Tag: travel

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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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!

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!

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!

San Diego Riverview exhibit at Serra Museum.

The history of human activity beside the life-giving San Diego River can be viewed from the outdoor terrace of the Junípero Serra Museum.

The museum’s scenic San Diego Riverview exhibit helps visitors visualize the where and when of various important developments in the area. Historical images from the San Diego History Center Photo Collection can be compared to present-day sights in nearby Mission Valley and beyond.

I walked up Presidio Hill today to check out this relatively new exhibit.

As I write this, I can still remember my first visit to the Junípero Serra Museum. The landmark building stands high atop Presidio Hill overlooking Old Town and the west end of Mission Valley. Revisit those old photographs here.

Years ago I also posted a blog about climbing Presidio Hill, where Europeans first settled in California. See that here. Since then I’ve walked around Presidio Park many times and have shared all sorts of photographs. You can find many of them by using this website’s search box.

A plaque by the outdoor terrace acknowledges those who helped with the Serra Museum’s recent restorations.

Look for several of these signs outside the Junípero Serra Museum.

Interstate 8 runs through Mission Valley just below Presidio Hill.

Historical photos and information await visitors at the northeast corner of the Serra Museum’s outdoor terrace.

If you peer to the west beyond some trees, you can see San Diego Bay, which explorer Cabrillo discovered for Spain in 1542.

Survey of the San Diego River and San Diego Bay, 1853.

The Native American Kumeyaay lived in a village called Cosoy at the base of Presidio Hill near the San Diego River.

Derby Dike was built in 1853 by Lt. George Derby of the Army Corps of Engineers. The dike altered the course of the San Diego River, which periodically flooded Old Town, into False Bay–now called Mission Bay.

To see a historical plaque which marks the approximate location of old Derby Dike, click here.

Believe it or not, dike engineer Lieutenant George Horatio Derby was also a humorist who inspired Mark Twain! His pen name was Squibob. You can still see where he lodged while working in San Diego. Read about that here!

Photo of rebuilt Derby Dike in 1931.

Mission Bay can be spied to the northwest. The natural marsh and tidelands were enlarged by dredging from 1949 through the 1960s.

By looking from the Serra Museum’s terrace beyond nearby trees, you can glimpse La Jolla’s Mount Soledad to the northwest.

Photo of Old Town bridge washed out in 1916 flood. Rainmaker Charles Hatfield was both credited and blamed for the 20 day downpour!

The San Diego River in Mission Valley has been a source of food and water for the Kumeyaay, Spanish, Mexicans and Americans over the years. Before its urban development, many dairy farms could be found in Mission Valley.

Photo of Mission Valley from 1915.

Display concerns efforts for environmental preservation, and the history Mission San Diego de Alcalá. In 1774 the Spanish mission moved 6 miles inland from its original 1769 location on Presidio Hill.

On a very clear day you can barely see the Cuyamaca Mountains to the east. That’s where the San Diego River begins.

Mission Valley’s development began in earnest in the 1950s, with the construction of Atlas Hotels and May Company Shopping Center. San Diego Stadium arrived in the 1960s.

Over the centuries, many people from diverse cultures have contributed to the history of this dynamic place. At the center of it all runs the San Diego River.

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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 hidden garden in Old Town San Diego.

Most people visiting Old Town San Diego State Historic Park will not see the spring flowers now blooming in one beautiful but scraggly garden. That’s because the garden is a bit hidden, located near a walking path that is seldom traveled.

The garden can be found behind historic buildings that line the west edge of the State Park’s central plaza. If you walk into Old Town from the nearby trolley station, you’ll likely pass the path that leads behind these modest buildings, including Casa de Wrightington, San Diego House, U.S. House and Casa de Machado y Silvas.

I saw roses today and many other flowers!

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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!

Antique gas pumps at Automotive Museum!

Unique, classic and amazing one-of-a-kind vehicles dazzle visitors to the San Diego Automotive Museum. Lovers of nostalgia and the history of invention have can have a field day by simply wandering about the museum floor.

During my last visit to the Automotive Museum I noticed a bunch of old antique gas pumps displayed here and there.

Perhaps you’re old enough to remember the days when pumps similar to these were the norm. And a friendly gas station worker would pump your fuel and wash your windows with a smile. And you might receive some trading stamps, too.

I vaguely remember. But I’m getting old and that was long ago.

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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 sunny walk in La Jolla’s Kellogg Park.

During my last visit to La Jolla Shores, I enjoyed a walk through Kellogg Park.

Several interesting sights met my eyes as I wandered about the beachside park on another sunny San Diego day!

At the south entrance to Kellogg Park, there’s an unusual table-like sculpture.

I believe the octopus and compass design represents the organization Friends of La Jolla Shores.

Nearby, an octopus welcomes visitors to The Map of the Grand Canyons of La Jolla, which is located in a plaza located between the grassy park and the beach’s boardwalk, Walter Munk Way.

The following photo shows a bit of the beautiful map. I once blogged about the map, its artwork and meaning here. There’s a cool interactive website that describes the marine animals in the map here.

Entering wide grassy Kellogg Park from the south. Benches face a tall flagpole.

Another beautiful day in paradise.

Facing the flagpole from its north side.

There’s an old plaque at the base of the flagpole.

Kellogg Park, a gift to the people of San Diego from Florence Scripps Kellogg and the City of San Diego. Dedicated to the memory of Frederick William Kellogg. June 1951.

Palm trees and the nearby playground.

Gazing out toward the ocean and the La Jolla Shores boardwalk.

Picnic benches and green grass.

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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!

Spring blooms in Land of the First People.

It’s springtime!

Days are longer. The air is warmer. Flowers are blooming in the Land of the First People in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!

A few days ago I strolled through The Iipay ~ Tipay Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok (Land of the First People) area at the north end of the State Park, and I noticed a whole lot of color.

I’m no expert when it comes to identifying flowers and plants, but I do believe I recognized Bush Sunflower, Yarrow and Cleveland Sage, all native to the San Diego region.

I do know that what I saw is beautiful.

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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!