Enjoy some photos of cool street art I spotted in Mission Beach along Mission Boulevard!
I captured these images that same day I observed a Christmas tree out at the end of Crystal Pier.
It had been over four years since I documented street art along Mission Boulevard in Mission Beach. I noticed much of that old artwork on electrical boxes is still around, but very weathered and faded. The fun art you see here, including murals painted on buildings, was all new to me!
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Many pieces of amazing glass art can be enjoyed this weekend in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center. The public is invited to view the Art Glass Association of Southern California’s 40th Annual Members’ Exhibition in Gallery 21. Unfortunately it ends much too soon on Monday.
I’ve always had a love for lustrous, luminous glass art. Pieces often appear like liquified light, caught for an instant in time. Like carefully hand-crafted jewels, their appearance changes depending on one’s angle of view. One extraordinary piece, as you’ll see, cleverly uses prism refraction to produce many different bright colors.
I noticed that most of the exhibited pieces are for sale. If I had a million dollars, I’d grab them all.
To me every one is magic.
Sunburst, Diana Griffin.Abundance, Kathleen Mitchell.Bellora, Michelle Bohannan Sherer.Gen Z Redhead, Marti Blair.Drop Vessel, Krista Heron.Baby Blue Monk, Tom Marosz.
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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!
One of San Diego County’s most important historical sites can be visited in Warner Springs. The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House, built in 1857, is a National Historic Landmark maintained by SOHO, the San Diego-based Save Our Heritage Organisation.
The “Ranch House at Warner’s” preserves centuries of history. You can read a bit about the site and see some old photographs at this SOHO web page.
The adobe ranch house “represents Mexican and American culture contact during the Mexican Republic; the Frontier period of the westward migration; and the Gold Rush and the cattle ranching industry from 19th century Californio to 20th century to today.” Built beside the emigrant trail, many early settlers wrote about their experiences here.
Last weekend I visited the restored adobe. I went for a special reason. One day every year at Warner’s Ranch, visitors can ride an authentic Concord stagecoach down a short stretch of the old Overland Trail. For several years, from 1858 to 1861, the ranch house served as a Butterfield Overland Stage Station. Thousands of passengers stopped for a few minutes at this swing station as they travelled through the region. If you’d like to see photos from my fun stagecoach ride, click here!
The present structure, maintained today as a museum, was built by Doña Vicenta Sepúlveda de Carrillo, an early Californio woman rancher. It consists of two main rooms and several adjacent smaller rooms that were added in later years. One of the main rooms was the sala, or living room. The other served as a trading post–a small store where travelers could purchase necessities during their brief stopover.
Some of the smaller rooms include bedrooms and a kitchen, which featured a family bathtub, as you’ll see in my photos! The adobe walls are 18 inches thick, providing a cool inside temperature on a hot day. There’s also a pleasant veranda, where musicians were playing the day I visited. The veranda was built at the front of the ranch house, which faced the old stage route. As I understand it, the nearby barn, which SOHO also plans to restore, was for ranch horses and carriages.
Please enjoy these photos. I took few notes, and I’m no expert, so please don’t rely on anything I’ve written here as absolute fact. Do your own research. The history of the ranch is complex. Over the years it had many different owners.
So why is the ranch house named Warner-Carrillo? The original Warner’s Ranch, whose buildings no longer exist, was established here on a Mexican land grant given to Jonathan Trumbull Warner, an American-Mexican citizen and former California State Senator who changed his name to Juan José Warner. His ranch, a camping stop on the Gila Overland Trail to California, was attacked during the Garra Uprising of 1851 and burned down. I photographed the burial site of Antonio Garra in Old Town San Diego and provided a brief description of the Native American Cupeño revolt due to unfair taxation here.
The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House is open year-round on Saturday and Sundays from 12 to 4 pm. If you’re ever in the area, make sure to stop by. Not only will you learn much, but you’ll feel the rich history!
Approaching the restored Warner-Carrillo Ranch House. (Interesting note: that brown modern structure to the left of the old ranch house contains visitor restrooms. I learned from Christopher Pro of SOHO that the restroom building design was copied from the historic Stein Family Farm in National City!)
The historical plaque near the museum entrance reads:
WARNER RANCH HOUSE
IN 1844, GOV. MANUEL MICHELTORENA GRANTED 44,322 ACRES TO JUAN JOSE WARNER WHO BUILT THIS HOUSE. GEN. KEARNY PASSED HERE IN 1846; MORMON BATTALION IN 1847. FIRST BUTTERFIELD STAGE STOPPED AT THIS RANCH ON OCT. 6, 1858 ENROUTE FROM TIPTON, MO. TO SAN FRANCISCO; 2600 MILES, TIME 24 DAYS. THIS WAS THE SOUTHERN OVERLAND ROUTE INTO CALIFORNIA.
STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 311
A major restoration of the Warner-Carrillo Ranch House was completed in 2011. The ranch stands on land owned by the Vista Irrigation District.
The Vista Irrigation District has a really good web page concerning the ranch house and its history here.
Inside the sala, or living room, with its dining table. Some of the elegant furniture was obtained from William Heath Davis, who helped to establish “New Town” (present day downtown) San Diego.A quilt being made in one corner of the sala.The sala in later years became a ranch bunkhouse, which explains why the wood floor is branded!A work room between the sala and veranda.A bedroom.A look inside the kitchen.How’d you like to take a bath here?!A look inside the children’s bedroom.The trading post offered goods to stagecoach travelers, who’d enter from a side door, which is located opposite the old barn.Soap, a bonnet, and other useful items.One small room contains information displays and archaeological artifacts from the ranch.A look at the old barn, which is presently in a state of arrested decay.On this special once-a-year stagecoach riding day, musicians were out on the veranda playing popular tunes from the Old West. The group is called Jugless Jug Band.Some visitors enjoying a short ride on the authentic Concord stage.
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The 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships was held yesterday and today at the Del Mar Racetrack. So I decided to enjoy a walk through Del Mar Village on this beautiful, sunny Saturday!
What did I see?
I spotted three colorfully painted horse sculptures that were created in 2017 when the Breeders’ Cup was last held in Del Mar! That past public art project was called Art of the Horse.
The three horses now on display stand near the intersection of Camino Del Mar and 15th Street.
Two of the three life-size horses I hadn’t seen previously. To view past photographs of several more painted horses, you can click here and here and here!
(Thank you to two friendly members of the Rotary Club of Del Mar for their kindness in helping me solve a mystery. They were stationed by the sidewalk at Del Mar Plaza, offering information to out-of-towners visiting Del Mar during the Breeders’ Cup.)
Sea Horse. Created by artist Wyland.Hang On To Your Hats! Created by artist Daphne Gaylord.Triton’s Steed. Created by artist Chase Martin.
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
One of San Diego’s finest murals can be seen in Lemon Grove. Beautifully detailed scenes painted on five large panels represent the history of Lemon Grove.
The impressive 65 by 18 foot mural, which was commissioned by the Lemon Grove Historical Society, was created over the course of several years (2005 to 2013) by artists Kathleen Strzelecki and Janne LaValle. In 2014 the Lemon Grove History Mural won the prestigious Governor’s Historic Preservation Award.
Small plaques indicate the historical period of each panel. From left to right they read: The World of the Kumeyaay 1,000 BCE, The Spanish Conquest 16th Century, The Mexican Empire 1821-1846, The Birth of Lemon Grove 19th century, and Modern Lemon Grove.
If you’d like to experience this remarkable mural with your own eyes, it’s located in Lemon Grove on the south side of the building at 3308 Main Street. The historic building was once home of the Sonka Brothers General Store.
The World of the Kumeyaay 1,000 BCEThe Spanish Conquest 16th CenturyThe Mexican Empire 1821-1846The Birth of Lemon Grove 19th centuryModern Lemon Grove
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Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s major expansion has opened!
The beautiful new outdoor area, situated at the north end of the State Park, near the intersection of Taylor Street and Juan Street where an old Caltrans building used to stand, is called Land of the First People. It honors our region’s Native American Kumeyaay.
Pathways wind through native vegetation, beautiful public artwork, and interpretive displays on stones that describe the history and culture of the Kumeyaay, who lived here for many thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. A Kumeyaay village called Kosa’aay existed where Old Town is now, near the mouth of the San Diego River.
I arrived at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park this evening just before sunset and noticed the construction fence circling this new area had finally come down! So I had to investigate immediately!
Artwork I discovered includes numerous disks along the pathways, showing native animals and the Kumeyaay words for each; a circular plaza with a mosaic depicting stars and constellations recognized by the Kumeyaay; and two benches made extraordinary with mosaics by local artist Betsy K. Schulz. Her amazing mosaics can be found all around San Diego. I’ll provide more photographs of these two benches in my next blog post!
Before it became too dark as night fell, this is what my camera captured…
Iipay ~ Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok — Land of the First People.Ha silly hatekarr – sea otterThe Kumeyaay created pottery made of local clay for cooking and storage. A large askay or saakay kept water cool…The traditional Kumeyaay diet was highly diverse, but shawii (acorn mush) was eaten daily…The traditional Kumeyaay cosmology of Maay Uuyow (Sky Knowledge) is extensive and elaborate…Hand tools like those shown here are used with the bowl-like hollows and other indentations in xepiicha (grinding stones) to process acorns, seeds, fibers…This ancestral land is respectfully dedicated to the First People, the Kumeyaay.The people of the Kumeyaay Nation have historically lived in and traveled through the Southern California and Northern Baja California region. This area extended from the Pacific Ocean to the desert…
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Possibly my favorite part of today’s Grand Avenue Festival in Escondido was the robotics demonstration.
