It’s been well over a year since I visited the Artist Alley in downtown Oceanside. I walked through it again today!
Look what my camera found!
Most of this art must be fairly new, because it was painted in places where earlier murals existed.
(The two murals just inside the entrance of the multi-suite building that opens into the alley might have been there a long time–I don’t know. My first four photos are of those.)
I love how the artwork changes in the alley over time. Every time I walk through it I discover new creations!
Oceanside’s very cool, very magical Artist Alley can be entered directly south of the city library and civic center. Simply cross Pier View Way and you’ll find it!
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The All American Car Show is being held today in San Diego, at Embarcadero Marina Park North near Seaport Village. I walked through this morning and got some photos of very cool vehicles!
The show features all makes and models of car, van, truck, motorcycle, etc. It is put on by The Mopar Club San Diego every year. The event through a raffle and donations raises money to support Fleet Week San Diego and STEP (Support the Enlisted Project).
STEP provides financial education and assistance to our military’s enlisted heroes. Please check out their website here!
Okay! Time for photos!
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The Hall of Nations building at Balboa Park’s International Cottages is in the process of being restored. The City of San Diego has repaired much of the water-damaged exterior of the historical building, and some painting is underway.
Last year I noted how sections of stucco had fallen off. I later learned that–thank goodness–the damage wasn’t as severe as it might have been.
The Hall of Nations building was constructed for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Back then it was the Kansas State building and housed exhibits and events representing the state of Kansas.
It’s good to see the city taking care of San Diego’s crown jewel Balboa Park. It appears to me more work in various places around the park needs to be done!
Thank you!
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
At the southeast edge of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park stands a building with a very interesting history. Beginning in 1908 as St. Joseph’s Rectory in downtown San Diego, it was moved to Old Town in 1940 where it became Old Town Convent.
Today, Historic Tours of America (Old Town Trolley Tours) operates a gift shop inside. The building contains one part of their Old Town Market, along with the adjacent Casa De Aguirre and Carriage House. The second floor is home to a Visitor Center operated by the Old Town Chamber of Commerce.
This website explains: Originally built as the Saint Joseph’s rectory at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Beech Street in downtown, the building was moved through the streets to Old Town San Diego in 1940. Once in Old Town San Diego, the building was a seminary, convent, community center, and, during World War II, it was a USO. The building was restored in 2003 by Historic Tours of America and is registered as San Diego Historical Site Number 323.
The photos I’ve included were taken at various times over recent years.
Visitors who walk through the front entrance will discover a display that tells The Story of The Old Town Convent, in the words of Sister Catherine Louise LaCoste in the early 1980s…
…a three-story edifice known today as the Convent of the Community of the Holy Spirit… The Convent soon became the permanent quarters for the first diocesan junior seminary, called St. Francis, when eight young men moved in on November 3, 1941… Plaster soon covered the wooden structure…
…During World War II, in 1942, a group of soldiers was quartered in the basement. They prepared meals for the anti-aircraft and searchlight batteries located in the area…
…the Religious of the Sacred Heart came to San Diego to open a College for Women, now known as the University of San Diego. The sisters were given the building to use as a rent-free convent that they called St. Madeleine Sophie Barat…
In front of the building is a sign that shows a timeline of Old Town’s history. It includes this:
Curious visitors might spy this interesting plaque on one wall, too…
This exhibit exposes the original redwood clapboard siding of the Convent when it was St. Joseph’s Rectory, built in 1908. The Craftsman-style structure also featured wood shingle siding on the upper stories. When the three-story building was moved to this site in 1940 it was surfaced with stucco and painted to match the exterior of the Immaculate Conception Church across the street.
One other plaque I’ve found…
Old Town Convent Preservation
The restoration and preservation of the Old Town Convent was made possible largely due to the efforts of Carmen and Joe Toigo, Old Town residents, who by their tireless actions and advocacy saved this building from destruction.
May 2003 Historic Tours of America, Inc.
The adjacent Casa de Aguirre, with its own unique history, contains a small, little-known museum that might interest you. You can find a blog post I published about it by clicking here.
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Most visitors to Balboa Park never see this historical building. It’s situated in the southwest corner of the park, in an area called Marston Point. People who drive to the south end of Balboa Drive will see the building sitting alone behind a fence.
There’s a reason the Fire Alarm Building sits safely in isolation on a bluff overlooking downtown. When it operated between 1928 and 1970, it was the hub where signals telegraphed from the city’s many fire boxes were received, and communications made to appropriate fire stations.
The Fire Alarm Building was built in 1927. It was designed in the Spanish Colonial style by architect Robert Snyder. Snyder often collaborated with his partner William Templeton Johnson, who a year earlier designed the San Diego Fine Arts Museum, near the center of Balboa Park.
In 1928, to equip the Fire Alarm Building, the City of San Diego purchased over $20,000 worth of fire alarm communications equipment from the Gamewell Company of Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts… There were three rows of tape-punching telegraph registers arranged on marble-topped tables. They were linked to the city’s fire alarm and police alarm boxes… A coded signal locating the particular alarm box was punched onto the register’s tape readout. The operator then read the coded message and set up the location of the alarm box on a master transmitter and sent a signal to all of the fire department’s fire engine stations throughout the city, ringing bells and turning on station lights. When selective transmissions were later installed, only those stations within the area of the fire would receive the alarm. This was affectionately known as the “silent night” program by grateful firefighters.
Today, the Fire Alarm Building is home to San Diego’s Park & Recreation Department Administrative Services section. Peer through the fence and you’ll see the handsome Spanish Colonial inspired entrance and a beautiful little garden area.
I took these photographs during many walks through Marston Point. They’ve been sitting in a computer folder. Time to share them!
