Those who approach the Imperial Beach Pier through nearby Portwood Pier Plaza might notice patterned glass tiles on curving, low beachside walls. Illuminations is the title of this colorful mosaic artwork, commissioned by the San Diego Unified Port District. The beautiful public art was created by artist Mary Lynn Dominguez in 1999.
Twenty four years later some of the tiles are damaged or missing, but the overall effect remains vibrant and cheerful. During my visit to Imperial Beach yesterday, I bent down to take several photographs of Illuminations. Then I sat down on a bench and gazed out at the ocean.
A couple years ago I posted a blog about the surfboard benches that fill Portwood Pier Plaza. You can see some of the tiles in those photos.
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Walk along the Imperial Beach Pier and you’ll find humorous signs at intervals on either railing. Many of the signs, placed by the Port of San Diego and City of Imperial Beach, feature witty sayings and puns that relate to activities on and under the pier.
I asked a friendly lady at the Tin Fish restaurant at the end of the pier when these signs debuted. She told me five or six months ago.
I photographed many of the clever sayings, but not all. You’ll have to wander down the pier to see them all yourself!
EAT. SLEEP. BEACH. REPEAT.IB FISHIN’SEA-HABILITATEDDAILY DOSE OF VITAMIN SEAWE MERMAID FOR EACH OTHERIB LOUNGIN’CAST YOUR CARES AWAYHOOKED ON FISHINGCATCH A WAVEWAVES FOR DAYSSEAS THE DAYBEACH HAIR, DON’T CAREA REEL EXPERT CAN TACKLE ANYTHINGENDLESS SUMMERSURF BEACHES, NOT BROWSERSHANGING WITH MY GULL FRIENDSENJOY LIFE ONE WAVE AT A TIMERELAX AND STAY AWHILESALTY SOULEAT. SLEEP. FISH. REPEAT.HANG TEN, DUDE.BEACH VIBES EVERY DAYSAND ON, STRESS OFF
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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Does the roof of the 19th century Verna House in the above photo seem unusual? Perhaps that’s because it’s a uniquely sloped mansard roof, one of very few built on the Pacific Coast in the Victorian era.
The quaint little house stands at 2476 San Diego Avenue in Old Town. Today it serves as the Whaley House Museum Shop, where visitors can purchase museum admission, books and assorted gifts. Like the nearby Whaley House itself, the shop in the Verna House is operated by Historic Tours of America, the folks behind San Diego’s popular Old Town Trolley Tours.
I knew nothing about this house and its history until I spotted the above plaque while walking down San Diego Avenue several days ago. The plaque was placed on the house’s exterior earlier this year. It reads:
The 1870’s French-Mansard style home was named after San Diego restaurateur Cesare Verna and his wife Maddalena Daniele. In 1965, after the death of Maddalena, the house was moved from 319 West Ash Street near Downtown and placed next to the Whaley House to be saved from demolition. Today the Verna House is a vital part of the Whaley House Grounds and county park, and is a shining example of San Diego’s rich architectural history.
Twenty years ago, when the Verna House was maintained by the Save Our Heritage Organisation, the old structure was restored. Here’s an interesting article that provides description and photographs.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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James W. Robinson was hanged for stealing a rowboat from San Diego Bay. He was convicted of grand larceny. He was buried in San Diego’s Old Town, a short distance from where the hanging took place.
Perhaps you know James Robinson from his nickname, Yankee Jim. The hanging ground where he was executed in 1852 is now occupied by the Whaley House Museum. The historically important Whaley House lays claim to being the most haunted house in America. Some say Yankee Jim’s ghost can still be seen in and around the museum.
A plaque was placed on the south side of the Whaley House earlier this year. I took photographs of it a couple days ago. It describes the hanging of Yankee Jim, shortly before Mr. Whaley bought the old hanging ground to build his house.
The plaque reads:
On the 18th of September, 1852, James “Yankee Jim” Robinson was the last man to be hanged at this site after being convicted of grand larceny. The simple gallows consisted of two posts, a horizontal beam, and a mule-drawn wagon. Catholic priests conducted the final ceremonies and Yankee Jim was allowed time to deliver a farewell speech to the crowd that had gathered. Undersheriff Crosthwaite gave the order, and a whip was applied to the mules, leaving Yankee Jim to hang. Mr. Thomas Whaley, present during the execution, purchased this property shortly afterward. By all accounts, he built his brick home where the gallows originally stood.
Many years ago I visited the El Campo Santo cemetery where Yankee Jim was buried. I documented many of the gravesites, including his. I revisited the early San Diego cemetery again after discovering the Whaley House plaque.
The grave marker, which appears to contain errors, reads:
James W. Robinson, who was known as “Yankee Jim”, suffered the extreme penalty for stealing the only rowboat in San Diego Bay. The verdict of the jury was as follows: “Your jurors in the within case of James W. Robinson have to return a verdict of guilty and do therefore sentence him, James Robinson to be hanged by the neck until dead. Cave J. Courts [Cave Couts], foreman of the jury.
The poor fellow could not believe that he was to be hanged until the very last moment. He appeared to think it all a grim joke over, at worst. A serious effort to impress him with the enormity of his evil ways. He was still talking when the deputy sheriff gave the signal. Then the cart was driven from beneath him, and he was left dangling in the air. Surely the punishment was far more wicked than the crime. Yet the example must have proved effective in discouraging theft.
