Tag: south bay

Orchard blooms at Stein Farm in National City!

You can tell it’s Spring in National City, because the orchard behind the Stein Family Farm is becoming ever more colorful. Many of the fruit trees–from plums to apricots to pears–are beginning to blossom!

During my walk through the South Bay today, I was intercepted by historian and Stein Family Farm caretaker Christopher Pro. He remembered that I had blogged about the historic farm a couple years ago after he gave me an incredible tour. See all of those photographs by clicking here. (You might recall, they have many farm animals, which kids love!)

The farm, located in the middle of urban National City, continues to educate students on field trips, host meetings of local clubs and organizations, and offer their picturesque venue for weddings and other special occasions. The farm is open free to the public on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm.

If you’ve never toured the Stein Farm, this coming Saturday, March 29, 2025 would be the perfect time! A bunch of plein air painters will be present and doing their thing! On top of that, Christopher, who is an ardent art collector, will be displaying pieces from his collection!

Check out the Stein Family Farm website 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.

Feel free to share!

Written in the Stars at the Chula Vista library!

Now on display in Chula Vista’s Civic Center Branch Library are six paintings created last summer during the Chula Vista ArtFest. The theme for the artists was “Written in the Stars.”

I stopped by the library today during a long walk in South Bay.

Readers of Cool San Diego Sights might recognize two of the artist names: Signe Ditona (of Ground Floor Murals) and Shirish Villaseñor. Many of their colorful murals have appeared on my blog in the past!

Artist Shirish Villaseñor
Artist Kyle Garrity
Artist Leslye Villaseñor
Artist Signe Ditona
Artist Iris Wise
Artist Iz Inocencio

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Mysterious sculpture at Hollister and Conifer!

Do you know anything about this mysterious sculpture in San Diego’s South Bay, at the intersection of Hollister Street and Conifer Avenue? It’s a few blocks north of the Palm Avenue trolley station.

I haven’t walked this way in a long time, so I don’t know when the sculpture appeared. I took these photos last weekend.

Who created this fun artwork? Why are farewells painted in various languages? Why, on its back, is there a seemingly contradictory message Please No Art?

Two yellow hands on the mysterious sculpture appear to be cleaning while splashing drops of water. Could this have been a sign that once stood at the exit of a carwash? I’m racking my brain for an explanation.

Leave a comment if you happen to know anything!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Sea life mosaics installed at Chula Vista trolley station!

Gorgeous glass mosaics depicting sea life were recently installed at the E Street trolley station in Chula Vista. The artwork was created by Rainforest Art Project (@rainforestartproject). The mosaics are meant to inspire people traveling through San Diego’s South Bay. Eyes are encouraged to look out at the world with a sense of wonder.

The mosaics are part of the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Color the Corridor project. You might recall that a long mural has been painted on a wall just north of the same trolley station. See my blog post concerning that by clicking here.

A short video concerning these new sea life mosaics can be viewed here.

Many of the glass mosaics aren’t readily visible to passengers waiting for a trolley on the E Street station platform. As you can see from my next photograph, most of the fish, whales, birds and turtles overlook Interstate 5 below.

Hopefully drivers whizzing down the busy freeway or heading up the nearby off-ramp observe this incredible public art!

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Mural painted near Chula Vista trolley station!

A big, very fun mural is now being painted on a long wall in Chula Vista! The artwork, which appears to be almost competed, can be seen by San Diego trolley Blue Line passengers along the tracks north of the E Street station.

The mural is part of the ongoing MTS Color the Corridor project. The design is by prolific Southern California artist Michelle Ruby (aka Mr B Baby). With a colorful Mexican flavor, the mural contains doll-like characters that one often finds in her artwork. You’ve likely seen her murals all over San Diego.

The painted wall is in the trolley right-of-way and cannot be approached on foot. I took these photos through the slightly dirty window of a moving trolley this morning. They show small but notable parts of the long mural. I had to enhance the images to make them less blurry…

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

Views of future Sweetwater Park in Chula Vista!

Sweetwater Park is a large recreational park now being developed in Chula Vista, next to San Diego Bay. It extends between G Street and E Street. When completed, the 21-acre park will feature trails, picnic areas, nature and adventure play areas, and scenic overlooks to the bay.

Yesterday I discovered that one wide dirt trail is already open. It parallels the paved Bayshore Bikeway, with which it sometimes coincides. The trail begins at the north end of Chula Vista’s Bayside Park next to Marine Group Boat Works, and extends up to Sweetwater Park’s future entrance and parking lot, which is located across E Street from the Sun Outdoors RV Resort.