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About a month ago, I discovered a very beautiful garden in front of the Solana Beach Post Office. It was obvious that people have carefully tended the green space that includes paths for strolling and public art.
Those people, I’ve learned, are the volunteer SeaWeeders of the Solana Beach Garden Club. Their mission is to promote the sustainable beautification of the City of Solana Beach through social interaction, garden education, and home and civic enrichment.
Here’s a webpage that describes the Solana Beach Post Office garden rejuvenation project. (Other community projects by the SeaWeeders, too!)
The colorful sculpture you see in my photos is by artist Christi Beniston. It was originally created for the El Paseo Invitational Sculpture Exhibit “Topiaries” in Palm Desert. For a while it had been located on North Cedros Avenue.
You can join the SeaWeeders to help keep Solana Beach green and beautiful! Learn more about this opportunity here.
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The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park is where visitors can now experience a very special exhibition. The incredibly rich and diverse history of our city is recalled on the 250th anniversary of the United States of America.
America at 250: San Diego 1776 – 2026 features a wide range of historical artifacts, from San Diego’s earliest days to the present.
Even as a long-time resident, it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that San Diego was once part of Spain, half a world away. California’s first Spanish mission was established here in 1769, seven years before the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.
For thousands of years, before the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, the San Diego region was home to the native Kumeyaay people. It was a wild, mostly unmapped place distant from “civilization” and relatively unknown to the rest of the world. How times have changed!
Here are a few of the artifacts on display. My captions include some of the information presented for each object…
George Marston’s armario, dated from the 17th century. The antique wardrobe, from Burgos, Spain features a santos statue and is reminiscent of Spain’s religious life. George Marston, often called San Diego’s First Citizen, was a founder of Balboa Park.El Jupiter, a Spanish Presidio cannon. Cast in Manila in 1783. After the Mexican-American War, where it was reportedly used, it was placed in Old Town as a monument. The cannon would be accidently blown up by people celebrating a wedding.Chief Iodine’s jacket. A Native American born on a New York Iroquois Reservation, he explored much of the West with John C. Fremont and enlisted in the Mexican-American War as an army scout. He participated in the capture of San Diego.The Machado Quilt, circa 1850. One of the oldest known quilts in San Diego history. It was created by Doña Juana de Dios Machado Alipas Wrightington.Old Town survey map, 1854. Shows what is now Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Many of the buildings on this survey are now gone.Washington hand printing press, circa 1880s. The San Diego Union used the Washington press, printing its first edition with it in 1868.Concord 12-passenger stagecoach. This stagecoach, numbered 158, began to be used for passenger travel in 1886 between San Diego City to Julian, El Cajon, Lakeside, and the Stonewall Mines.Guest register for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The huge book was created in 1911.Model T touring car, circa 1921. This car was owned by prominent San Diegan philanthropist and athlete Florence Chambers Newkirk, who competed in the 1924 Paris Olympics.Mission Beach changing room, 1925. It was first built for the Mission Beach Plunge in Belmont Park.Civil Service helmet, circa 1940s. Used by an Air Raid Warden belonging to the Civil Defense Force during World War II.Model of tuna clipper Triunfo, circa 1940. Created by Joao G. Rebelo, a crew member.Model of San Diego Stadium, 1960s. This model was built by Gary Allen as an initial rendering for the public.Republican National Convention doll, 1996. A novelty doll with the interchangeable heads of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. San Diego was host to the national convention.
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Those walking over the railroad tracks in Solana Beach at Dahlia Drive, between Highway 101 and Cedros Avenue, will bask in sunshine. A famous line that begins a Walt Whitman poem is inscribed in the pedestrian bridge.
Give me the splendid silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling…
A long tunnel at the Del Mar Fairgrounds allows visitors to walk under the race track, from the Grandstand to the infield. Those attending the San Diego County Fair often use it to walk from the Fun Zone to Family Funville.
Two very different murals cover the tunnel walls, one on either side. The first depicts fair activity through the years. The second, which I’ll cover in my next blog post, depicts horse racing at the fairground. According to various signatures, both long murals were painted by artist Tom Fagan over the course of several years.
The painted side you’ll see in this blog post show activities at the fair during its rich history. There are carnival rides, farm animals, garden shows, entertainment, food and fun!
After beginning in 1880, the fair moved to the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 1936 where it has been known at various times as the San Diego County Fair, the Southern California Exposition, and the Del Mar Fair.
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If you go to the San Diego County Fair this summer and enter through the main O’Brien Gate, you might notice this statue to one side of the Will Call window. It’s a bronze representation of Don Diego, legendary host and goodwill ambassador of the old Del Mar Fair.
The sculpture, created by artist Maher Morcos, was unveiled at the Del Mar Fairgrounds back in 1985. It is dedicated to Spanish actor Tom Hernandez. For 37 years he portrayed smiling Don Diego, a character based on historical late 1800s Del Mar landowner Don Diego Alvarado. Tom used to greet fair-goers with a friendly “¡Bienvenidos Amigos!”
Tom Hernandez was greatly missed when he passed away in 1984. Over the years his character Don Diego had become a true San Diego icon.
The statue is 16 feet high and weighs 1,500 pounds. At its base is a plaque, which I will transcribe here…
DON DIEGO
GOODWILL AMBASSADOR OF THE DEL MAR FAIR 1947-1984
TOM HERNANDEZ SERVED AS THE OFFICIAL HOST OF THE DEL MAR FAIR, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EXPOSITION, FOR 37 YEARS. HE PORTRAYED DON DIEGO, THE MAGICAL FIGURE WHO APPEARED EACH YEAR TO ESCORT THE FAIREST OF THE FAIR AND PRESIDE OVER THE DEL MAR FAIR.
DEDICATED BY THE 22ND DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION JUNE 20, 1985
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