Tag: south bay

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.

…

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.

…

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!

Ex-Russian superyacht in National City!

Have you seen that superyacht docked very strangely down in National City?

I walked to Pepper Park today, and when I ventured out onto the fishing pier, I took photos of the large yacht tied up on one side of the National City Marine Terminal. The ships you usually see around here are those gigantic sheer-sided roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships that transport cars.

When I got home, I found this article!

I learned that this superyacht, Amadea, was seized by the United States off of Fiji earlier this year. It had allegedly belonged to sanctioned Russian billionaire oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.

According to the article, the superyacht might be auctioned off. Anyone out there looking for a nice boat?

…

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!

Drop hammer in Chula Vista park recalls history.

Those who visit Bay Boulevard Park in Chula Vista can’t miss it: a 12-foot tall steel contraption with the word ROHR written boldly upon it.

This relic from the past is a drop hammer. These innovative, gravity-powered metal presses were utilized by Rohr Aircraft Corporation in Chula Vista to mass produce aluminum airplane parts.

Frederick H. Rohr, who owned a sheet metal shop in San Diego in the 1920s, helped to create the fuel tanks for Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. He later invented the drop hammer. In 1940 he founded Rohr Aircraft Corporation with the help of Reuben H. Fleet (who in 1961 would found the San Diego Air and Space Museum).

Rohr Aircraft Corporation would begin in Fred Rohr’s backyard, before operations moved into the San Diego wholesale district near the Western Metals Company, then finally in 1941 to its building in Chula Vista. Rohr’s drop hammers would be instrumental in producing the many aircraft that helped the Allies win World War II.

Today the public can see a bit of Chula Vista’s history when they regard the drop hammer in one corner of Bay Boulevard Park. Appropriately, it now stands footsteps from the location of the old Rohr factory buildings.

For the history of Rohr in Chula Vista, check out this website. For a collection of Rohr employee memories, click here. To see a loudly clanging drop hammer in action, click 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 Twitter!

Cranes by Chula Vista park and marina.

Construction of the immense Gaylord Pacific Resort and Convention Center in Chula Vista is underway.

I was walking recently through Chula Vista’s Bayside Park, and out onto the peaceful Chula Vista Marina fishing pier when I took these photos.

The new resort and convention center is going to be gigantic. According to this article from last year, the total estimated cost for the resort hotel, convention center, parking structure and associated public infrastructure and parks is estimated to be approximately $1.23 billion. The plan is for the project to be completed in 2025. Fortunately, the long, grassy Bayside Park, at the edge of San Diego Bay, will remain open to the public.

About all I could see during my walk were these big cranes, some trucks, excavation machinery and mounds of dirt. The last couple photos were taken from the fishing pier, then from a point next to a sculpture called The Fisherman.

…

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!

A positive Market Makeover in National City!

Inspired people continue to bring positive change to National City!

I saw another example of this positive change during my last South Bay walk. A beautiful mural depicting a loving mother and child now appears on one side of Cozine’s Liquor and Deli.

I discovered the mural was created by the young artists of A Reason To Survive (ARTS). The artwork is part of their Market Makeover program!

With the help of various organizations, certain liquor stores around National City now offer fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables, plus positive artwork that encourages healthy living!

Early this year I blogged about another liquor store transformation in National City. I also provided more information about this community initiative. Read more by clicking here!

And here’s another corner store in National City that was brightened by the youth of A Reason to Survive!

Look what I also discovered while walking along…

Welcome to National City is painted boldly across the parking lot from the Cozine’s Liquor and Deli mural.

Enter National City via Civic Center Drive and you’ll 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!

It’s easy to explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag. There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Fun murals show active kids in National City!

I love these murals! I saw them during my recent walk in National City.

These very fun murals, showing happy active kids, can be seen outside the Manuel Portillo Casa de Salud Youth Center. How great are these?

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post fresh blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

It’s easy to explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag. There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Love One Another mural in National City.

Please enjoy this photograph of an inspiring mural in National City. Its message is perfect for the beginning of the Holiday Season.

This is a season for smiles, joined hands, and wishes for Love, Harmony and Peace in our world.

Riders can glimpse the beautiful artwork from the San Diego Trolley’s Blue Line, just south of where the tracks pass under Interstate 5. The mural is in a corner of a parking lot near the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Civic Center Drive.

As you can see, the words are very similar to the lyrics from that classic song Get Together by The Youngbloods.

COME ON PEOPLE, SMILE ON EACH OTHER.

EVERYBODY GET TOGETHER.

TIME TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

…

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post fresh blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

It’s easy to explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag. There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Sighting birds on Tijuana Slough’s McCoy Trail.

The short, easy McCoy Trail at Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is a fine place to sight birds. I found this out recently during my own quiet walk down the nature trail.

The McCoy Trail starts south of the Visitor Center on the north side of the Tijuana Slough, in Imperial Beach. I walked along the trail once before, back when I blogged about a guided nature walk that I enjoyed. But you don’t need a guide to appreciate the beauty of this protected wetland.

Spotting birds requires patience and searching eyes. There’s a lot of helicopter activity in the area from Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, which might spook some birds.

If birds aren’t inside the lush green vegetation feeding or nesting, they’re out on the open water channels, usually as some distance from the trail. I found it best to sit on one of the McCoy Trail’s benches, relax, and let time and serendipity reveal the hidden life.

During this walk I saw several Snowy Egrets, a cormorant at a distance, and quick little birds flying shrub to shrub that I couldn’t identify. I also saw a brown pelican and great blue heron flying overhead.

Near the trail you’ll also observe prickly pear and cholla cacti, which might seem odd. The separation between wetland and very dry habitat can be sudden in our arid coastal region. It’s one reason for San Diego’s amazing biodiversity.

…

Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!

Surfing big waves in Imperial Beach!

The waves were larger than usual off San Diego’s beaches today. I believe it had something to do with the hurricane in Mexico.

This morning I headed down to the Imperial Beach Pier to see what I might see.

I discovered a few surfers out attempting to conquer the curling, crashing breakers!

These surfing action photos were taken from the IB Pier…

…

Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

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!