Walking north up the trail, I peered over construction fences to view Sweetwater Park’s progress. In upcoming photos you’ll see connecting trails that aren’t yet completed.

As I got started, I turned south for a moment. That huge structure in the next photo is the parking garage for the big Gaylord Pacific Resort and Conference Center now under construction.

Okay, now I’m heading north. I saw this sign concerning native coastal and salt marsh plants here near San Diego Bay.

Come along on my sunny Sunday walk…

A sign on the fence includes images of how the finished Sweetwater Park will appear.

Looking at the overall site plan, my walk north proceeded from right to left. I’m now at the park entrance and parking lot.

Embedded in the trail at its north end is a circular plaque:

Funding for this path provided by the Urban Greening Grant awarded in 2017 by the California Natural Resources Agency. Port of San Diego Waterfront of Opportunity.

Learn more about future Sweetwater Park by visiting the Port of San Diego website here. You’ll also see a plan for Chula Vista’s Bayside Park to nearly double in size and become Harbor Park!

…

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.

The giant Resort and Convention Center in Chula Vista!

Look how gigantic the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in Chula Vista has become! I walked around it on Sunday and the main hotel building is positively immense! Because I took photographs from a good distance, it might be hard to visualize exactly how large it is.

The resort and convention center, when completed next Spring, will feature 1,600 guest rooms and suites, plus a 4.25-acre water park on the property’s bay side. You can see two big blue water slides in the following photos.

To visualize the progress of this project’s construction, check out photos from almost two years ago, when there was practically nothing on the huge lot but dirt. See those here. Then I took photos about a year ago, which you can see here.

After walking around the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center, I headed from nearby Bayside Park around Marine Group Boat Works, and discovered a beautiful new path along the edge of Chula Vista’s upcoming Sweetwater Park–a huge park that is now in development!

I’ll post photos of that walk coming up!

…

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.

Preserving local history in Imperial Beach!

The Imperial Beach Historical Society is a volunteer group of IB residents who are working to preserve local history. I learned about the community organization this weekend at the annual Imperial Beach Sun & Sea Festival.

The Imperial Beach Historical Society website states their exciting and important mission: To collect and organize documents, photographs, stories, oral histories, publications, periodicals, artifacts, and any other items related to the history of Imperial Beach, leading to the future establishment of our own Imperial Beach History Museum.

Do you have photographs, historic documents or memorabilia pertaining to Imperial Beach? They can be scanned by the historical society in order to be digitally preserved.

They are also looking for new members! Check out their website to see what these good people are up to!

(Did you know that back in 1908 there was an experimental airfield in Imperial Beach? Read about early aeronauts and the nearby forgotten U.S. Aviation Field by clicking here!)

…

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.

Chula Vista celebrates San Diego FC!

It’s obvious that many in Chula Vista are looking forward to the debut season of San Diego FC next year. Huge crowds have come out today for the San Diego FC Chrome Ball Tour stop in downtown Chula Vista!

As the free street festival opened, soccer games were already underway up and down Third Avenue. Kids, adults, even the Chula Vista Fire Department and Police Department would participate in hard fought competition!

I walked about shortly after noon, as people were arriving from every direction for the event. I took some photographs while checking out games, lowriders, vendors and enthusiastic San Diego FC supporters. Entertainment including live music and a fashion show on the big stage hadn’t begun yet, nor the Lucha Libre wrestling exhibition, which would start in the evening.

Thumbs up! La Masia SD is a very successful local soccer team. Many of its past players have gone on to play professionally at different levels!

Paul Jimenez of Ground Floor Murals prepares a big canvas for some live spray paint art. I didn’t hang around the event long enough to see its progress.

…

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)!

“May the Fourth” be with Chula Vista!

Star Wars fans rejoice! It’s May the Fourth! And today the Force is extremely powerful in Chula Vista!

As I walked through the big San Diego FC Chrome Ball Tour event in downtown Chula Vista early this afternoon, I noticed the 18th Battalion was attracting a lot of attention. They are a big supporter of San Diego FC.

Not only did the 18th Battalion SDFC Outpost have a table laden with a prize wheel, mini R2-D2, Star Wars helmets and other cool stuff, but I noticed they have a presence at the Vogue Tavern a few blocks up Third Avenue, where I spotted Darth Vader, Star Destroyers and the menacing Death Star looming above the sidewalk! Hopefully Luke Skywalker is nearby!

May the Force be with you!

…

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)!