murals were created years ago by San Diego artist David Mena (@menamurals).
The bright, colorful images are bursting with many different types of flowers. It’s like a vertical garden with a bit of added Toltec imagery!
Here’s the amazing mural on the north side:
And here’s the south side:
…
To follow my blog, find the “Follow” box in this website’s sidebar. Or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
(If you’re viewing this on a phone, open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
Skateworld, with a few other small businesses in Linda Vista, occupies a historically important building that was designed to be the center of community life during World War II.
The Linda Vista Tenant Activity Building was dedicated on December 26, 1943 and stood at the center of the federally constructed Linda Vista Housing Project. The project provided 3001 dwelling units for aircraft and shipyard defense workers in San Diego during the war.
A historical plaque a short distance up Linda Vista Road provides more information about the government housing project. See past photographs of that plaque here.
The Tenant Activity Building was designed like a field house or drill hall and served as a hub for social events, clubs, and all-ages activities. It would later be considered for historic designation due to its role in supporting war-effort morale and its unique architecture.
You can read the 2011 Historical Resource Analysis (Technical) Report on the City of San Diego website by clicking here. The report contains a great deal of additional information, including photographs.
Here’s a circa 1952 aerial view of the Linda Vista House Project and its Tenant Activity Building from the report. The center of the building with its high barrel roof today provides a perfect, roomy space for roller skaters at Skateworld.
…
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!
(If you’re viewing Cool San Diego Sights on a phone, you can open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
There’s a very cool holiday tradition at the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. Every year, a Christmas tree and wreaths appear at the pier’s end!
This year the festive scene, hovering magically over the blue Pacific Ocean, is just as wonderful as ever. The big Christmas tree lights up at night, and creatively made wreaths hanging along the pier’s white wooden railing celebrate the season, courtesy of Pacific Beach businesses and community organizations.
I walked down Garnet Avenue today and couldn’t resist a stroll out over the water. Starting from the Crystal Pier Bait Shack, this is what I found…
…
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!
(If you’re viewing Cool San Diego Sights on a phone, you can open my website’s sidebar by tapping those three parallel lines at the top of the page.)
A big haul of albacore tuna was being unloaded today in San Diego’s Tuna Harbor. Huge boxes were being filled with albacore from the fishing vessel Piky, to be promptly shipped to Oregon for canning.
As their website states: This is small-batch seafood in its purest form. Every fish is sustainably caught by pole and line, one at a time, by people who know the sea and respect its rhythms. No factory fleets. No shortcuts. Just honest fish, responsibly harvested by our own hands.
Also: Our albacore is wild-caught exclusively in U.S. waters by a U.S.-flagged vessel using pole-and-line fishing, a highly selective and sustainable method that eliminates bycatch.
Very cool!
Considering all those huge boxes, that was a whole lot of fishing!
I see you can purchase the canned, high-quality albacore tuna on their website. Click here!
…
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.
Hard to believe it’s almost October. Major League Baseball Postseason 2025 begins tomorrow!
The San Diego Padres will be playing in Chicago against the Cubs in their MLB Wild Card Series matchup. Our hometown team ended up with another 90 win season. Let’s go Pads!
I walked around the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park and East Village this afternoon, and found indications that small businesses, restaurants and many others in downtown are rooting for the Padres!
…
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 organization is turning an inspired idea into reality in Chula Vista. Why can’t vacant storefront windows become art galleries?
“Art Through the Glass” is an initiative of the San Diego Art Society. See their webpage concerning this project, and an example of a storefront gallery at the Chula Vista Mall, by clicking here.
Turning vacant storefront windows into galleries can benefit so many people: local artists who receive valuable public exposure, and the greater community, which receives enjoyment and a surprising cultural experience!
Look at those smiling people in my first photo! They’re the force behind this very cool initiative! I met them yesterday at the Chula Vista ArtFest.
I was told efforts are being concentrated on storefront windows in Chula Vista along Broadway. Seems to me this great idea could be applied everywhere! Why not?
…
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.
Many members of the City Heights community came together today for a special event. After arriving at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park, the volunteers would spread out along University Avenue to clean and beautify their neighborhood. The event was called Beautify the Block!
