Tag: tourism

Preparing to reopen the 1910 Balboa Park Carousel!

The restoration of the 1910 Balboa Park Carousel is now in high gear! I saw workers refurbishing the old building’s exterior today during a walk through Balboa Park. The historic carousel is scheduled to reopen next month!

Over the past several years, there have been various efforts to help preserve the beloved merry-go-round. I’ve posted several blogs concerning it. Carousel animals have been newly painted. LED lighting has been installed. The roof has been altered, removing the triangular overhangs at each corner.

More recently, according to the Forever Balboa Park website, the restoration project has proceeded with structure stabilization and the installation of a fire-safety sprinkler system.

The comprehensive restoration should be completed in July in time for National Carousel Day!

There will be a big celebration that day! There will be free carousel rides and family entertainment! When? July 25th, from 11 AM – 5:30 PM.

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Historical photos of Sessions Building in Old Town.

The architecturally exquisite Sessions Building in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is now home to Toby’s Candle & Soap Shop. Originally, however, it was owned by Milton P. Sessions. Beginning in 1929, he operated a flower and ceramic shop out of this building, which was designed by his friend, renowned architect Richard Requa.

Does the Sessions name sound familiar? That’s because Milton was the nephew of the famous Kate Sessions, who is often referred to as the Mother of Balboa Park. She helped him as a young man get his start as a nurseryman.

Should you walk into Toby’s Candles, you can view a couple of old black and white photos framed on the wall left of the front counter. They show what the Sessions Studio looked like almost a century ago.

The La Jolla Historical Society wrote this excellent article on Facebook five years ago about Milton P. Sessions. Among his notable accomplishments, he provided the landscaping for the Roads of the Pacific at the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. I blogged about the “forgotten” Roads of the Pacific recently here.

When you visit Toby’s, make sure to watch the skilled artisans making fancy candles! You might see something like this!

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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!

The iconic Gaslamp Quarter Archway refurbished!

When many think of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, the iconic Gaslamp Quarter Archway at the south end of Fifth Avenue comes to mind. The landmark sign welcomes one and all to downtown’s popular historic district.

This morning I noticed the old archway is being refurbished! Workers on two cherry pickers had finished painting the structure and were beginning to apply new graphics.

According to this web page, the last time the Gaslamp Quarter Archway was refurbished was 2012. The arch was originally installed back in 1990.

Here’s a pic I took a few years ago…

And here’s what I saw this morning…

I’ll head back to the Gaslamp this afternoon and see what progress has been made. I’ll post an update with more photos!

UPDATE!

This is what I saw mid-afternoon…

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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!

Walking the Embarcadero on Memorial Day weekend.

Many were walking along San Diego’s Embarcadero today. It’s Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend.

People were gazing out at San Diego Bay . . . visiting the Maritime Museum and USS Midway . . . looking at monuments on the Greatest Generation Walk, perhaps reflecting on the meaning of Memorial Day . . . relaxing or shopping in Seaport Village…

Street performers and vendors were stationed along the boardwalk. Kites were flying at Embarcadero Marina Park North. People were eating lunch outdoors.

It might have been mostly overcast, but it did feel like the beginning of summer…

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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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Grizzly bears mounted atop Automotive Museum!

More history was made today! Two life-size grizzly bear sculptures were transported from the San Diego studio where they were made and lifted by crane to the roof of the San Diego Automotive Museum!

A golden grizzly bear now stands atop each front corner of the museum!

The San Diego Automotive Museum occupies the California State Building, which was built for the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. These new bears help restore the historic building to its original appearance.

I wasn’t present for today’s “great bear lift” but I received these great photos to share! Not only were the two bears mounted on the reinforced rooftop, but two new flagpoles were installed above the building’s front entrance.

These landmark improvements to the Palisades area in Balboa Park are the work of the Committee of 100, who’ve been working to preserve Balboa Park’s historic architecture, gardens and public spaces since 1967.

Would you like to see these amazing bear sculptures up close? I was fortunate to get a very close look earlier this year! I posted those photographs and more fascinating details here!

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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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Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration!

Look what’s going on today in Balboa Park!

This year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration is bringing dance, music, art and lots of cultural fun to the International Cottages! Until about 4 pm, that is. If you read this in time, you might go check it out!

