In September, 2014, a powerful microburst struck Mission Valley, destroying many trees along the San Diego River.
San Diego’s first real winter storm of 2025 has arrived. A whole lot of rain is anticipated, especially tomorrow evening.
Storms in Southern California are usually big news. Our climate is naturally arid, so we could always use the precipitation. But there can be destructive flooding. That’s what happens when people live in what is essentially a desert.
It can be hard to remember that places now lush with landscaping and trees supported mostly sagebrush before human development.
Cool San Diego Sights is now almost 12 years old. I’ve had many opportunities to take photographs during stormy weather.
These are a few of my most dramatic photos.
In February, 2016, very high winds drove boats into the rocks along San Diego’s Embarcadero.In February, 2019, a big storm left debris under the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon bridge at Torrey Pines State Beach.In January, 2024, Mission Center Road became flooded near the San Diego River. Cars were stranded.In Februrary, 2019, Dan Plante of KUSI News was reporting at a flooded Mission Center Road.In February, 2024, guys from The Weather Channel were reporting from a flooded Fashion Valley Road.In January, 2016, cars were flooded in the lower level of the Fashion Valley shopping mall parking garage.In January, 2018, I spotted many umbrellas during rain in downtown San Diego.In January, 2018, cleanup at the Omni San Diego Hotel was required after a storm.In January, 2021, extremely high winds bent palm trees in downtown San Diego.In February, 2020, dark clouds over the ocean beyond Pacific Beach’s Crystal Pier portended a storm.In October, 2021, dark clouds hovered over Balboa Park as a storm gathered.In October, 2021, rain fell heavily at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, while a small audience on the dry stage listened to an organ concert and distant lightning.
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Do you play piano? Head over to the Oceanside Museum of Art, sit down at this very cool hand-painted instrument, and tickle the ivories!
I saw this piano during my last visit to the museum. It has a name: Henri. I believe it’s named after French pianist Henri Herbert.
Henri was painted by local artist Rene Cosby. It’s the result of the Oceanside Art Piano Project and a sponsorship by the Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation.
There’s a great detailed article concerning this first public piano in Oceanside. To read it, click here!
(Back in 2016, the San Diego Symphony placed ten uniquely decorated pianos around San Diego for the public to play. Most of those pianos have disappeared, but you can see the photographs that I took by clicking here.)
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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.
Until I read a plaque attached to the Carlsbad archway sign, I hadn’t realized the “new” sign was already ten years old.
Starting in the 1930s, people have passed under a Carlsbad sign while traveling through this coastal city. In 2015 the original sign was replaced with a replica–the one you see in my photographs.
The landmark sign straddles Carlsbad Boulevard at Carlsbad Village Drive.
During previous walks, I hadn’t noticed two bronze plaques describing the sign. The plaques are identical. They’re attached to the posts that support the sign on either side of Carlsbad Boulevard.
These photos were taken a week ago.
This sign is a gift from TaylorMade and the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the important role business has played in the City of Carlsbad’s success. It is a replica of the iconic Carlsbad sign installed in the ’30s.
DEDICATED ON JANUARY 8, 2015
(Leading sports equipment manufacturer TaylorMade has its corporate headquarters in Carlsbad.)
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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.
Walk down to the beach in Carlsbad and you might find wisdom.
The walkway at Rue Des Chateaux Beach Access has a bench. Words shine on a plaque above the bench.
Mary Hoffman – In Loving Memory
Listen to the wind, it talks.
Listen to the silence, it speaks.
Listen to your heart, it knows.
The beach is reached in a few steps. The place is beloved by locals, said to offer amazing sunsets.
The Rue Des Chateaux Beach Entrance is located near 2445 Ocean Street, where the street curves inland away from the water. A sign by the sidewalk indicates the public beach entrance.
It’s a beautiful place your heart knows.
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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 Loma Alta Creek Nature Trail is a short, easy path in Oceanside where people in the city can see many birds.
Also known as the Loma Alta Marsh Footpath, the urban nature trail extends west from South Coast Highway (just north of Paradise by the Sea Beach RV Resort) to Buccaneer Park. The distance is about one quarter mile.
I walked the nature trail several days ago and took these photographs. I began at South Coast Highway where it passes over Loma Alta Creek. You’ll see the following sign at the trailhead.
As part of the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, the Loma Alta Creek and Watershed makes up part of the northern section of the Carlsbad Hydrologic Unit. Gathering water runoff as far as 7 miles inland and following much of Oceanside Boulevard, this watershed provides a habitat for seabirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds that migrate to its outlet at Buccaneer Beach. A vast array of salt marsh plant species flourish in the tidal area near the coast to provide nesting and foraging for birds.
