Tag: travel

More discoveries on historic Presidio Hill.

Last weekend I walked all over Presidio Park. Looking around, I noticed several historical plaques, benches and signs on Presidio Hill that I hadn’t seen or observed closely before.

After wandering around Inspiration Point and taking in the view of Mission Valley here, and checking out the park’s little known monument to a White Deer here, I headed down one of the park’s canyon trails and soon arrived at the expanse of grass enclosed by Cosoy Way, where families were picnicking on the green slope above a bench…

The inscription on the bench reads:

THIS MEMORIAL TO

TOMMY GETZ

PLACED HERE BY HIS FRIENDS. JULY. 1935.

After taking a few photos, I crossed Presidio Drive and climbed the short distance to the site of old Fort Stockton, where I looked again at the historical markers and public artwork that I once photographed here and here.

Then I began down Presidio Hill toward the site of the centuries-old, long-vanished Spanish presidio, the “birthplace” of California.

As I slowly wound between trees I came upon the following bench, and a small nearby plaque…

The plaque reads:

DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF

FATHER FRANCISCO PALOU

BIOGRAPHER OF FR. SERRA

BY SAN DIEGO PARLOR 208

N.D.G.W. JULY 13, 1929.

(A little research reveals N.D.G.W. means Native Daughters of the Golden West, and their Parlor 208 represents San Diego County.)

A little farther down I found two more plaques by two trees. Sadly, the second tree and its plaque had been vandalized with red spray paint…

CONGRESSMAN JIM BATES

SAN DIEGO

CITY BEAUTIFUL OF SAN DIEGO

TRUTH- BEAUTY- FELLOWMAN

MARCH 30, 1984

IN HONOR OF

MARY VAUGHN

APRIL 20, 1987

LIFE MEMBER

CITY BEAUTIFUL SAN DIEGO

TRUTH – BEAUTY – FELLOWMAN

When I arrived at the old observation structure in a corner of the parking lot below the Junipero Serra Museum, I discovered a plaque on the ground that I hadn’t seen before. To read the larger plaque affixed to the wall, you can click here.

1782 SYLVESTER PATTIE 1828

UNITED STATES

DAUGHTERS OF 1812

SAN DIEGO CHAPTER – APRIL 1992

Then I walked down to the grassy area where San Diego’s 1769 presidio and original mission stood. You can learn more about the big Padre Cross here.

The above tiles I believe were part of the old Presidio and its chapel, whose ruins are now covered by grassy mounds.

This nearby sign explains how this was the site of the Royal Presidio de San Diego during the time of Spanish settlement during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was the first permanent European settlement in what is today the State of California.

Grassy mounds now cover what remains of the Presidio ruins.

Finally, I gazed across Presidio Drive at The Indian, a sculpture by renowned artist Arthur Putnam. Learn more and see a closer photo 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!

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!

Views from Presidio Park’s Inspiration Point.

View of the Junipero Serra Museum from Presidio Park's Inspiration Point.
View of the Junipero Serra Museum from Presidio Park’s Inspiration Point.

Today I walked around Presidio Park, including a seldom visited area called Inspiration Point. I wanted to be inspired! I also wanted to see the little known monument to a White Deer in one far corner of the park–which I’ll blog about shortly!

If you’ve ever seen a steep, winding driveway that heads up the hill east of the park’s Taylor Street entrance, that way leads to Inspiration Point. There’s a small parking lot and some picnic benches up on top.

You can also reach the area from various parts of Presidio Park via several unmarked dirt trails, which is what I did. If you take any of these trails, wear good shoes and use your eyes. You can easily navigate with Google Maps and common sense. No matter which way you go, there are fairly steep short climbs. You can’t really get too lost, but you might run into people who hang out in the dense vegetation who you’d rather avoid.

A short walk north of the small Inspiration Point parking lot, views can be enjoyed of Mission Valley from northwest to northeast, and you can see the Mission Revival-style Serra Museum building rising above trees to the west. The viewpoint amounts to a short path along a wooden fence. You can see it in my photos.

I must say much of what you see below is Interstate 8. I suppose before there was a freeway, and all the development built along it, the views of Mission Valley were much more green, open and natural.

Just beyond Interstate 8 you can see the nearby Presidio Little League ball fields, some motels, and far across the valley, up on the facing hill, Linda Vista and the distinctive buildings of the University of San Diego. If you really peer into the hazy northwest, you can glimpse Soledad Mountain.

