Look at these photographs that were taken last week!
I was heading through Balboa Park to the Comic-Con Museum (for my Comic-Con coverage) when I noticed that the restoration of the Botanical Building appears to be near completion. Look how amazingly beautiful it’s going to be!
Workers were busy painting the non-lath lower part of the immense structure. The area in front of the Botanical Building behind the construction fence, where grassy lawns and a small section of the lily pond have existed, was still mostly bare dirt.
If you’d like to see photos showing different stages of the Botanical Building’s deconstruction and restoration, and read more info concerning it (going back over two years), you can click here and here and here and here and 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 X.
It’s the final day of Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego. As usual, I went for a morning walk with my camera in hand.
In the early morning few people were about. I imagine many fans were sleeping in after yesterday’s super exciting Hall H reveals by Marvel, the Crunchyroll concert at The Shell, and other late night San Diego Comic-Con parties.
By mid-morning a crowd was growing in the Gaslamp Quarter and outside the San Diego Convention Center. While two offsites had disappeared overnight (the Bathroom Battlestation and MrBeast Lab), lines for the activations behind the convention center near the bay (FX, Voodoo Ranger, Adult Swim, Hulu, Abbott Elementary, and Dragon Ball) were already long.
Sunday is a day when many local San Diegans come out to enjoy the free offsite activations. I saw lots of families with kids!
Walking down Fifth Avenue early Sunday morning I saw this!Police bomb-sniffer dogs were getting underway. Thank you for keeping everyone safe!A fun photo near the FX offsite early in the morning.The IMDb Boat is gone.Banners remain for the two Crunchyroll concerts at The Shell.Fun graphics at The Shell box office.Additional colorful One Piece graphics remain at the San Diego Symphony’s outside venue, The Shell.No super long Hall H line winding through Embarcadero Marina Park South on Sunday.A Comic-Con view on Sunday morning from Embarcadero Marina Park South.The Dragon Ball line on Sunday morning was long. They give out good swag.Back in the Gaslamp. Wolverine and Deadpool got their masks confused!Sunday morning line at The Lodge.You can see how the crowd was growing during the course of Sunday morning.Romans in togas greet fans passing the Those About to Die chariot racing offsite in Gaslamp Square. A line was growing here, too.Setting up a sign by the SpongeBob squirting activation.A hot dog with mustard and no ketchup. Promotion of Universal Basic Guys on FOX.Shortly after ten o’clock the Petco Park Interactive Zone was already quite busy!Super cool Predator cosplay!Once more I’m behind the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con International chalk art!Pirates busy signing in visitors along the Adult Swim line.Having fun on the big carnival swing ride at the A.V.A. FEST of Abbott Elementary.More fun being had at the A.V.A. FEST!Will this guy get dunked?LANFest, through gaming, raises money for charitable causes. See their website here. They have 18 chapters in 3 countries!Stilt walkers greet fans to A.V.A. FEST during Comic-Con 2024.Adult Swim banner flies!Captain Hook cosplay near the FX offsite. Its line was very long by late morning!Now I’m heading back over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge. Less cosplay on Sunday, but still some good ones!Waiting a long time for a free slushy isn’t my cup of tea.I’m afraid I missed the Dexter activation. I’m going to steer my feet toward home.I have some cold water at home. Thanks anyway!A decent crowd in the Gaslamp Quarter just before noon. It’s Sunday at Comic-Con 2024.Powdered Toast Man cosplay from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Makes me wonder about lunch: What’s in my refrigerator?
I hope you enjoyed my photographic coverage of Comic-Con 2024. I think I’ll call it quits. My aging legs are tired!
It’s time to transition my blog back to its more normal self. I’ll be publishing a variety of posts concerning San Diego: unique events and festivals, museum exhibits, historic places, nature walks, street art–the usual Cool San Diego Sights stuff. I’m never entirely sure where I’ll walk next. Or what I might discover by sheer chance!
I do know I have photographs concerning Balboa Park coming up in the next couple days. So if you live in San Diego, or simply love the city, stay tuned!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view all of my coverage concerning San Diego Comic-Con, including hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things in San Diego, 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.
Huge crowds–crowds so humungous and dense that a body can barely move! Sudden celebrity sightings! Amazing cosplay absolutely everywhere! Uninhibited creativity run amok! It must be another Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con!
