A very unique event is coming to Chula Vista. On Saturday, December 16th, there will be a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party in San Diego’s South Bay!
The event, marking the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, will be held at Chula Vista Bayfront Park, beside the marina. The event runs from noon to 4 pm, with the historical reenactment starting at 1 pm.
The event is free and open to all. It will be a great opportunity for young people to learn a little about our country’s history. You can read more about this special event and view a map showing where it is taking place exactly by clicking here.
I was told Chula Vista based tall ship Bill of Rights will take part in the reenactment. By sheer coincidence, I spotted the Bill of Rights last weekend at the Maritime Museum of San Diego, where it was docked for a Tall Ships America Pacific Coast community muster. That’s when I snapped these photos!
Six years ago I stepped aboard Bill of Rights during the Festival of Sail. See those photographs here!
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Day of the Dead begins today, the 1st of November. This is the perfect time to share these photographs!
A new restaurant named Kalaveras is coming to 340 Third Avenue in Chula Vista. The building it will occupy has been painted with super colorful skulls, or calaveras!
I happened to notice this bold new artwork while walking to the community Day of the Dead event in Chula Vista last weekend.
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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)!
A big, colorful Día de los Muertos Celebration was held today in downtown Chula Vista!
The event stretched along Third Avenue, with a variety of activations set up along several blocks, but the center of activity was Memorial Park, where I took these photographs.
In addition to many traditional Day of the Dead altars, there were quite a few people dressed for the occasion. Catrinas moved through the crowd, wearing elegant dresses, their faces painted elaborately like sugar skulls.
A large audience gathered for entertainment on the Papel Picado Stage. A group of mariachis smiled for my camera. Between towering skeletons, baile folklórico dancers swirled!
It was very cool how students of Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School helped to create their own special display. They paid tribute to people who’ve worked to make this world a better place.
What a wonderful family event for the Chula Vista community.
I hope you 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
I published a blog post in early 2021 that included photographs from the street of the farm’s exterior. I detailed the history of the Stein family. Their farm dates from the early 1900s. You can read what I wrote by clicking here.
The farm is presently owned by the Community Development Commission of the City of National City and operated by the National City Living History Farm Preserve. Visitors to the old farm can see what rural National City was like many years ago.
Last Saturday I stepped through the front gate of the Stein Family Farm and received an amazing tour by historian and caretaker Christopher Pro.
We walked through the farmhouse and I learned about its antique furnishings. We peered into the old barn at a horse-driven carriage. We walked through the property and met a surprising variety of domesticated animals that seemed pleased to meet visitors, then we took a look at the farm’s orchard where many different fruit trees provide a living classroom for student arborists.
I saw parents with young kids rambling around the grounds, enjoying the animals and an inviting butterfly garden. One family soaked in the Southern California sunshine while sitting at the picnic benches near a big vegetable garden.
A visit to the Stein Family Farm is free, although donations are welcome. The farm is located at 1808 F Avenue in National City. It’s open every Saturday, from 10 am to 2 pm.
Do you love animals and/or gardening? They welcome new volunteers!
I should have written down notes during my amazing tour. I’ve tried to remember a few tidbits of interesting information, so read my photo captions. I welcome comments, as usual!