Yankee Jim converted to Roman Catholic Church prior to his death, thus his baptismal name of Santiago (Spanish for James). His godfather was Philip Crosthwaite, the deputy sheriff who gave the signal for his execution.
Information compiled from the History of San Diego, by W. E. Smythe, and other sources.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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The incredible, famous, one-of-a-kind 1907 Jessop’s Street Clock is coming to Balboa Park! The elegant clock, which was removed from Horton Plaza in 2019, has been given to the San Diego History Center, and it will be a centerpiece of their museum’s future redesign and renovation!
Did you know the several million dollar Jessop’s Street Clock was once San Diego’s biggest tourist attraction? Did you know that much of its movement is gold plated, and that it is decorated with precious gems mined in San Diego County? Did you know the one day the clock’s 300 moving parts stopped working was also the day its creator died?
Eight years ago I wrote this and more, and posted photographs of the incredible clock here.
Four years ago I posted a blog about its removal from Horton Plaza. See that here.
To learn more about the San Diego History Center’s planned renovation, and see renderings showing the 22 foot high Jessop Clock standing just inside the museum entrance, check out the San Diego History Center’s web page here. You’ll also view historical photographs of the clock from a century ago!
How awesome is this!
Postcard depicting San Diego’s Famous Clock, in a display case at San Diego History Center. Published circa 1946. SDHC Document Files Collection, Jessop Family. “It is the most completely jeweled and the finest made street clock in America, and the first clock of its kind ever built in a retail jewelry store…It took 15 months to build…”
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 (formerly known as Twitter)!
One of the most wonderful aspects of Balboa Park is its dynamism. Every day, with every walk, new discoveries come into view.
This evening, as the sun cast lengthening shadows, I wandered about photographing a park that is always in transition, forever new.
A new exhibition of Korean art is coming to the San Diego Museum of Art.One end of the Botanical Building’s steel structure has been renovated.New love, perhaps?Inflating the huge screen at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for Silent Movie Night.What’s coming next at the Casa Del Prado Theater?Painting patio tiles at Spanish Village Art Center.Flowers fall away as new flowers appear..Walking into the light through one wonderful park.
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Two large rooms are filled with colorfully painted pillars that resemble the towering supports of the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge just outside the museum.
While the outdoor pillars are home to the many famous murals of Chicano Park, these miniature indoor pillars pay homage to diverse groups that have worked to preserve the legacy and integrity of the local community, and the park itself. The exhibit also features related works of art, and historical photos of community members and artists (particularly Visionary Elder Artist, Salvador Roberto Torres) and their grassroots fight against the powers-that-be to create Chicano Park.
The Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center contains other great exhibits, too, and its corridors are brimming with work by many different artists. I was interested to observe a community event room, a workspace containing printing equipment for the production of fine art, and a large gift shop that’s also filled wall-to-wall with artwork that you can purchase!
If you never been, make sure to check the museum out! Go soon, however, because PILLARS: Stories of Resilience and Self-Determination will be on display through September 9, 2023.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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The thirteen-year-old Murals of La Jolla project is in constant flux. Older murals vanish, amazing new murals suddenly appear on buildings, along streets, in alleys. According to the official website there are currently 16 murals on view and the project has commissioned 45 artworks to date.
During my walk through the Village of La Jolla a couple of weeks ago, I spotted some murals that I hadn’t previously seen or photographed.
Here they are!
Ocean Front Property in Arizona, Rosson Crow, 2022.The Scripps Gill Loggia, Rex Southwick, 2023.Ebony on Draper and Girard, June Edmonds, 2021.Paintings Are People Too, Monique van Genderen, 2020.Eclipse (Playtime), Isaac Julien, 2020.Resurgence, Chitra Ganesh, 2022.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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A variety of antique wagons that have survived for over a century are being restored in Escondido!
During my walk late this morning through Grape Day Park, I noticed several gentlemen hovering about the wagonworks and wheelwright shop, which is located on the Escondido History Center’s Heritage Walk. They were working with the restored undercarriage of an old delivery wagon, and painting its wagon wheels.
I was informed that, over the years, many different carts and wagons have been restored by skilled volunteers at the Bandy Blacksmith & Wheelwright Shop. Brought in from many places, these horse-drawn vehicles from the Old West have been saved from the decay caused by time and weather.
A friendly gentleman showed me photos of wagons that have been restored. He then opened the nearby Penner Barn to show me the rebuilt body of the old delivery wagon, that will be fitted with the red undercarriage and wheels.
A year ago I peered into the working blacksmith and wheelwright shop and posted that blog here.
As I regarded the interesting operations around me, a pick-up truck approached, hauling an antique spring wagon! The spring wagon will become a new outdoor exhibit, to be enjoyed by visitors exploring the Heritage Walk.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Perhaps you remember the Centennial Railway Garden, which was built in a small outdoor space at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum in 2015 for the centennial of Balboa Park. (You can see it here.) That model train layout is now history. Those 3D printed models of Balboa Park buildings have been replaced with beautiful handmade buildings that represent the late 1800s Victorian era.
Check out these photographs of the new Freight and Flora: A Garden Railway Exhibit!
A company called Applied Imagination constructed and donated the awesome little buildings. You can view other similar garden railways on their website!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
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 Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 