Comic-Con 2024 has come roaring back after several difficult years due to COVID and a writers strike. This year it seems like nothing had happened at all. Practically everyone loves Comic-Con and San Diego is fortunate to host such a wildly popular and simply wonderful international event.
As someone who traveled to San Diego from out-of-state told me (after asking for directions to the convention center): this is nerd heaven!
Yes, I had to walk outside Comic-Con a couple times today, to experience the wild and crazy atmosphere. I took some photos of what I happened to run across, including one very famous actress out in the crowd!
Enjoy!
Wall to wall humanity behind the San Diego Convention Center.Here comes Emilia Clarke off the IMDb Boat, leading actress in Game of Thrones!Just walking along…Looks like they’re taking a break.Ranch dressing cosplay. You don’t see this every day.Yes, if you don’t like crowds, this might not be for you!The Incredible Hulk flexes for a photo!A street musician.Looks like the chef has emerged from Tacos El Gordo.Spidey.I can’t recognize about half the cosplays, sadly. Perhaps you can help me with this one.A typical sight in the Gaslamp on the Saturday of Comic-Con.Chainsaw Man cools down in the shade.An arrival from a galaxy far, far away…Those MTS workers at the trolley station have a front row seat to the Comic-Con craziness!Happily promoting Grim Death.Cosplay of Lucifer Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel.Sword and shield at the ready!Don’t ask me. I’m keeping my distance.Oh, nooo! A mutant-seeking Sentinel has arrived. All those Wolverines now in San Diego better watch their back!Phew! Doctor Strange has sent the Sentinel away using powerful magic.These crazed Psycho guys have been hanging around Comic-Con all week. Someone should send them back to the Borderlands.How sweet!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
If a traveler had arrived in San Diego today, not knowing our city is in the middle of Comic-Con, and if they were to walk anywhere downtown or near the San Diego Convention Center, they’d conclude people have gone completely nuts. And to a certain extent they’d be right! Nuts can be good!
Check out these photographs I took while strolling outside Comic-Con today. The crowds were enormous. Super creative cosplay was everywhere. Some silly, bizarre sights designed to attract attention certainly attracted my camera!
A throng of Deadpools riding unicorns? Marketing genius! Funny, too!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
The crazy good times at Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego have begun!
I took one final walk late this afternoon, a couple hours before the San Diego Convention Center would open its doors for Preview Night. And what did my camera capture?
Fun people! Creative activities! Cool sights in every conceivable direction!
And Comic-Con hasn’t even begun in earnest! I can’t wait for tomorrow!
Reporter for IGN prepares to go on camera in San Diego’s Gaslamp during Comic-Con 2024.IT’SUGAR candy store in the Gaslamp has exclusive tokidoki merch for sale.Crowds are growing in the Gaslamp near the San Diego Convention Center on the afternoon of Comic-Con Preview Night.Dragon Tamer cosplay!Batman nemesis Penguin has brought his Gotham Ice truck to San Diego. Uh, oh!Banners on Harbor Drive indicate Heroes At Work.Have a question about Comic-Con? Ask this friendly guy!Here comes Tinker Bell!Do you dare enter the Adult Swim Pirate Parrrty offsite? You have to pass through this gigantic skull!It’s a pirate parrrty! And one heck of a big nose ring!These pirates seem awfully civilized. What are they really up to?These guys can spell A.V.A. FEST. They get a passing grade.Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed cosplay! Very cool!Fans are already exploring the Dragon Ball offsite.Here’s the end of the line for Dragon Ball exclusives, I believe.Hot Wheels is back again with their cool truck!However, the Sharpie truck is stuck in Harbor Drive traffic.Looking for a restroom? Watch for this sign!Part of the Bathroom Battlestation under construction. Looks like he needs a laxative.Cool artwork by a local artist along MLK Promenade.I’m now back to Fifth Avenue looking at the Omni Hotel’s big FOX Animation Domination building wrap.My goodness! These Borderlands Psychos seem to be everywhere!I’ve seen this caricature artist in Balboa Park.Gambit cosplay!Batgirl cosplay!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
A fierce dragon mural was the first thing I spotted on my Wednesday afternoon walk in downtown San Diego. It’s the day of Comic-Con 2024 Preview Night, and the action was picking up outside the San Diego Convention Center as you’ll see in my upcoming photographs.
