Tag: united states

Blue Star Memorial By-Way marker in Lakeside.

Sharp-eyed people walking through Lindo Lake County Park in Lakeside might notice an old marker in the grass, on the south side of the lake, not far from a large shelter structure. A close examination reveals that it is a Blue Star Memorial By-Way marker, placed by the Lakeside Garden Club. It is dedicated to the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

The marker was placed here almost 40 years ago. This Facebook post recalls: Fourth of July 1986, the Blue Star By‑Way Memorial Marker and star pine were dedicated in Lindo Park, Lakeside, California as part of the opening ceremonies of the Centennial Celebration of Lakeside. As the red, white and blue balloons were released into the sky at the end of the dedication. I think we all felt pride in a job “Well done”.

I noticed that earlier this year, when I spotted the marker, a new tree had been planted near it. Was this the location of the star pine? Anyone who knows more about this history, please leave a comment!

What is a Blue Star Memorial By-Way? Check out this Wikipedia page for an explanation.

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Starting a cross-country bike ride in San Diego!

I met Dan Beaman today. He was with his bicycle at the Old Town Trolley station. His bike had an Iowa state flag, so I had to approach him and satisfy my curiosity!

I learned that Dan is biking all the way across the United States, starting in San Diego and ending in Daytona Beach. The ride begins in several days and should take about two months. He’s on a continuing quest for the best cookie in America! See his website and follow his progress by clicking here.

He had his traveling stuff in tow, including a tent. He told me he plans to ride a bit over 50 miles per day, and it’s mostly for the adventure of it. Taking a south route across the continent, he’s eager to see the Alamo, New Orleans and other fun places. He likes it warm and flat, so once he crosses our local mountains, he should really like the desert in Imperial Valley east of San Diego!

When I learned Dan is searching for really great cookies, I recommended he check out Uncle Biff’s California Killer Cookies in Hillcrest!

Hey readers, where is the best cookie in San Diego? Leave a comment!

…

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.

Feel free to share!

250th Anniversary of Revolutionary War in San Diego!

April 19, 2025 is the 250th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. A special event celebrating that first victory of patriotic Minutemen over the redcoats of the Kingdom of Great Britain was held today in San Diego!

At Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town, local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution welcomed the public to the colorful and educational event.

DAR and SAR members, who are descended from patriots of the American Revolutionary War, were dressed in colonial garb. Historical information was available at a number of tables.

I was met by many smiles!

Above is the City of San Diego Proclamation concerning the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington Concord.

Whereas, on this day…the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord, igniting a struggle for liberty and self-government that would shape the course of history…

…

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.

Feel free to share!

Presidents of the United States visit Balboa Park.

What do Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt have in common? These eight former, future and sitting presidents visited Balboa Park in San Diego!

A timely exhibit at the San Diego History Center celebrates the fact that our city’s crown jewel, Balboa Park, since its development for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, has acted as a magnet for United States Presidents.

The exhibit recalls how Woodrow Wilson’s speech at Balboa Stadium was the first time a president’s voice had been electronically amplified, and how FDR was the first person to ride in a car across Cabrillo Bridge.

While these different presidents might have disagreed on politics, it seems they agreed that Balboa Park was a special and very beautiful place.

Yesterday the 47th President of the United States was inaugurated. In the 21st century, how many more presidents will enjoy a visit to amazing Balboa Park?

…

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.

Thank you for sharing!

The Art of Immortalizing Heroes in San Diego!

An extraordinary War Memorial can now be experienced inside the old Command Center building at Point Loma’s Liberty Station, former home of the Naval Training Center San Diego. The artistic Memorial is titled The Art of Immortalizing Heroes by PISANO Artistry.

A long hallway is filled with amazing three dimensional murals made primarily of painted drywall screws! Over 100,000 of them! The Memorial is also composed of thousands of dog tags and wooden stars.

On the wall opposite the 3D murals is a long corrugated panel that replicates both the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Freedom Wall.

About 2000 volunteers in the military and San Diego community helped to make this War Memorial. It also celebrates Liberty Station’s Centennial.

The artist is Joe Pisano. He envisioned a Memorial for Veterans who haven’t been able to visit the War Memorials in Washington, DC. It honors all those who’ve served in the United States Armed Forces.

I’m so glad I discovered this Memorial on Veterans Day weekend, so that you can experience it, too.

Does this unique artwork appear familiar? I covered Joe Pisano’s drywall screw art in 2023 at the USS Midway Museum. See that old blog post, complete with a photo of Joe smiling, here!

Vietnam Conflict panel. Three soldiers returning from patrol.

Global War on Terrorism panel shows the Battlefield Cross in tribute to those lost in Iraq and Afghanistan..

Unsung Heroes panel. A variety of heroes, past, present and future.

World War I panel, with soldiers and a field of poppies.

Korean War panel of soldiers on patrol.

Funeral Honors panel, depicting Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

World War II panel, with Marines and Navy Corpsmen raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

…

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.

Vietnam Veterans honored at Fleet Week San Diego.

Veterans of the Vietnam War are being remembered and honored in San Diego this Veterans Day weekend. A special display created for the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration can be viewed at Broadway Pier, all weekend through Monday during 2024 Fleet Week San Diego.