Students from several local high schools were showing their sophisticated robots, which can operate both autonomously and by manual control. These amazing robots are built every year to compete in the international FIRST Robotics Competition!
I saw one particular robot shooting balls into the air. One crazy looking robot with pipes sticking out of it was built to launch t-shirts!
All of the students I met were friendly and clearly smarter than me. Several provided technical explanations, which promptly went over my head.
I saw teams from Rancho Bernardo High School (Team E-Motion), Poway High School (Team Spyder), San Pasqual High School (Team SuperNURDS), and Escondido Charter High School (Team Daedalus).
Over the years, these local teams have had great success competing in the prestigious FIRST Robotics Competition. The acronym FIRST means For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
The games that challenge the competing robots are changed each year, so students must utilize creativity, logic, engineering skills and sheer ingenuity. Robotics is one fun way to implement STEM education in schools!
Check it out!
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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!
The 20th Annual Filipino Cultural Celebration was held today at Oceanside’s Civic Center Plaza. I arrived at the popular festival as it opened and stayed for a bit to enjoy all sorts of colorful entertainment!
After National Anthems were sung and presentations were made by community leaders, costumed dancing and singing commenced. The audience was wowed by an incredible fire dance by Dane Kaneshiro. You might’ve enjoyed his energetic performances at SeaWorld. As you’ll see in the upcoming photographs, he also custom paints longboards with great Polynesian inspired art. See his Kinjo Arts Instagram page here.
I also enjoyed chatting with a representative of the House of the Philippines about their new cottage in Balboa Park and watching kids perform tricks with tiny fingerboards on a model miniature skatepark. Of course, there was lots of food, vendors and educational opportunities, too!
The family-friendly festival was presented by the Filipino-American Cultural Organization and the Oceanside Public Library.
I was surprised to learn the second largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines resides right here in San Diego!
Another big Filipino festival is coming up next weekend in downtown San Diego at Waterfront Park. I plan to be there!
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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!
When I arrived at the 2021 Balboa Park Pow Wow this afternoon, the Inter-Tribal Dancing was just beginning.
According to the event’s flyer, the Balboa Park Pow Wow, a project of the San Diego American Indian Health Center, is about dancing for healing and honoring heritage. It’s taking place this weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) at the corner of Park Boulevard and Presidents Way.
I missed the earlier Aztec Dancers and Bird Singing, but I did experience what you’ll see in the following photographs.
The rhythmic beat of the drums was like a steady heartbeat. As I watched the different dancers, young and old, I saw eyes filled with dedication and pride. And I saw smiles like sunshine, too.
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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!
Bronze plaques near the foot of the Imperial Beach Pier recall the legendary slough surfers who once trekked from far and wide to the Tijuana Sloughs, where the Tijuana River meets the Pacific Ocean, just north of the Mexican border.
During much of the 20th century, the Tijuana Sloughs was considered the preeminent big surf break in California. There’s a great article concerning the history and geology of the Sloughs here.
If you walk around Portwood Pier Plaza at the foot of the IB Pier, you’ll see a bunch of colorful surfboard benches where you can rest and gaze out across the beach. Look down and you’ll discover plaques next to each bench.
The plaques recall those who rode the big waves at the Tijuana Sloughs and honor bits of Imperial Beach surfing history.
Surfhenge public art welcomes people to the Imperial Beach Pier and Portwood Pier Plaza. The plaza is located next to the beach between Surfhenge and the lifeguard tower to the south.Visiting slough surfers 1940’s.Regular slough surfers 1940’s and 1950’s.Most of California’s finest surfers were lifeguards at some stage in their careers…Dean of the Sloughs. In 1937 the Sloughs were first surfed by the legendary waterman Dempsey Holder. Over the years surfers from all over California showed up at Dempsey’s lifeguard station at the end of Palm Avenue.Visiting slough surfers 1950’s.Father of the Modern Surfboard. In the 1940’s Bob Simmons applied the principles of hydrodynamics to surfboard design and forever changed the sport of surfing. In 1950 he moved to Imperial Beach.…From 1930 to 1950 the total number of California surfers grew from under 70 to over 1500.In the 1940’s surfers from all over Southern California made the journey to what is now Imperial Beach to surf the then-known biggest waves off the continental United States.The Tijuana Sloughs became the testing ground for mainlanders going to Hawai’i. Before Malibu, San Onofre and Windansea groups surfed Makaha and the North Shore of O’ahu, they experienced the thrill and fear of big waves at the Sloughs.
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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