Star Wars photos outside Petco Park!

May the Force be with the San Diego Padres!

No doubt the Force will come into play, considering it’s Star Wars Day at Petco Park as the Padres face the Royals in a home day game.

Many fans were converging on the ballpark in downtown San Diego, and fun Star Wars shirts and costumes and signs could be spotted in the crowd.

I took photographs!

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U. S. Police & Fire Championships in San Diego!

The 2025 United States Police & Fire Championships are now underway in and around San Diego!

As their website explains: The USPFC is an Olympic-style competition for athletes representing Law Enforcement, Firefighters, and officers from Corrections, Probation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection from across the country.

There are 38 different sports in which participants can compete. There’s everything from tennis to soccer to bowling to cornhole, and, as I discovered this afternoon, basketball!

Walking through Balboa Park, I noticed spirited basketball play inside the Municipal Gymnasium. The athletes I observed are skilled and very serious about winning!

To learn more about the United States Police & Fire Championships and the various sports being played in venues around San Diego, check out this webpage.

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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 X.

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Fun at San Diego FC home game FanFest!

San Diego FC is playing LA Galaxy at Snapdragon Stadium this afternoon. At half-time the score is tied 1-1.

Before the start of every home game, San Diego FC hosts a very popular FanFest on the grass east of the stadium. Today the festival was packed with soccer fans, families and fun!

I walked around FanFest for my first time just for the experience. There are loads of activities. It’s an absolute party! Here are some photos…

Heading toward Snapdragon Stadium from the nearby trolley station.
DIRECTV is a major partner of San Diego Football Club.
Kids kick a soccer ball around on the grass.
This smiling lady was creating soap bubbles earlier!
Fans were posing for photos all over the place.
Big crowd ahead!
Many fans were in line for the team Meet & Greet.
The FanFest includes food trucks and picnic tables.
I think this guy is supposed to be SDFC Forward Hirving “Chucky” Lozano!
Kids find out what it’s like to be a firefighter.
Many fans were getting SDFC haircuts!
These guys will look very stylish.
Dedicated SDFC fans could also have their hair colored.
Chrome and azul are San Diego FC’s team colors.
Just “kicking it” at the pre-game party!

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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 X.

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Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in Logan Heights!

The other day I took photos of a cool mural in Logan Heights that shows legendary boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. It’s painted at the corner of Imperial Avenue and 27th Street.

Ali’s famous quote “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” is written above the boxers. Tyson’s quote “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars…” appears, too, along with an image of one of his tigers.

I didn’t realize it until I did some searching on the internet, but San Diego’s own Archie Moore boxed Muhammad Ali (when he was known as Cassius Clay) back in 1962. You can read a Wikipedia article about the event here.

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The 1915 San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race.

A famous car race was held in Point Loma in 1915. A historical display at the San Diego Automotive Museum recalls how the San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race involved many famous race car drivers of the era and received nationwide attention.

The race promoted the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. It is estimated 50,000 people watched the 305 mile race as it looped through Point Loma’s rather rough-appearing streets. The winning purse was a whopping (for 1915) $5,000. Only five of the eighteen drivers would finish the race.

The race winner would be Earl Cooper in Stutz No. 8. His average speed was a nail-biting 65.3 miles per hour!

A vintage car accompanies the museum display. The 1932 Morgan Super Sports, as much as it resembles some of the earlier race cars, debuted 17 years after the San Diego Exposition Auto Road Race was held. It can go 100 miles per hour–much faster.

When I saw this historical display, I immediately remembered my experience of the 1915 Road Race vintage car show. That amazing event was held in the parking lot by the San Diego Automotive Museum during Balboa Park’s centennial in 2015. See those photos here.

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Negro Leagues baseball exhibit opens in San Diego!

An extraordinary exhibit concerning the history of baseball’s Negro Leagues officially opens tomorrow, April 15, 2025, in San Diego!

Extensive displays celebrating African-American baseball players who helped lead the way to a more integrated and tolerant society can now be enjoyed on the 8th Floor Reading Room of the Central Library. The exhibit is titled Barrier Breakers.

Visitors to the Central Library are in for a treat. The epic exhibition is brought to our city by the San Diego Padres and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

There are biographies of athletes who competed in the Negro Leagues–complete with stats, accomplishments, photographs and memories. There are stories of how trailblazing players were eventually accepted by Major League Baseball. Different eras are represented, and key moments are remembered.

As one might expect, Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball, has a special place in the exhibit. It’s no coincidence that tomorrow, the day Breaking Barriers opens, is Jackie Robinson Day. Jackie made history by starting at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Another display celebrates the San Diego Padres’ own trailblazer, hometown hero catcher Johnny Ritchey. He made Pacific Coast League history when he joined the team in 1948. (He had seven hits in his first eleven plate appearances!)

Anyone who is a baseball, sports or history buff needs to check out Barrier Breakers. I just happened to swing by the Central Library today, and was super fortunate to observe a special preview presentation.

If you can’t make it to San Diego’s downtown Central Library, you can view an online virtual exhibit by clicking here.

Just a few photos…

During today’s special presentation, Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, presented The Home Run for Humanity Award to worthy recipients in San Diego. Congrats to all!

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The new Padres mural in North Park!

Have you seen the new San Diego Padres mural in North Park? It appeared to have been completed yesterday when I swung by this morning to check it out.

It’s located at 2510 University Avenue on the Western Dental building. Sadly, the community had to raise money for this great mural to replace another Padres mural on University Avenue that had been defaced. You can see photos of that LFGSD mural before it was vandalized by clicking here.

The same artists painted this new, much larger mural: muralists Carly Ealey (@carlyealey) and Christopher Konecki (@konecki_art).

Looks awesome!

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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 X.

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Photos around Petco Park on 2025 Opening Day!

The San Diego Padres are playing the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park this 2025 Opening Day. As I type these words, the score is 4-3.

Before the game, I walked around Petco Park and through East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter breathing in the exciting atmosphere.

Padres baseball jerseys, shirts and hats everywhere. The media on the scene. A huge crowd entering the ballpark. Many smiles and thumbs up. Just before the start of the big game, a flyover of military helicopters…

Enjoy a variety of photographs!

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.

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San Diego prepares for Padres 2025 Opening Day!

Padres banners and flags are going up throughout downtown San Diego–in the Gaslamp, East Village, and around Petco Park! The city is almost ready for 2025 Opening Day, which is tomorrow!

This morning, Padres personnel were putting up fencing beside Petco Park for the anticipated long lines and crowds. Tom’s Watch Bar, which has taken over the old location of Social Tap, was hurriedly installing big television screens.

Tens of thousands of excited fans will converge downtown for the early afternoon start. The Pads are playing the Braves. Let’s go!

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.

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2025 San Diego Padres appear on Embarcadero!

The 2025 Major League Baseball season is about to begin. And look who has appeared on San Diego’s Embarcadero along Harbor Drive. Players representing the San Diego Padres!

Before the start of every season, new Padres player banners appear on downtown lamp posts. You can find the banners around Petco Park and elsewhere. Some of the banners inevitably feature new faces.

I took these photographs today.

Last year the Padres were arguably the second best team in baseball. They were a game away from beating mighty Los Angeles and going to the National League Championship Series. How will the team do in 2025?

Jackson Merrill 3
Nick Pivetta 27
Xander Bogaerts 2
Manny Machado 13
Yu Darvish 11
Fernando Tatis Jr. 23

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.

Feel free to share!