A large number of people showed up! Some would pick up litter; others would paint sidewalk trashcans, planters or storefronts; and artists would paint utility boxes. Many of the volunteers represented SDG&E.
This was the first ever Beautify the Block event, and it’s hoped that it will grow and become an annual undertaking!
After reminding the volunteers to do their work safely, all were were given important encouragement. They would be showing the community that they care, and that the community matters.
This inspiring, super positive event was created by the City Heights Business Improvement District and the Maintenance Assessment District in partnership with local businesses and community members.
Every volunteer is a hero.
…
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 one of the Planet of the Apes movies have a Santa Claus? He seems to have turned up in Oceanside, California!
It’s the holiday season! Have fun checking out some photographs that I took during a walk around downtown Oceanside today!
The above Santa gone ape was in a window at Goblin Shark Emporium.
Next, a couple festive photos taken on the Amtrak train platform at the Oceanside Transit Center…
A fun Happy Holidays street banner I noticed while walking up Coast Highway…
Shelves full of Season’s Greetings, gnomes and lighthouses inside Jane & Evie’s Used Book Store…
Merry Christmas decorations by a street corner…
Now I’ve entered the Oceanside Civic Center Library, where, as you’ll see, dinosaurs and the holidays seem to go very well together…
Window graphics include ornaments at the entrance to the Oceanside Museum of Art…
Need some artsy presents for Christmas? You definitely should check out the gift shop at the Oceanside Museum of Art. They’ve got lots of beautiful handmade gifts for sale…
Back outside, in the nearby Artist Alley, local Oceanside businesses were selling holiday crafts and wares. Today is Small Business Saturday! Santa would arrive later in the afternoon…
Do you plan to spend some time in Oceanside this holiday season? Read the following sign for special events. Or visit this website!
…
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.
Would you like to help people in your community who are hungry this holiday season? It’s easy for you, your organization or business to start a holiday food drive! The San Diego Food Bank makes it super simple!
A box or tub placed where people congregate can be filled with items like canned foods, peanut butter, pasta, rice, cereal and oatmeal. It’s easy to print out a poster like the one you see above, downloadable from the San Diego Food Bank website here.
Once filled, the container can be picked up for free by the food bank. Or you can drop it off anytime Monday through Friday, 8 am – 12 pm or 1 pm – 4 pm at the San Diego Food Bank address, which is 9850 Distribution Ave., Dock 0, San Diego, CA 92121
If you anticipate a large amount of donated food, the food bank will happily lend you a big collection barrel. Barrel delivery and pickup by the food bank is free! Can you fill multiple barrels? That would be awesome!
Don’t have a good place for a container or barrel? You can also host a virtual food drive!
Find detailed information about hosting your own special food drive by visiting the San Diego Food Bank website here.
Why not make this holiday season extra meaningful? It’s so easy!
Look! We started a food drive today where I work!
…
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.
San Diego artist Hugo Fernando Fierro (@hoyote) was spray painting a wall in City Heights today. He’s finishing off a huge, super cool mural on the side of Inscriptu: Custom Printing and Laser Engraving Services, at the corner of University Boulevard the 42nd Street.
I learned about this project from Carlos Quezada of Love City Heights, who told me that hopefully more great murals will be appearing in this east San Diego community’s future.
When I arrived to check out the artwork this afternoon, Hugo was taking a break and we struck up a conversation. Not only is he a great muralist (see other City Heights murals painted by Hugo here and here), but he’s an illustrator, video producer and animator.
Check out the artwork’s neon colors, crazy characters and complex, dynamic composition! When I asked for the title of this mural, he said he hadn’t decided yet.
Hugo then stepped onto the lift and began adding black spray paint to the mural, to resemble dripping printer’s ink. The touches of black make the colorful graphics pop even more.
If you look closely at the mural, you’ll see elements that pertain to Inscriptu, a print shop that specializes in large format.
One day local firefighters driving down the street paused to admire the developing artwork. They suggested that a reference to San Diego Fire Station 17 be added. Do you see it?
…
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! 