I came upon the commemoration display while walking inside the pier’s Port Pavilion.

The friendly people you see above told me all about this special recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War. By official proclamation, the nationwide commemoration began on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012 and will continue through Veterans Day, November 11, 2025.

I observed posters and a visual timeline that help one recall a difficult time in world history. I learned that Vietnam Veterans have been receiving special lapel pins as a lasting memento of our nation’s gratitude for their sacrifice during the war. I also learned there’s an extensive Corridor Exhibit inside the Pentagon that tells the story of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. An online virtual tour can be found here.

Importantly, oral histories have also been preserved. Well over one hundred Vietnam Veterans have spoken of their personal experiences during the war. Their video recordings are collected on the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration website. If you’d like to listen to these oral histories, visit this web page. You’ll hear of pain, fear, courage, friendship.

…

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.

Photos of Rancho Bernardo Veterans Memorial.

The Rancho Bernardo Veterans Memorial is located in Webb Park. During a recent walk around small Webb Lake, I paused at the memorial to read plaques honoring military veterans who’ve sacrificed to defend our country and freedoms.

You can learn more about the Rancho Bernardo Veterans Memorial by visiting the Mission page of its website. You’ll read how the Veterans Memorial was designed and installed at a central location in Rancho Bernardo – Webb Park – and dedicated on 4 July 1994.

Engraved plaques along the sidewalk define the Patriots Walk. This feature, honoring veterans, was dedicated in 2022.

If you know of someone who ought to be included in the Patriots Walk, and you’d like to make a donation that goes toward maintaining the memorial, you can find a printable nomination form here.

These photos were taken on an overcast day.

…

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.

A patriotic Massing of the Colors in San Diego.

The 68th Annual Massing of the Colors and Service of Remembrance was held today in San Diego’s Balboa Park. About 40 color guards from around San Diego converged on the Spreckels Organ Pavilion for the patriotic spectacle.

The Massing of the Colors is presented each year by the San Diego Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars, a patriotic organization that was founded in 1926. Their motto is: It Is Nobler To Serve Than To Be Served.

MOWW promotes Youth Leadership, recognizes Law Enforcement and Fire & Rescue, and promotes love of Country and Flag.

As speaker Lt. Col. David J. Worley explained, at bottom it’s all about upholding the United States Constitution, which was designed to provide Liberty for all Americans. (Of course, this includes Freedom of Speech. As a writer, that’s very important to me.)

The Parade of Colors was followed by an Invocation by Kathleen Winchester, honoring those who’ve sacrificed for our country. Next came the Pledge of Allegiance, and the singing of the National Anthem and God Bless America, led by opera singer Laura Bueno.

Laksita Nandakumar in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Mira Mesa High School then read My Name is Old Glory. You can read it, too, here.

…

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.

Votes For Women at San Diego History Center.

The Women’s Museum of California has made its home inside the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. Visitors who walk into the history center can now view a museum exhibit concerning the struggle by women to obtain the right to vote in the United States.

Votes For Women: A Portrait of Persistence follows the efforts of suffragists to amend the U.S. Constitution and change state election laws by lobbying in their community and in the halls of Congress. As one display explains, the suffragists wrote articles, circulated petitions, gave speeches, organized marches, and were sometimes imprisoned for their protests. Over time these tactics won support for woman suffrage that led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

Visitors will learn how the fight for women’s right to vote lasted more than 80 years. Even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was required to eliminate the suppression of voting by women.

In addition to many interesting posters, there are garments on display that suffragists might have worn, including a bloomer costume, named for writer and women’s rights advocate Amelia Bloomer.

Kids can also enjoy fun activities. There’s a San Diego History Center image scavenger hunt and the opportunity to take selfies with a suffragist sash and protest signs!

After you check out the Votes For Woman exhibit, take a stroll around the rest of the San Diego History Center. There’s a lot of history to see!

…

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.

Balboa Park plaque dedicated to Craftsmen of America.

Balboa Park in San Diego is full of surprising history.

Perhaps you’ve seen this plaque. It can be found in a modest brick plaza at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages, beneath a rusty, flagless flagpole, a few steps from the entrance to the United Nations Building and Gift Shop.

The plaque proudly states:

DEDICATED TO THE CRAFTSMEN OF AMERICA BY THE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON APPRENTICESHIP — AUGUST, 1953 — BUILT BY APPRENTICES OF SAN DIEGO SPONSORED BY JOINT APPRENTICESHIP COMMITTEE ON MASONRY

Internet searches provide very little about this history. Perhaps a knowledgeable reader out there can contribute a comment. The brick wall and circular patio must have been built by local masonry apprentices.

I did find an interesting old article in the August 26, 1953 edition of CONVAIRIETY, a newspaper for employees of the Convair Division of General Dynamics. It begins by explaining how Two Convair San Diego men who formerly were apprentices at SD were singled out for honors during the first North American Conference on Apprenticeship held in San Diego Aug. 2-9.

You can see the full CONVARIETY article by clicking here, or read the text more easily by clicking here and scrolling down.

…

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.