The life of any city is endlessly complex and interesting. The colors one encounters reflect this truth.
Early in the morning I walked around downtown San Diego–primarily through Little Italy and the Columbia District. Then in the evening I walked down Broadway.
My camera found these colors…
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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!
San Diego history buffs know that the San Diego River, where it approaches the Pacific Ocean, is not located where it flowed originally.
A cobblestone filled channel in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is a visual reminder that the river once flowed directly next to our city’s birthplace.
In 1853, to prevent flooding in Old Town and the build-up of sediment in San Diego Bay, the Derby Dike was built, diverting the river into False Bay–today’s Mission Bay.
A sign by a footbridge over the modest cobblestone channel shows where the San Diego River was originally located in relation to the park and nearby Taylor Street. You can find this sign in the beautiful outdoor Iipay – Tipai Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok Land of the First People, at the northwest corner of the State Park.
Long before the arrival of explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, and the establishment of the nearby Spanish Presidio in 1769, the Native American Kumeyaay lived here on the banks of the life-sustaining river in a village called Kosa’aay. They called the river ha wenow.
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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!
Do you know why there are so many Jacaranda trees in San Diego? A century ago, horticulturist Kate Sessions, the Mother of Balboa Park, planted hundreds of these colorful trees in the heart of our city. They are native to South America.
Twice a year–in Spring and Autumn–the striking lilac-blue blooms appear along city streets, adding their unique hue to sunny San Diego. Of course, they’re very messy trees, and you don’t want to park under them when the sticky flowers are dropping!
In 2000, Jacaranda mimosifolia was designated the official non-native tree of San Diego.
I walked from Cortez Hill to Little Italy this morning, and these photos represent a little of what I saw!
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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!
Would you like to have a beautiful, shady “street tree” planted in front of your home or building in San Diego?
There’s a city program called Free Tree SD that will plant a tree in the public right-of-way between your sidewalk and street, if arborists determine its a good spot with plenty of soil, and you promise to water the new tree for several years.
I just learned about this green program and thought some of you might be interested. Learn all the details on the City of San Diego website by clicking here!
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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!
Check out this fun mural in Coronado that’s painted in an alley and not easily seen from any street. I only happened to see it because my eyes were on a swivel as I enjoyed a long walk around the island yesterday!
The mural, created in 2015, has a street graffiti vibe. It depicts the Hotel del Coronado, historic Tent City, a helicopter flying from North Island, the Coronado Bay Bridge under construction, and the Cabrillo ferryboat! (Which I happened to ride yesterday from downtown.)
If you’d like a firsthand look at the mural, it’s located roughly behind Village Ace Hardware. The alley runs between Orange Avenue and C Avenue, between 9th Street and 10th Street.
Perhaps you know the artist. I can’t exactly figure out the signature, so I’ve included a pic. Leave a comment if you know more!
My walk yesterday resulted in numerous photos. Among other places, I visited two very cool Coronado museums. Stay tuned!
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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!
There’s a street clock and flag in Allied Gardens at the corner of Waring Road and Zion Avenue.
According to this page, during our nation’s bicentennial in 1976, the Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club sponsored a parade, and later installed a permanent flagpole in the small park-like space now called The Triangle. Today, those passing through the community are greeted with a friendly Welcome to Allied Gardens.
I walked past the clock and flag a few weekends ago and took these photographs. I also discovered a couple of plaques by the flag. Many of the engraved pavers around the clock’s base have more recent dates.
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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!
Here’s a little more street art that I photographed during my last walk in El Cajon.
The red, white and blue flag horses are painted on an electrical box on Lexington Avenue, by Heartland Fire & Rescue Station 6.
The Chief Joseph box can be found a few steps to the east, between the fire station and the El Cajon Branch Library.
Both works of street art are faded, so I suppose they’ve been there for quite a while.
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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!
It seems that every time I visit San Ysidro, I discover new street art!
These photos were taken during my recent walk down San Ysidro Boulevard.
The king of street art in this neighborhood appears to be Gerardo Meza. He has painted many electrical boxes. I’ve already documented many. I love his bizarre characters, symbolism, and unique cartoonish style!
I also found…
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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!
Walk around the city and you’ll discover surprising things. Once in a while, if you’re lucky, you might stumble upon an historical marker in a hidden or unexpected place!
Over the years I’ve happened upon a number of these historical plaques and markers. I’ve seen them by shopping centers, by apartment buildings, on hilltops, beside trails, and tucked away in odd places off the beaten track.
I thought that perhaps you’d enjoy reading a few of them.
Here are a few of the more interesting markers I’ve found….
To read a plaque in Linda Vista about one of the first planned shopping centers in the United States, click here.
To read a plaque in National City about a “miraculous” well dug for Mount Paradise Sanitarium, click here.
To read numerous historical plaques on the top of Presidio Hill, where Fort Stockton once was, click here.
To read an historical marker in the middle of UC San Diego in La Jolla, click here.
To read a plaque marking the location of Kate Sessions’ nursery in Pacific Beach, click here.
To read a plaque near old Mission San Diego de Alcalá, marking the location of Padre Luis Jayme’s death during a Native American uprising, click here.
To see a fascinating marker recalling the historic La Playa Trail which passed through present-day Point Loma, near Midway and Rosecrans, click here.
To read several historical markers that are easily overlooked near an entrance to Presidio Park, click here.
To read a plaque in Coronado that concerns the birthplace of naval aviation, click here.
To read a marker that recalls a long vanished Chinese shipbuilding site in Point Loma, click here.
To read a marker in Chula Vista that commemorates Japanese immigrant farmers in the South Bay, click here.
To read plaques and inscriptions near the Old Mission Dam in Mission Trails Regional Park, click here.
Finally, to read a marker at the edge of a golf course near Old Town, detailing the history of San Diego’s oldest surviving structure, click here.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
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Please enjoy some downtown San Diego photos taken this evening.
After sunset I walked east from the Broadway Pier. Strolling slowly along the sidewalk, I gazed up at the changing light on tall glassy buildings.
When I reached Fourth Avenue, I turned back west and took a final photograph down Broadway.
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 