Following the trailhead from South Coast Highway toward Buccaneer Beach, you will find many wonderful and diverse species that depend on you to keep their Coastal Wetland Habitat clean and free from pollution.
I observed a Great Blue Heron perched in a tree across the water. My camera on its automatic setting didn’t take such a great picture, unfortunately.
An old sign (I increased the image contrast) indicates that bird species one might see while walking along the Loma Alta Nature Trail include Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, American Coot and Black-Necked Stilt.
The trail passes under railroad tracks.
A northbound Coaster train rumbles by…
There are two beautiful murals painted under the railroad bridge. You can glimpse part of one in the next photograph. To see both murals, click here!
In the next photo, I continue to head west toward grassy Buccaneer Park, a popular spot for families. That bridge in the distance is where South Pacific Street passes over the creek. On the other side is Buccaneer Beach.
Lots of birds on the rocks!
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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.
“Life’s Rad” proclaims a mural painted outside Carrillo Pottery in Oceanside. This and a mural depicting an Aztec figure drew my curiosity as I walked up South Coast Highway.
Then a guy came out the front door and greeted me. It was Joey Carrillo. Come on in! he said smiling.
What I found inside Carrillo Pottery was beyond cool.
Super colorful, authentic Mexican pottery, and super unique handcrafted decor fill the large shop to overflowing. Bright colors are everywhere. The vibe inside the place is definitely SoCal.
Joey showed me how all sorts of products by local artists are for sale, too, making the place something of an art gallery.
Life’s Rad is a California lifestyle brand featured at Carrillo Pottery. The brand thrives with the help of artist Sean Dominguez (@artbydomo), who created the outdoor Life’s Rad mural, the brand logo, shirt designs and more.
I’m so glad I ventured into Carrillo Pottery. It brightened my walk through Oceanside. Joey Carrillo is the coolest guy you could ever hope to meet–he’s a musician, too!
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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.
These two murals in Oceanside are seen by relatively few people. They were painted fifteen years ago along a little used nature trail, under a shadowy bridge that supports train tracks.
One of the murals seems to depict nearby Buccaneer Beach, with a view of Oceanside Pier in the distance. The opposite mural appears to show Loma Alta Creek that the nature trail–Loma Alta Marsh Footpath–follows. (I’ll be blogging about this short trail soon.)
I noticed an artist signature: Betty Gilroy 2010.
I walked under the railroad tracks last Friday. These two murals are like weather-beaten hidden treasures.
The following photos are of the Loma Alta Creek mural. You can see the actual creek beyond it. The artwork is filled with many of the birds one can see from the trail…
The next group of photos show the opposite mural, depicting people at the beach. The art was behind a chain link fence, making photography a challenge…
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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.
Renowned local artist James Hubbell produced numerous works of public art throughout San Diego County. In Carlsbad, his colorful Bird of Paradise mosaic can be enjoyed at the corner of Carlsbad Boulevard and Carlsbad Village Drive.
Bird of Paradise was commissioned by the City of Carlsbad in 1989 for the Art in Public Places Program. The circular mosaic is composed of small ceramic tiles, which together form an almost 15-foot-diameter medallion.
Those walking past the major intersection near the historic Twin Inns building, at one end of the Carlsbad gateway sign, need merely look down toward their feet.
In years past I had vaguely observed this artwork. Until I noted the nearby plaque yesterday, I hadn’t realized the beautiful mosaic was created by Hubbell. So I paused to take a much closer look!
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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 many small murals painted on a low wall in Oceanside’s Artist Alley change from time to time. The alley is like a living thing!
I was told by a shopkeeper that some of the murals you see in today’s photos were painted during the recent holidays. Other artwork was created early this year.
Oceanside’s unique Artist Alley is located directly south of the city library and civic center, on the other side of Pier View Way. It’s the home of many cool, artsy specialty shops.
If you’d like to learn more about Artist Alley, and see how this wall of murals appeared four years ago, click here.
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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.
A historical monument to Solana Beach’s original developer Ed Fletcher stands by a pathway that leads through Fletcher Cove Park down to the beach. I’ve often wondered about the granite marker.
It reads:
THIS PLAZA PARK AND MILE OF OCEAN SHORE DONATED TO THE PUBLIC BY ED FLETCHER, THE DEVELOPER OF SOLANA BEACH – ERECTED BY ADMIRING FRIENDS
I’ve tried to learn something about the small monument, but to no avail. Perhaps a reader of this blog can contribute a knowledgeable comment.
When was this monument installed? Who were the admiring friends?
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 