Tag: walking

A sunny New Year’s Day walk in San Diego.

New Year’s Day in 2025 was the perfect day for a long, sunny walk in San Diego. So that’s what I did!

I took these photographs as I strolled from beautiful San Diego Bay to Balboa Park.

Happy New Year to all!

A couple sits at the end of Broadway Pier gazing across San Diego Bay toward many sailboats. It’s the San Diego Yacht Club’s annual New Year’s Day Race.
Many people were enjoying a sunny New Year’s Day by walking along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
The Children’s Park playground was super busy.
Family plays foosball at Children’s Park.
A quiet day to fish out on San Diego Bay.
A perfect day for friends to throw a baseball on the grass.
The big 2-day New Year’s FNGRS CRSSD concert takes place at Petco Park.
People enjoy walking through Balboa Park’s rose garden.
Yes, a very fine day for a walk.
Musician plays in the Plaza de Panama near Balboa Park’s House of Hospitality.
Many eyes gaze down into the lush Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden.
A good crowd listens to the 110th Anniversary Concert of the Spreckels Organ in Balboa Park.
You never know what you’ll see in Balboa Park!
Nearly all of the International Cottages in Balboa Park were closed for New Year’s Day. At the House of Scotland cottage, the door was wide open, welcoming one and all!
Another year gone by. The effort to reopen the historic Starlight Bowl continues.
The United States flag above the San Diego Automotive Museum is at half-staff on New Year’s Day. President Jimmy Carter passed away at age 100 on December 29, 2024.

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

A late December walk along the Embarcadero.

It’s late December, 2024.

The Holiday Bowl was played yesterday in San Diego. It’s a time for family vacations–the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Passengers with rolling suitcases were boarding a cruise ship. No wonder so many people were walking along the Embarcadero this morning.

Wouldn’t you know, I took these photos under a gray overcast sky, and just as my walk ended the sun broke out and the sky turned bright blue. Not unusual in San Diego. Even in winter.

I began by walking north from the Broadway Pier…

I returned from the Star of India to the Broadway Pier, and will now proceed south…

The last old building at Navy Pier is being demolished, making way for Freedom Park. The almost 10-acre public park will be developed on the historic pier next to the USS Midway Museum.

New trees have been planted on the grassy lawn between the USS San Diego Memorial and the Embracing Peace statue of the Greatest Generation Walk.

Late Saturday morning, and the weekly Tuna Harbor Dockside Market was winding down.

A commercial fishing boat loads boxes of frozen bait.

This holiday season’s first ever “Downtown Skate” roller skating rink wasn’t open yet. The action would begin at noon behind the Marriott Marquis and Marina hotel.

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

Wishing you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Christmas is three days away.

It’s hard to believe another year has sped by. We’re almost a quarter of a century into the 2000s! How did that happen so quickly?

I think I’ll take the next couple weeks off from blogging. To relax a bit, recharge. After the New Year, Cool San Diego Sights should be back–in its 12th year–with more cool photographs from more walks! That’s the plan!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May our adventures next year be better than ever!

I was considering what photographs to post here, and I decided to share old Christmas photographs taken about ten years ago with a lesser camera. But these half dozen photographs somehow made it into a great book written by historian Bill Swank: Christmas in San Diego!

Bill Swank for many years played Santa Claus at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion during Christmas on the Prado and December Nights. He’s an award-winning author and leading authority when it comes to the history of the San Diego Padres. Learn a little more about him and his many merry endeavors here!

Anyway, the six photographs you see in this blog post appear in the pages of Bill’s 2015 book Christmas in San Diego. I feel very honored that they were selected.

San Diego is a city full of surprises. Here’s to more great memories!

Richard

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

Festive holiday sights from a Coronado walk!

Several days until Christmas, and the holiday spirit is on full display in Coronado!

Yesterday I took the ferry from downtown San Diego to the Coronado Ferry Landing. I walked down Coronado’s central Orange Avenue, circled the world-famous Hotel del Coronado, then turned back east along the opposite sidewalk.

Look at all the festive holiday sights!

The Coronado Ferry Landing is decorated for the holidays in 2024.
Tall nutcrackers on either side of the front door of Cocina 35.
Santa Claus stands beside a Christmas tree at the Coronado Ferry Landing.
A fun holiday display in a front yard on Orange Avenue.
A beautiful Christmas tree inside the Coronado Public Library.
The classic movie Christmas Vacation playing at Coronado’s historic Village Theatre.
Beautiful Christmas theme plates in a shop window.
A festive wreath in a shop door.
Poinsettias surround the Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree.
The enormous Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree rises beside Orange Avenue.
A small Christmas tree and decorations inside the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Historical museum display includes this Merry Christmas menu from the Hotel del Coronado in 1974.
Hotel del Coronado Holidays book displayed at the Coronado Historical Association museum.
Back out on the sidewalk, I meet a giant blue M&M candy in a Santa hat!
Lamb’s Players Theatre is now showing Respectfully Christmas, A Musical Celebration.
Frosty the Snowman and friend inside a shop window.
The big red poinsettia Christmas tree outside the Hotel del Coronado.
Beachside Igloos at the Hotel del Coronado.
A Christmas tree at the Hotel del Coronado’s outdoor ice rink.
Skating By The Sea at the Hotel del Coronado.
A wreath on the historic Power Plant door at the Hotel del Coronado.
Holiday lights and sights greet those arriving at the Hotel del Coronado.
Fun wreath contains sea shells and a bit of Hollywood. Some Like It Hot was filmed at the Hotel del Coronado.
a Christmas tree outside the hotel’s lobby entrance.
The gorgeous Christmas tree in the lobby of the historic Hotel del Coronado.
Back out on the Orange Avenue sidewalk, now starting back toward the ferry landing, I encounter a smiling Old Town Trolley Tours guide!
Elvis in front of MooTime Creamery is sporting a Santa hat, too!
Can Santa sit on this Christmas cow?
No, I see Santa Claus has already found a nice seat in front of Wag’n Tails!

