Tag: south bay

Two cool murals in a Chula Vista alley.

Here’s one last blog post from my long walk in Chula Vista yesterday.

As I wandered down the alley directly west of Third Avenue, I discovered two very cool murals.

The first is north of Davidson Street. There’s a signature, but I’m not sure who the artist is. Leave a comment if you know…

The second mural is south of Davidson Street and is by artist Michelle Ruby, aka Mr. B Baby. You might recognize her artwork. It contains fun, colorful characters that often populate her murals…

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Mario Lopez spotted in Chula Vista!

Celebrity superstar, Mario Lopez, has been spotted on Third Avenue in Chula Vista! His famous smile has been painted on a construction fence in front of the old Vogue theater building!

Mario was born and raised in Chula Vista, in San Diego’s South Bay.

Hey Preppy! Have you watched the Saved by the Bell revival on Peacock? If so, those words might ring a bell!

Mario Lopez first played Slater in the original, very popular Saturday-morning sitcom Saved by the Bell. Since then he’s reprised the role, plus he’s had many other film and television credits.

For over a decade, Mario was host of the television newsmagazine Extra. Now he’s an anchor on the entertainment show Access Hollywood.

And today he’s also hanging out on Third Avenue! With a smile painted by Ground Floor Murals (@groundfloormurals).

Are those his fluffy pink dice and keys? The key art is by Victor “Dogs” Rodriguez (@ThatOne_Dog).

Check out some San Diego Padres art on the same fence here!

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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!

San Diego Loyal player in Chula Vista!

Look who has been spotted in Chula Vista! San Diego Loyal SC soccer player Alejandro Guido!

Alejandro, who is of Mexican descent, is the pride of Chula Vista, having attended Mater Dei High School.

Walk along Third Avenue in Chula Vista, south of E Street, north of the Vogue movie theater building, and you’ll see Alejandro. The defensive midfielder is running with the ball on a wall opposite Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres!

(Two days ago I discovered a mural of his San Diego Loyal teammate in Hillcrest!)

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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!

Baking pizza wings in Chula Vista!

What could possibly be better than pizza and wings? Pizza wings!

The painting of new murals is underway in Chula Vista! One, near the corner of Third Avenue and G Street, promotes La Bella Pizza. It depicts an angelic statue with pizza wings. I took a photo a couple weeks ago and then another a few days ago, so you can see the mural’s tasty progress!

The artists call themselves Arte Atolondrada (@arteatolondrada). I’ve learned another much larger mural will soon be painted nearby, on the east side of La Bella Cafe and Games. This fun project is being undertaken with help from a Create Chula Vista Art Grant.

Downtown Chula Vista continues to grow more colorful and dynamic!

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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!

Swinging Friar at Chula Vista’s Vogue Theater!

San Diego Padres mascot the Swinging Friar is hanging out in Chula Vista!

You can find him on a construction wall in front of the historic Vogue Theater, which is now undergoing its big renovation. The Swinging Friar was painted by Ground Floor Murals.

The temporary wall includes other bits of street art, including a couple more images inspired by the San Diego Padres.

Around the corner, a cool Manny Machado mural is painted on the old theater’s north side. See that mural by clicking here.

Go Pads! World Series this season for sure!

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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!

Mural at entrance to Silver Strand tunnel.

Back in 2020, I posted photos of a long two-sided mural depicting sea life. The artwork was painted many years ago inside a pedestrian tunnel that passes under California State Route 75 at Silver Strand State Beach.

Today I went down to the Silver Strand for a walk and I noticed a new mural had been painted in 2021 at the west end of the same tunnel!

The mural presents images of boats, beach, ocean and birds. Both sides of the tunnel entrance were painted by Imperial Beach artist Esmeralda Robles.

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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!

Filipino Artists of South Bay exhibition.

An exhibition by Filipino artists who reside in the South Bay is now on display in Chula Vista. Their works can be viewed inside Chula Vista’s two libraries and the City Hall lobby.

Yesterday I enjoyed looking at some of these pieces while visiting the Chula Vista Public Library Civic Center Branch.

I found the artwork on several library walls. Many of the beautiful creations seemed like glimpses of larger stories, emerging from an artist’s memory and heart.

Filipino Artists of South Bay continues through January 2023.

These photos provide an example of what you might see…

Family Dinner, Primo Gallanosa.
the luckiest cat, Nadine Tan Saldaña.
The Kiddos, Vince Alvendia.
Pag-uwi (Returning Home), Clarissa Tong.

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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!

Filipinos of South Bay Exhibit in Chula Vista.

The current exhibition at the Chula Vista Heritage Museum celebrates the life and history of Filipinos in the South Bay.

Display cases are positively overflowing with photographs and ephemera. Moments large and small are collectively remembered. You see the hopes, struggles, victories, family life. There are memories of community gatherings and festivals.

Words and images tell what it was like as a Filipino to go to school or church, run a business, serve in the military, or work to improve the life of the community. Perhaps you share these experiences.

I peered into the display cases and found so much life.

You can see that life, too, throughout 2023. Visit the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, which is located inside the Chula Vista Public Library Civic Center Branch.

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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!

Helicoid III quietly turns in National City.

Several interesting sculptures can be found at the Pier 32 Marina in National City. Two sculptures I documented six years ago here. A third I hadn’t noticed until a couple days ago. It stands among trees by a parking lot at the south end of Marina Way, near the entrance to the Bayshore Bikeway.

The kinetic sculpture is called Helicoid III. Created by Robert Pietruszewski in 2007, it was once part of an Urban Trees outdoor exhibition along San Diego’s Embarcadero.

Helicoid III silently moves about in the sea breeze, its metal arms turning in different directions like a complex three-dimensional clock marking time. A timely analogy when you consider today is New Year’s Day. We continue to quietly swing into the future.

As I continued my walk and approached Pepper Park, I noticed another sculpture from an old Urban Trees exhibition. It’s the Sea Dragon, by Deana Mando in 2006.

Sea Dragon once stood on the boardwalk between the USS Midway and Seaport Village. Today it makes its home between the National City Aquatic Center and the Pepper Park Boat Launch Ramp. You can see photos I took of Sea Dragon seven years ago here!

Both of these outdoor sculptures are now part of the Port of San Diego Tidelands Collection of public art.

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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!

Kumeyaay history by the Sweetwater River.

The Marina Gateway in National City contains a small cluster of buildings located at the intersection of Bay Marina Drive and Marina Way. On the south side of the Marina Gateway parking lot, a walkway and outdoor plaza overlook Paradise Creek. The creek flows through a marsh into nearby Sweetwater River. Two signs at the edge of Paradise Marsh concern the history of the Native American Kumeyaay.

The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation owns property at the Marina Gateway, and I believe this plaza was built since my last visit almost seven years ago. The same plant and wildlife information signs remain, but, if I recall correctly, back then there was no plaza and the overlook was less developed.

One sign I didn’t spot years ago features a topographical map showing Kumeyaay ancestral village sites within 1000 feet of the Sweetwater River. It also describes how the Kumeyaay would move up and down the river as they traveled between desert, mountain, and coast.

The Kumeyaay people lived here for thousands of years, long before European explorers and settlers arrived. It is their ancestral homeland–a place of comfort, beauty, and enjoyment, a place that honors our past and that will be enjoyed by future generations.

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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!