Note: If Cool San Diego Sights now appears a little different, that’s because WordPress has forced everyone to use the new block editor. Which requires some changes. I’m doing my best!

Walking up a short path to the viewpoint.
Walking up a short path to the viewpoint.
Between the Inspiration Point parking lot and the viewpoint are some picnic tables. Various canyon trails connect this area with other parts of Presidio Park.
Between the Inspiration Point parking lot and the viewpoint are some picnic tables. Various canyon trails connect this area with other parts of Presidio Park.
A bit of a view opens between trees.
A bit of a view opens between trees.
Looking north into Mission Valley. Beyond lanes of Interstate 8, I see a baseball diamond used by the Presidio Little League.
Looking north into Mission Valley. Beyond lanes of Interstate 8, I see a baseball diamond used by the Presidio Little League.
A big old tree at the scenic viewpoint.
A big old tree at the scenic viewpoint.
Gazing northwest.
Gazing northwest.
Gazing northeast.
Gazing northeast.
Turning south, I take a photo of the lush vegetation in this part of Presidio Park.
Turning south, I take a photo of the lush vegetation in this part of Presidio Park.
My camera zooms west. Another look at the Mission Revival-style Junipero Serra Museum, a well known San Diego landmark high atop Presidio Hill.
My camera zooms west. Another look at the Mission Revival-style Junipero Serra Museum, a well known San Diego landmark high atop Presidio Hill.

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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!

Artists celebrate Frida Kahlo in new exhibition.

Welcoming Frida to My Imagination, by artist Lin Wei, 2018. Oil painting.
Welcoming Frida to My Imagination, by artist Lin Wei, 2018. Oil painting.

A fantastic exhibition has opened in Escondido that celebrates the life and work of legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Today I stepped into the Museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido to experience The World of Frida. The juried exhibition recently arrived from the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California.

Over one hundred highly creative pieces by artists who’ve been inspired by Frida Kahlo cover the walls of the Museum. Imaginative portraits of Frida Kahlo are plentiful, as are reimaginings of her works. Many different artistic styles delight the eye!

Like Frida’s paintings, most of these pieces employ lavish color and symbolism. Themes often reflect Frida’s own complex and sometimes mysterious personality.

In the artwork you will find pain and poise, vitality and frustration, sensitivity and anger, feminism and vulnerability, remoteness and love. It seemed to me that Frida’s emotional and intellectual complexity–the seeming ambiguity–provided many of these artists with a blank canvas upon which they could paint their own related ideas, feelings and experiences.

My photos are a small glimpse of this remarkable exhibition!

As you can see, another gallery at the Museum contains even more artwork, including a very cool car with a traditional Mexican altar in its trunk and a large Frido Kahlo Day of the Dead Altar. A third gallery features Frida-related artwork by local school students!

Head up to the California Center for the Arts, Escondido before November 15, 2020 when The World of Frida comes to a close.

Visitor to the Museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido explores The World of Frida.
Visitor to the Museum at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido explores The World of Frida.

Defiant Deer, by artist Jamie Burnside, 2018. Acrylic on canvas.
Defiant Deer, by artist Jamie Burnside, 2018. Acrylic on canvas.

Seed of Life, by artist Crystal Moody, 2017. Acrylic.
Seed of Life, by artist Crystal Moody, 2017. Acrylic.

Frida Kahlo Shrine Box Day of the Dead, by artist Monica Balmelli, 2016. Mixed media.
Frida Kahlo Shrine Box Day of the Dead, by artist Monica Balmelli, 2016. Mixed media.

Young Frida, by artist Kim Bagwill, 2018. Oil on panel.
Young Frida, by artist Kim Bagwill, 2018. Oil on panel.

Frida with Flower Crown, by artist Betsy Gorman, 2018. Mixed media collages.
Frida with Flower Crown, by artist Betsy Gorman, 2018. Mixed media collages.

Frida's Chair, by artist Marian De La Torre-Easthope, 2018. Oil on canvas.
Frida’s Chair, by artist Marian De La Torre-Easthope, 2018. Oil on canvas.

Frida #51, by Stikki Peaches, 2017. Mixed media on paper.
Frida #51, by Stikki Peaches, 2017. Mixed media on paper.

1954 Chevy Belair. Trunk altar honors family from Uruapan, Michoacan, and Mexico City, Mexico. Manuel Navarro Sr.
1954 Chevy Belair. Trunk altar honors family from Uruapan, Michoacan, and Mexico City, Mexico. Manuel Navarro Sr.