Look for this sign!Some old farm machinery parked near the orchard.The front of the Stein farmhouse.The front porch.Inside the farmhouse. Portraits of Charles and Bertha Stein on their wedding day.School kids visiting the Stein Family Farm on field trips can see what life was like a century ago.I learned this was Charles Stein’s saddle. Some of the antique furnishings aren’t originally from the farmhouse.Looking back from the dining room, which was a bit too dark for taking sharp photos with my old camera.In the early 1900s, fancy teacups probably arrived from the east by train.A look at the Stein farmhouse kitchen. That green thing is a breadbox.I turn my camera to the right.I learned some of these tins and boxes represent local businesses from the past.The farmhouse’s original stove. On top I see an iron, washboard and sausage maker.Porch on the south side of the farmhouse appears very inviting!We walk a short distance to the old barn.The hand-cranked device on the left is for sheep shearing. On the right is an antique device for separating cream.An old carriage inside the barn.That strange cow near the barn once stood at the Purple Cow Dairy Store.Heading toward the many farm animals!A turkey wonders who I am.We pass a beautiful little butterfly garden. School kids like it, too.Butterfly knowledge on a sign.Yes, it’s an emu!Two pigs digesting their breakfast.Hello!All the animals are very friendly.This chart shows the animals of the Stein Family Farm. Each has been given a name. A Polish Chicken with a crazy hairdo is named Phyllis Diller! The different animal breeds have origins around the world.Gazing west toward the lush orchard. Many different fruit trees were mentioned.A fun stage or photo backdrop. Weddings are sometimes held here.Lots of inviting picnic tables.A well-tended vegetable garden.Looking back toward the old farmhouse. That big tree on the right is a Torrey pine.A great place for meetings. Scouts and local clubs often gather here.An Eagle Scout project resulted in this long, rustic table.Tour’s almost over.
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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)!
Those who approach the Imperial Beach Pier through nearby Portwood Pier Plaza might notice patterned glass tiles on curving, low beachside walls. Illuminations is the title of this colorful mosaic artwork, commissioned by the San Diego Unified Port District. The beautiful public art was created by artist Mary Lynn Dominguez in 1999.
Twenty four years later some of the tiles are damaged or missing, but the overall effect remains vibrant and cheerful. During my visit to Imperial Beach yesterday, I bent down to take several photographs of Illuminations. Then I sat down on a bench and gazed out at the ocean.
A couple years ago I posted a blog about the surfboard benches that fill Portwood Pier Plaza. You can see some of the tiles in those photos.
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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)!
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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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)!
A very big, very fun outdoor mural is gradually being painted on the east side of La Bella Cafe & Games in Chula Vista!
Check it out!
I believe several artists are involved in this project.
On the smaller perpendicular wall, more fun imagery was painted a while back by artist Shirish Villaseñor. For a better look at that section of the artwork, click here and view the first two 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
I took this photo yesterday during a walk through downtown Chula Vista. The lemon tree mural on Third Avenue has been completed!
I saw the artists working on the mural during the Lemon Festival last month and shared photographs of them smiling. See those photos and learn more about the awesome artists 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 X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Border Sign, circa 1920. San Ysidro The Gateway to the U.S.
Those interested in the history of San Diego should visit the San Ysidro Library. Inside the library’s community room, fascinating historical photographs of San Ysidro (one of San Diego’s southernmost districts) can be viewed.
I visited the library yesterday. I wanted to check out the old photos and visualize how San Ysidro appeared long ago.
I learned how this border community began as the Little Landers colony, a family farming cooperative created by agricultural reformer, journalist and writer William E. Smythe in 1908. The motto of Little Landers was “A little land and a living surely is better than desperate struggle and wealth possibly.” It was one of the nation’s first communes. The colony was named San Ysidro, probably after the patron saint of farmers, Isidore the Laborer, and was formally inaugurated on January 11, 1909.
I was also surprised to learn San Ysidro had a Pony Express station!
Here are just a few of the photographs you will see should you visit the library…
Little Landers Colony School, circa 1907. The schoolhouse was located on East San Ysidro Boulevard (old Tia Juana Boulevard) where I-805 is today.Little Landers Colony Sign by San Ysidro Post Office, circa 1913.U.S. and Mexico Border Crossing officials, circa 1924. Looking north from Tijuana toward San Ysidro. The train in the background is on the San Diego Arizona Eastern Railway built by John D. Spreckels.Pony Express Station, circa 1916. Refugees from the Great Flood of 1916, worst natural disaster in the history of the South Bay.San Ysidro Library, circa 1930. The original 1924 library–first Branch Library owned by the County of San Diego. It was the only library in the country with a smoking room for men!
I took outside photos of the old 1924 library several years ago. See them 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!
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!
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! 