That toothy dragon, by the way, was being installed in front of the Super7 shop, where they have a special Dungeons & Dragons theme this year.
Okay! On with the photos! Read the captions…
More graphics and activity inside the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café on Wednesday! Tomorrow Sonic himself will be making an appearance!Fandom PARTY banner now hanging at the Hard Rock Hotel.SpongeBob wasn’t squirting passersby…yet!A peek over the fence of the Petco Park Interactive Zone. That’s one big hand!The Petco Park Interactive Zone is taking form.Many faces now appear behind FX.The IMDb Boat’s big screen is active.Balls now fill the A.V.A. FEST ball pit!Lots of people are carrying swag bags as they walk about.Photo ops everywhere, including at the Dragon Ball offsite.Cool Comic-Con 2024 swag bag.OMG! It’s Chucky!The Bathroom Battlestation is being set up. Hopefully people don’t sit inside playing games on their phone for long. Other people have to go, too!Barb’s Bashroom.Looking down MLK Promenade past the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes offsite.Star Wars rebel pilot and his super cool Star Cruiser poses for photos!The Crow poses in Gaslamp Square with his own movie poster!Moxxi’s Borderlands bar entrance has appeared at the Hard Rock Hotel.A line has already formed for the Unknown Comics Pop Up Store.Captain America must have been here!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
It’s Wednesday in San Diego. This evening thousands will converge on the San Diego Convention Center for Comic-Con 2024 Preview Night.
This morning during my walk around downtown everything was still relatively quiet. Most offsites for Comic-Con were still getting ready. Vendors and event participants could be seen trickling in toward the convention center through the Gaslamp Quarter and from nearby hotels.
I took these photographs during my walk…
Quiet on early Wednesday morning at the Those About to Die offsite in Gaslamp Square.SpongeBob graphics now fill the Hard Rock Hotel! Check it out!SpongeBob greets guests at the Hard Rock Hotel’s front desk!The Petco Park Interactive Zone has more to go before it’s ready.Before you know it, crowds will be visible everywhere around the San Diego Convention Center.Hulu animated show graphics adorn the elevators at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.Bart Simpson is loose in the hotel!The big FX offsite is quiet on Wednesday morning.Adult Swim will be having a pirate parrrty on the green!Do pirates and dinosaurs go together?The IMDb Boat appears about ready.The entrance to the long green Hulu animayhem tunnel.It was early. Few people about.I didn’t realize pirates could board ships so easily.The A.V.A. FEST is looking ever more festive.Blessed and Pressed.The Dragon Ball offsite is looking just as cool as ever.Setting up the transportation tent near Harbor Drive.This will be the Bathroom Battlestation offsite, on First Avenue just north of Harbor Drive. The Mr. Beast Labs offsite is also supposed to be on this parking lot–where cars are still parked! Better get busy!I love Peanuts. Two of their classic television specials in the window of their offsite activation along MLK Promenade.The Subway sandwich sign spinners are ready on Fifth Avenue!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
More offsite activations are appearing in San Diego outside Comic-Con 2024, just a day before Preview Night!
The Petco Park Interactive Zone has finally begun to materialize, and a couple smaller activations have suddenly appeared along the boardwalk near the Omni Hotel. I saw as I walked along MLK Promenade that two offsites in particular are really taking form.
First, behind the San Diego Convention Center, the IMDb Boat has arrived and is getting itself decorated in time for the start of Comic-Con.
Now over to the parking lot near Petco Park, where activations are being built in the Interactive Zone. I learned the next two photos show construction of the Elden Ring offsite.
Nearby is another activation–I don’t know what.
You’ll be glad to know those concrete stairs leading to the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge are finally being repaired today. Remember them from last year? I was told by a friendly city worker that the bridge will be open tomorrow in time for Preview Night. Good thing!
Walking from the Petco Park Interactive Zone past the ballpark, you’ll find this new Dexter activation. I was told people will walk through it.
Next along the walkway is a super fun SpongeBob activation. It squirts water, streaming like a sponge! Workers were testing it as I approached, and it suddenly squirted some delighted kids!
Walking along Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade, I noticed some superheroes were being placed on their feet. Yes, the Marvel Contest of Champions big Ferris wheel has been setting up for several days, but I thought these photos would be fun.