Frida Kahlo Día de los Muertos Altar by artist Daniel F. Martinez.
Frida Kahlo Día de los Muertos Altar by artist Daniel F. Martinez.

Celebrating Frida in the Afterlife, by Hayle V., San Pasqual Union School District Grade 7, 2020. Acrylic paint, markers.
Celebrating Frida in the Afterlife, by Hayle V., San Pasqual Union School District Grade 7, 2020. Acrylic paint, markers.

Corazon de Frida, by artist Juan Solis, 2018. Acrylic on canvas.
Corazon de Frida, by artist Juan Solis, 2018. Acrylic on canvas.

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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!

Murals in downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea!

Somebody walks past a very colorful public mural in downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
Somebody walks past a very colorful public mural in downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

Yesterday I enjoyed a walk around downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea. The small downtown area is jam-packed with amazing, colorful murals!

I took photographs of the murals I happened to stumble upon. I’ve captioned my photos with any information I could discover. If there are additional murals that I missed, I apologize! I walked a bit randomly.

One can see most of downtown Cardiff in fifteen minutes by turning up and down sidewalks at an easy pace. If you’re ever in the area, you might enjoy your own wonderful journey of discovery!

A tropical beach scene by Kevin Anderson Art Murals painted at the end of a strip mall building beside Aberdeen Drive.
A tropical beach scene by Kevin Anderson Art Murals painted at the end of a strip mall building beside Aberdeen Drive.

A sunset, dolphin, surfer and guitar-strumming mermaid!
A sunset, dolphin, surfer and guitar-strumming mermaid!

More of the beautiful beach mural, on the building's east wall.
More of the beautiful beach mural, on the building’s east wall.

Colorful surfers and surfboards on a mural across Newcastle Avenue from the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Branch Library.
Colorful surfers and surfboards on a mural across Newcastle Avenue from the Cardiff-by-the-Sea Branch Library.

Evening Gold, 2018, by Todd Glaser and Skye Walker. Painted on north side of building at Newcastle Avenue and Liverpool Drive.
Evening Gold, 2018, by Skye Walker. Painted on north side of building at Newcastle Avenue and Liverpool Drive.

The mural was painted from a photo taken by surf photographer Todd Glaser of pro-surfer Rob Machado, both Cardiff residents.
The mural was painted from a photo taken by surf photographer Todd Glaser of pro-surfer Rob Machado in action. Both are Cardiff residents.

Right end of a long, amazing mural in Cardiff by artists Skye Walker and Marissa Quinn. Painted in alley off Chesterfield Drive, between San Elijo Avenue and Newcastle Avenue.
Right end of a long, amazing mural in Cardiff by artists Skye Walker and Marissa Quinn. Painted in alley off Chesterfield Drive, between San Elijo Avenue and Newcastle Avenue.

Bicyclists on mural at strip mall on Aberdeen Drive in downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
Bicyclists on mural at strip mall on Aberdeen Drive in downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

More painted scenes on an adjacent mural, in front of The Cardiff Office dive bar.
More painted scenes on an adjacent mural, in front of The Cardiff Office dive bar.

Sign on mural describes Southern California artist Steve Barton.
Sign on mural describes Southern California artist Steve Barton.

A visual homage to San Diego sports teams, Padres and Chargers.
A visual homage to San Diego sports teams, Padres and Chargers.

I spotted this mural on the rear of a 7-Eleven store near San Elijo Avenue and Orinda Drive.
I spotted this mural on the rear of a 7-Eleven store near San Elijo Avenue and Orinda Drive.

Take an easy walk around downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea and discover many beautiful murals!
Take an easy walk around downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea and discover many beautiful murals!

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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!

Mingei’s lucky Japanese cats visit Friendship Garden.

The Mingei International Museum has a collection of over 150 maneki neko. Maneki neko are Japanese beckoning cats, made of clay, porcelain, metal, rock, wood or other material. They are talismans of good fortune in Japan.

Seventy examples of maneki neko in the Mingei’s collection are now on display in the Exhibit Hall at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Both the Mingei and JFG are located in Balboa Park, the cultural center of San Diego. Currently the Mingei’s building–the House of Charm–is closed to the public as it undergoes a major renovation.

This afternoon I visited the Japanese Friendship Garden and viewed this exhibition. It’s simply titled: Maneki Neko – Japan’s Beckoning Cats.

