While walking through Mission Valley in the early morning, I did a double take when I saw this unusual sight! I assume the motel is undergoing a name change. Or perhaps the driver hauling the Super 8 sign stayed a night at Quality Inn!
I recently walked around Barrio Logan to take photos of street art, including the famous murals in Chicano Park. During my fun adventure I passed this building.
I looked at Google Maps and believe this is or was the location of Kippy’s, a fashion design business that has a store in Coronado.
Here comes a fun batch of photos taken Saturday during my walk along San Diego’s beautiful Embarcadero!
This sculpture was originally part of an Urban Trees bayside art exhibit some years ago. A few remain on display here and there along the bay and elsewhere in San Diego. In this photo, the sun is directly behind the translucent green material, making it glow!
This guy looks a bit bored!
Sadly, my stroll along the Embarcadero today was interrupted by a terrible turn of events. That half-crazed pirate, Captain Swordfish, was out on the sidewalk near the San Diego Maritime Museum, badgering passing tourists and other innocents with his patented piratical mischief. Good grief!
Here he comes now about to draw his sword. There seems to be no escape. Isn’t ordinary pillaging and mayhem enough? Aaarrrrr, matey!
I wonder if Captain Swordfish was responsible for this, too?
Here are some pics I took Sunday during the second day of Cabrillo National Monument’s centennial celebration.
Cabrillo National Monument is located at the tip of the Point Loma peninsula. The hilly peninsula helps to enclose San Diego Bay and is a perfect lookout over both the ocean and harbor. The park includes most notably the historic Old Point Loma Lighthouse and a 1988 replica of the original statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo that was commissioned by the Portuguese government in 1935. It also includes military bunkers that were used to protect the bay during World War II, and a very popular whale-watching lookout.
The park this year turned one hundred years old. In 1913 Woodrow Wilson reserved a portion of Fort Rosecrans on the Point Loma peninsula for a statue of Cabrillo. Unfortunately, a statue was not immediately forthcoming, and the park’s development became the work of many decades.
The work in progress continues today. My last visit was a few years ago, and this time I noticed many big changes and improvements!
The first photo shows a bunch of people near the Visitor Center, on the walkway that leads out to the Cabrillo statue.
For the centennial event, many community and government organizations had exhibits near the entrance to the Visitor Center. This pic shows what appeared to be the most popular table. The friendly lady had numerous snakes that fascinated young and old alike.
Everybody enjoyed a small slice of birthday cake!
Here’s the iconic statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the Portuguese explorer who sailed into San Diego Bay on behalf of Spain nearly five hundred years ago. It stands not far from the Visitor Center overlooking both the bay and Pacific Ocean.
As I walked up the hill to observe a reenacted air raid drill from World War II, I looked back at this beautiful view. Great views can be had at Cabrillo National Monument looking in almost any direction!
These tents and some nearby vehicles were on display for the centennial. During World War II, after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, many feared an attack on San Diego. So defenses were quickly erected. In addition to a number of observation bunkers, a few gun emplacements were situated along the end of Point Loma to defend the mainland and bay.
A small museum nearby includes many photographs, recordings and artifacts from that period in San Diego’s history.
At eleven o’clock, a mock air raid was staged! An aircraft from nearby Naval Air Station North Island swept over the bluffs as World War II veterans and enthusiasts looked on from the hilltop near some old bunkers.
After the air raid, we all took turns going down into Battery E.
We were surprised at what we found! The flash of my camera illuminated the small semi-dark bunker, capturing this instrument used to scan the horizon for Japanese warships during World War II.
Down a nearby ladder was a second small room containing beds for those who stood watch at all hours.
A short distance from Battery E is the historic Old Point Loma Lighthouse. From 1855 to 1891 it stood as a beacon for those entering San Diego Bay, before being replaced by an automated lighthouse down near the water. This old lighthouse is one of San Diego’s most well-known sights!
A small museum near the lighthouse’s entrance is worth a quick look. It includes an amazing Fresnel lens that magnified light to help sailors out at sea.
A large flat area in front of the lighthouse was used by the keeper and his family to capture rainwater. Back then this lighthouse stood isolated, far from the small town across the water that grew into metropolitan San Diego.
Several furnished rooms in the lighthouse are on display behind glass. Very little space was available to accommodate the keeper and his family. In addition to this main room, there’s a kitchen area, closet, and two bedrooms up the winding stairs.
Speaking of the stairs, I couldn’t resist taking this pic!
Another great look.
Interesting sculptures, artwork and signs can be found at the Pacific Ocean overlook. During the winter months, you can see gray whales spouting as they travel between the Arctic and Baja California.
You can see where the tidepools are below. I didn’t go down to the water on this trip, but it’s a fun place to see all sorts of sea creatures!
At noon there was a guided hike down the Bayside Trail. We walked down a short road to the trailhead, where an old military truck waited with some folks dressed in historic uniforms. They would show us some interesting stuff down the trail.