Further along MLK Promenade, the Peanuts offsite has its exterior graphics ready. I saw workers through the windows getting everything inside ready. Next year will be the 75th anniversary of Peanuts. Might as well celebrate early!
Then, lastly, I saw how Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is getting its front entrance ready. Lots of junglelike foliage. (I’m afraid I’m the guy who made the lame “off the rails” joke. You’re not going to throw that net over me, are you?)
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Preparations are well underway for all the activities outside the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con 2024!
I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, along MLK Promenade and around the convention center a couple times today, curious to see what all is going on. I took a bunch of photos! (You might notice I haven’t sharpened or edited them.)
First, The Penguin banners were going up along the trolley tracks across from the convention center…
There’s going to be an Unknown Comics Pop-Up Store in the Gaslamp.
Workers were getting The Lodge ready for Paramount+.
Batman: Caped Crusader posters pasted to a downtown San Diego wall.
The two Star Trek/Dr. Who offsite locations now have outside graphics.
Workers were adding superhero graphics to the Marvel Contest of Champions Ferris wheel.
The Marriott Marquis now has Dragon Ball graphics above the front entrance.
Workers were preparing the Dragon Ball offsite on the Marriott Marquis Marina Terrace.
Here I’m walking down the bayside boardwalk toward the Hilton.
Abbott Elementary’s A.V.A. FEST has added their big slide. Happy people will plunge into a ball pit.
Work is finally underway at Adult Swim’s offsite: the Pirate Parrrty!
Workers are putting up the big FX wrap on the Hilton promoting What We Do in the Shadows.
Peeking into the FX offsite. Looks like a topiary garden.
More photos of the FX activation at Comic-Con.
Peacock’s offsite in Gaslamp Square, recreating the ancient Roman stadium Circus Maximus, now has a handsome exterior.
Baja Rick’s at Gaslamp Square now has graphics promoting the Olympic Games on NBC.
IGN is getting their balcony at the Hard Rock Hotel ready. Watch for celebrities here!
Workers are finishing up the AMC building wraps on the Hilton Gaslamp.
Getting the Peanuts offsite ready on Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.
Not sure what this will be for.
The entrance is being created for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, just beyond Peanuts.
San Diego is nearly ready for Comic-Con in 2024! Preview Night is in two days!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
What the heck is that green thing? It’s part of another fun, surprising offsite being created outside the San Diego Convention Center before Comic-Con 2024!
What I love about walking around before Comic-Con is the mushrooming creativity. Sure, the offsite activations, building and trolley wraps, and carnival rides are all about marketing movies, television shows, video games and whatnot–but it is creativity that brings delight to the buying public. Art and storytelling are an essential part of it all.
So it’s now Sunday afternoon before Comic-Con 2024. Several days to go before the pop culture convention officially opens. I’ve already posted lots of photos the past few days. But more stuff keeps materializing!
Local artist Shirish Villaseñor has begun painting the windows of the Starbucks at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. It’s a SpongeBob SquarePants theme celebrating the cartoon’s 25th anniversary! (She has some big community mural projects coming up in San Diego which I hope to cover in the next couple months.)The smile of a friendly artist!The FX offsite and building wrap are getting ready. Like most Comic-Con offsites, it opens on Thursday.Hulu’s Animayhem has returned in 2024. They’ll have a huge offsite behind the convention center.I’m pretty sure you can’t slide inside this huge green pipe.Some sort of fun factory.A big swing ride at the A.V.A. FEST. Woo-hoo!That cool Star Trek wrap is now 100% complete on the Marriott Marquis.Crates have arrived for the Dragon Ball offsite. It’s going to be awesome as usual!A big Dragon Ball wrap is being placed on part of the Marriott Marquis.The second side of a trolley wrap design that I hadn’t been able to photograph earlier. The Boys.The big, fun Marvel Contest of Champions Ferris wheel under construction along MLK Promenade.More spooky Immortal Universe graphics placed on the Hilton Gaslamp.A wider look.My goodness! Wrapping the large Hard Rock Hotel all around with SpongeBob graphics takes many days of work.The Lodge by Paramount+ is starting to look like a lodge.The transforming power of human creativity.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!
Cool San Diego Sights! 