I must admit that until today I knew nothing about maneki neko. While admiring the many beckoning cats, I read some informative signs.

I learned that a maneki neko with a raised right paw indicates a wave of good fortune to a home, and a raised left paw brings luck to a business. The higher the paw, the greater the good fortune!

I learned maneki neko sometime wear colorful bibs, which represent an expression of gratitude for a wish realized. Also, the color of the cat is meaningful. Black symbolizes safety, gold symbolizes money, white symbolizes happiness, red symbolizes protection.

I learned about Hatsutatsu-san, a popular variety of beckoning cat that wears human clothing! (You can see an example in an upcoming photo.)

I also learned about a few of the different kilns in Japan that produce maneki neko, and how each kiln has its own distinctive style.

When you view this exhibition, you’ll probably learn a lot, too! And you’ll be charmed by the beauty and unique personality of every beckoning cat.

Planning a trip to Balboa Park? This wonderful exhibition can be enjoyed at the Japanese Friendship Garden through November 29, 2020.

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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!

Dappled beauty at Japanese Friendship Garden.

This afternoon I enjoyed a new exhibition of beautiful cultural artifacts at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. The exhibition, featuring pieces in the collection of the Mingei International Museum, concerns Japanese maneki neko, which are beckoning cat figurines believed to bring good luck.

Beforehand and afterward, I walked about the garden. Everywhere I turned I saw dappled light and shadow–in trees, on rocks, on the grass. So I took these photographs of the surrounding beauty…

If you love the Japanese Friendship Garden and would like to walk with them as they grow, read the above sign.

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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!

Your bus or trolley photo on MTS 2021 calendar!

Cool restored Silver Line trolley at Fifth Avenue station.

Do you live in San Diego, or have plans to visit? Are you a rider of the bus or trolley? Are you a photographer at any level who loves a challenge?

San Diego’s MTS (Metropolitan Transit System) might put one of your photographs on their upcoming 2021 calendar!

If you’ve taken a great photo outside or inside an MTS bus or trolley, or perhaps a photo from a station platform, you can submit your image to be considered for inclusion in next year’s official MTS calendar. If your image is selected, you’ll get credit plus your own free calendar.

The deadline for submission is October 15, 2020. Your photos must meet certain requirements, such as being high-resolution and in JPG format. You can learn all about what you need to do on this page.

Why not give it a try?

Sounds like fun!

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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!

Life returns to Balboa Park one strange summer.

It’s late summer. It has been a very strange year.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted almost every aspect of our lives. But even though we still wear face masks and keep our social distance, there’s a sense in Balboa Park that a more normal life is slowly returning.

Earlier in the spring and summer the park was eerily quiet. But in the past week I’ve noticed growing numbers of visitors. There seems to be a desire to recover a small part of a disrupted summer.

Some of the museums have reopened. Vendors and street performers along El Prado are back. Picnics on the grass have become numerous. People are once again posing for pictures by the lily pond.

The sunshine and beautiful flowers never went away.

I took these photographs during walks through Balboa Park yesterday and on Labor Day.

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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!

First look at new Town and Country river park!

The beautiful new river park in Mission Valley between the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center and the Fashion Valley Transit Center will soon be completed. Today I noticed the construction fences were down and the park was wide open to the public, so of course I had to walk around and explore.

After checking out the corner of the park next to the trolley station, I walked east following the elevated trolley tracks, turned south, passed an unfinished information kiosk, and crossed the San Diego River via the pedestrian bridge. I then walked along the winding new path on the south side of the river.

You might notice some intriguing, very unique public artwork. What appear to be tree trunks have been wrapped with bands containing words that concern the natural and human history of the San Diego River.

As I walked along the grassy green linear park, I spotted something slender and white down near the water. It was a great egret. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good photograph.

I think I might use those park benches in the future! Looks like a perfect place to sit and read.

If you want to see a few photos I took a couple weeks ago, when this new river park was less developed, click here.

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Varnishing the beautiful Star of India.

Boats require a lot of maintenance. The 157-year-old Star of India, oldest active sailing ship in the world, is no exception!

This afternoon I walked around the Star of India’s main deck and saw that new coats of varnish have been applied to some of the historic tall ship’s rails, posts, belaying pins, various panels, signs, the ship’s wheel and other wooden elements. And the work continues!

A friendly volunteer explained there’s a lot of sanding to do first.

Once the varnish is applied and dries, San Diego’s beloved Star once again shines brightly.

To my eyes more beautiful than ever!

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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!