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

Blazing sunrise photos along Harbor Drive!

Enjoy these photographs, taken early this morning around sunrise.

I walked through downtown San Diego along Harbor Drive, then on down Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade, which parallels Harbor Drive. The sun would rise almost directly in front of me behind thin clouds.

You can see how dramatic the blazing sunrise was!

These photographs taken by my old camera are unaltered, except for some cropping. (I’m feeling lazy. Yes, I could’ve sharpened a few of them.)

What a beautiful day! What a beautiful city!

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

Four more colorful Murals of La Jolla!

The Murals of La Jolla are constantly changing. Older murals are taken down; colorful new ones appear.

Every time I walk through the Village of La Jolla, it seems, I spot murals that I hadn’t seen previously. And indeed that happened last weekend!

Two of the four murals I photographed are fairly new. The others I must’ve missed in the past.

Enjoy these photographs!

My first three photos are of a large mural from 2024, by artist Todd Gray. It’s titled Ghosts in the Machine.

The next mural in La Jolla is also from 2024. Artist Amy Adler titled it Location.

The next mural from 2023 is titled The Scripps Gill Loggia. The artist is Rex Southwick.

Finally, the next two photos are of a mural titled Time. It’s from 2021. The artist is Gabriella Sanchez.

UPDATE!

Oops! I’d forgotten that I photographed The Scripps Gill Loggia last year. To see those photos, click here.

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

San Diego’s first Smart City touchscreen kiosk!

San Diego’s first Smart City touchscreen kiosk was installed last month in downtown, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and B Street. I encountered it for the first time several days ago during a walk!

The big, bright, digital touchscreen kiosk provides information in a way that might remind you of your smartphone. All sorts of great up-to-date information is available for tourists, residents, those who work or play downtown, and even those who are homeless.

The kiosk I observed is the first of 50 that are planned for downtown San Diego! The project is made possible by a partnership between the City of San Diego, IKE Smart City, and the Downtown San Diego Partnership.

Not only do these high-tech kiosks provide passersby with transit updates, event information, city attractions, maps, services and more, they provide free Wi-Fi!

I spent a few minutes goofing around with this first downtown kiosk and was really impressed! It’s a brilliant resource that anyone can freely and easily use!

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

More colorful and tasty holiday sights downtown!

Two walks through downtown San Diego. Yesterday, and early this morning before sunrise.

Another helping of colorful and tasty holiday photographs!

San Diego’s famous U.S. Grant Hotel is brightly lit Christmas green and red for the 2024 holiday season.

Advertisement on a downtown San Diego bus stop shelter promotes the Holiday Bowl, which is coming up on Friday, December 27.

The plaza in front of 550 West C Street has become a magical holiday wonderland.

A beautifully lit wreath in the same plaza.

Last year’s illuminated “Christmas crane” is back in the sky above downtown San Diego!

Santa has landed at a building under construction!

Someone from Italy also took photos of this Christmas spectacle while standing on the sidewalk beside me. She commented this is a sight you’d only see in America. I’ll take that as a good thing!

If you want to feel good, drop into the Donut Bar and say Hi to my friends.

Hungry for a super scrumptious chocolate yule log? Call the Donut Bar and they’ll make one for you!

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

Art and history at the Boulevard Transit Plaza.

Those walking through or waiting for a bus at the Boulevard Transit Plaza in City Heights might feel inclined to pause for a moment. This landmark bus station on El Cajon Boulevard over Interstate 15 features colorful public art and a collection of historical photographs.

The large transit plaza is split in two, divided by El Cajon Boulevard. Opposite sides serve east and west bound buses. Stairs and elevators also descend to Interstate 15 below where passengers can catch Route 235 rapid buses.

Public art and photographs are found on both sides of the split plaza. On either end of each platform, a post is decorated with colorful mosaics and dedicated to an adjacent community. The four communities served by the Boulevard Transit Center are Normal Heights, Kensington, Corridor and Teralta West.

I recently got off a Route 215 rapid bus at this stop to walk around the plaza. The artwork I’ve photographed here was installed in the past year or two–if you know more about the project, please leave a comment!

(There’s additional public art on the freeway level platforms–both here and at the nearby City Heights Transit Center–that I’ll document at some future time.)

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!

More creative street art in downtown Escondido!

It seems every time I walk through downtown Escondido, I discover more street art! That includes last weekend!

I believe that some of the art in these photographs is fairly new. The above electrical box, for example.

The box in my last photo I’ve noticed in the past, but I walked right past it as I hurried down Valley Parkway to or from the Escondido Transit Center.

Enjoy!

This great street art is by Shirish Villaseñor. If you’ve walked around during Comic-Con and seen fun window graphics painted at Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt near the San Diego Convention Center–that’s her art, too!

I believe this agricultural artwork is by Zane Kingcade. His amazing murals can be found all over Escondido.

Passion Flower was painted for the City of Escondido by Cedar Covington in 2023.

More beautiful flowers painted in Escondido, by artist Brenda Gunderson Townsend.

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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 X.

Thank you for sharing!