Today’s event includes participants from the Houses of USA, Chamorros, China, India, Korea and Philippines.

Special festivals and lawn programs are held nearly every weekend at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. You’ve never been? You’re missing out! Here’s the webpage that lists all the upcoming events!

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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!

Balboa Park’s forgotten Roads of the Pacific.

Wander a short distance down the hill west of the San Diego Air and Space Museum and you’ll stumble upon what appears to be a weedy, forgotten roadway paved with flat stones. What you’ve found is a bit of Balboa Park’s history.

These photographs show remains of the Roads of the Pacific, an attraction visitors could enjoy during the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.

The looping Roads of the Pacific ran beside the Ford Building, which is now home to the Air and Space Museum. Exposition visitors could ride the latest Ford automobiles on a short curving course and experience different types of road surfaces.

I found some old photographs showing the Roads of the Pacific. Check out this page of the San Diego Air and Space Museum’s website.

The page also provides a description, including: the circuit roads were more than half a mile long and featured 14 different segments demonstrating everything from the Santa Fe Trail with natural packed soil, to the Old Spanish Road with cobblestones, clay, and gravel. Designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, each section was approximately 196 feet long and 12 feet wide. To enhance this experience, the roadways were planted with native trees and plants from the Pacific nations…

…it was reported…that more than 480,000 people rode the Roads of the Pacific…

Today, almost a century later, this is a sample of what remains:

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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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Steam and Splendor arrive Memorial Day weekend!

What promises to be an excellent new exhibit opens this Memorial Day weekend at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. I glimpsed a small preview today as I walked through the historic steam ferry Berkeley, hub of the Maritime Museum.

The exhibition is called Steam and Splendor: Treasures from the Ocean Liner and Cruise Ship Ephemera Collection.

The thing that immediately caught my eye was the absolutely amazing work of art you see in the above photograph. I noted that the mural is titled Mermaid with Guitar. The ceramic and teak panel was created by artist Helen Webber in 1985 and decorated the Carnival Cruise Line ship MV Holiday. That ship was demolished in 2022 and the exceptionally beautiful mural was thankfully salvaged.

Some guys were setting up displays for Steam and Splendor and I paused to snap a few quick photos. The exhibit will obviously be extensive, as it will occupy two different Maritime Museum galleries. If you’re looking for something to do this coming Memorial Day weekend, or any time this summer, you might want to check this out!

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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!

A walk past the Baby Del in Coronado.

If you walk along the beach in Coronado, you might notice a gorgeous old Victorian house that resembles a small version of the famous Hotel del Coronado. It stands near the corner of Isabella Avenue and Ocean Boulevard. The Livingston House, built in 1887, is appropriately known as the Baby Del!

The “Baby Del” was originally located in Sherman Heights at 24th and J Streets. It was the home of Mrs. Harriett Livingston. It is said many of the workers who built the house would also work building the fantastic Hotel del Coronado one year later.

In 1983 the Livingston House was moved by barge to Coronado by architect Christopher Mortenson, who was instrumental in the Gaslamp Quarter’s renewal. The property was sold not long ago for nearly 16 million dollars.

The amazing house is recognized as San Diego Historical Landmark No. 58. Read more about the Baby Del at this 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!

Presidential visit exhibit at Hotel Del’s museum.

Last February a new exhibit was added to the Hotel del Coronado’s museum, which is located in the Victorian resort’s old ice house. Several display cases contain historical photographs and ephemera recalling visits to the Hotel del Coronado by United States Presidents.

How many Presidents? Count them. Benjamin Harrison, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

In addition to fancy printed invitations and menus, you’ll see that one state dinner in the Hotel Del’s famous Crown Room required 450 pounds of Totuava Sea Bass, 1000 pounds of Nebraska Prime Beef, 300 pounds of California Roasted Potatoes, 300 pounds of Colossal Asparagus, 1400 heads of Kentucky Lime stone [sic] Lettuce, 1400 Hearts of Artichoke…20 cases of Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon 1966…etc…

That must have been quite a feast!

I first visited the Hotel del Coronado’s fascinating museum a year ago and posted a blog about it here.

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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!