Here we go down the Bayside Trail. The lady park ranger showed us a large number of native plants, including Coastal Sage, Lemonade Berry, Prickly Pear and more. The flora you see here is what is natural to the area. San Diego is located in a semi-arid zone, with very little precipitation. Most of the trees and other plants you see around town are not native.
We’ve come to a small structure built into the hillside that houses an old electric spotlight. The huge lamp was used to watch the San Diego Bay’s entrance during World War II. It rolled out on a pair of tracks and plugged into an outlet that you can see by the trail.
My camera’s flash brightly illuminated the old spotlight inside.
Now we’ve walked down to the electrical generator building–really just two small empty rooms. Usually these structures are closed to the public.
The group turned back, but I walked on…
And I was rewarded with this view. Having lived in San Diego a good many years, I recognized the large sailboat leaving San Diego Bay. It’s the Abracadabra, a boat used in a past America’s Cup. I also spotted the Stars and Stripes, just out of this picture.
Beyond downtown San Diego I could see numerous mountains, from Cuyamaca on down to Otay. When it snows in the mountains, San Diego has a snow-capped backdrop viewed from here!
One last look!
I took a nice long walk this chilly morning from Spanish Landing to the edge of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. I followed dirt and paved walkways, staying mostly near the edge of the boat channel that runs between Point Loma’s Liberty Station and Lindbergh Field.
Here are pics of one sight that was very hard not to miss. The gigantic flag at NTC Liberty Station was flying in the breeze at half-mast, most likely due to Nelson Mandela’s death today.
In the first photo you can see ladies getting a workout in a big grassy area, and some large guns that are monuments to the old Naval Training Center.
Today’s Liberty Station is a complex of stores, offices, museums, residential and park space. It used to be Naval Training Center San Diego, which was closed in 1997 and eventually redeveloped using the historic old buildings. The grassy expanse near the boat channel is Preble Field. It was the marching ground where Navy recruits assembled, marched and graduated from boot camp.
Beyond this plaque is where Ingram Plaza used to be. Ingram Plaza was the site of tent camps in the 1920s where incoming recruits were temporarily isolated to prevent outbreaks of contagious diseases. Here they also got haircuts, new uniforms and physical training before joining the regular routines of the base.
The plaque reads:
THIS PLAZA IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF OSMOND K. INGRAM GUNNERS MATE FIRST CLASS UNITED STATES NAVY WHO SACRIFICED HIS LIFE IN AN EFFORT TO SAVE HIS SHIP AND SHIPMATES DURING AN ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN THE U.S.S. CASSIN AND A GERMAN SUBMARINE ON OCTOBER 15, 1917
“GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS'”
UPDATE!
Here are a few more photos I took on a later day:
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This bronze sculpture can be found near the Shelter Island public pier, on the other side of the children’s playground. It’s called Bubble Bath, by artist Dan Hill. The tiny work of art is easy to miss while walking along the bay. According to the Port of San Diego website, the sculpture was erected as a memorial to a toddler.
This afternoon, during my Sunday walk, I was surprised to see the Rainbow Warrior, the well-known ship of the activist group Greenpeace, docked down on the Embarcadero. It seems they were visiting San Diego, and loads of people were streaming onto the ship for tours. I had my camera with me so I snapped some pics.
This first photo shows the bow of the ship. A banner proclaims Free The Arctic.
Look at all the folks in line! I saw lots of young idealists with clipboards and older hipsters in line. Several signs and displays were set up on the walkway promoting the Greenpeace mission.
Strung between the masts was a transparent banner reading OCEAN SAFE TUNA NOW. It was so large that it was visible several blocks away.
Check out these two photos of utility boxes I spotted while walking to work today in Mission Valley. They sit side-by-side a bit north of the San Diego River on a corner of Camino del Este.
The first box is painted in an amusing fashion with all sorts of dog breeds. Looks like the artist was definitely a lover of canines!
This second box is super colorful. I’ve observed that flowers are often central elements in street art. Perhaps people crave a bit of natural beauty in the concrete jungle.
I had taken a pic of an unusual poster about this event several weeks ago, so I decided to swing by during my Saturday morning walk. (Stay tuned for pictures of the San Diego Zombie Walk later today!)
I walked through Embarcadero Marina Park North about 10:30, half an hour after the animal rights protest had begun. It didn’t seem that many people had shown up yet. I’d estimate perhaps fifty scattered about the grassy areas and in the nearby gazebo and bay overlook.
This lady sat alone holding a poster indicating that cows are friends.
Here’s a photo of two men in the nearby parking lot being helped by a woman into animal costumes. One is a cow; it appears the other is a pig.
These tables seemed to be the central feature of the event. The attendees all were smiling. You can see haze in the distance–mostly overcast skies and very much like Autumn today.
Two more posters. One indicates that a rooster is someone, not something.
As I left the public park and returned through Seaport Village, I noticed a few more people trickling in for what seemed to be a very laid-back protest.
Cool San Diego Sights! 