I spent another New Year’s Day by sparkling San Diego Bay. My feet seemed drawn to the water, as predictably as the Earth orbits the Sun. The rippling water and sea breeze always makes me feel reborn.
Today I walked from the Hilton San Diego Bayfront to a spot north of the Grape Street Pier, not quite as far as the Coast Guard Station.
Come along and we will relive the journey. Even on a relatively quiet New Year’s Day, we’ll observe fishermen, boaters, bicyclists, musicians, artists, friends and families. We will move through life.
One forward step leads to another.
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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!
A tiny dog dressed like Santa Claus attracts a lot of attention. The friendly musician performing by the Balboa Park reflecting pool didn’t seem to mind.
Christmas is coming on Monday. So I was given this afternoon off from work.
Even on the second day of winter, San Diego is pure sunshine.
As I got my legs pumping, Balboa Park seemed like the perfect destination. It’s a magical place that’s always full of new wonders and unexpected discoveries.
Something very cool is coming this weekend. I’ve been invited on a special tour of the Modern Masters from Latin America exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art. I’ll probably blog about the experience on Tuesday, the day after Christmas. Meanwhile, I’m going to take a short break here and perhaps do a bit of writing.
I hope you all have a wonderful and very merry next few days!
Young and old peer into a magical fountain near the Botanical Building.People move past light-filled archways, turn a corner…I was told these guys were filming the pilot of a funny show called “Cult of Kyle” in the outdoor courtyard of the Casa del Prado.Many faces among fallen leaves. Sketches discovered unexpectedly in Spanish Village, on a worktable outside Studio 10.Bright sunlight on trunks and leaves at the edge of Balboa Park’s Palm Canyon.The effort to save the Starlight Bowl has made great progress! They finally have a Special Use Permit from the City of San Diego!I was told that two shiny new marble benches outside the entrance of the San Diego Air and Space Museum are about one month old. They were donated by retirees of North American Aviation.People are entertained on El Prado one beautiful winter’s day in Balboa Park. The facade of the Casa del Prado makes a fantastic backdrop.This cool guy near the Zoro Garden had a long rope that generated zillions of bubbles at once!I often see this silent busker in Seaport Village. He was juggling and performing magic today in Balboa Park.A musician breathes life into the park. A small scene in front of the San Diego Natural History Museum.
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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!
Rotary Plaza in Coronado includes several interesting features, including a clock, fountain and community Christmas tree.
During my recent walk through Coronado, I paused for a bit at Rotary Plaza to check out the old clock, pleasant fountain and community Christmas tree. I read a few plaques near each of these features and learned a little about the history of the place. I’ve never seen the very tall star pine lit at night during the holidays, but I bet it’s quite a sight!
Coronado Rotary Plaza (sometimes called Rotary Park) is located on Orange Avenue at Isabella Avenue.
A handsome Rotary International clock and peaceful bench await passersby in Coronado Rotary Park.Plaque on the Electric Time clock reads Presented to Coronado by the Rotary Club of Coronado for Rotary International’s Centennial, February 23, 2005.The bubbling Jim Vernetti Fountain in Coronado’s Rotary Plaza, dedicated 2009.A Hanukkah menorah stands in Rotary Plaza during the holiday season. (The trunk of the large Coronado star pine Christmas tree is in the background.)Walking along Orange Avenue toward Rotary Plaza and the high Coronado Rotary Club Christmas Tree, which is lit at night.In May, 1936, the Rotary Club planted this starpine for the citizens of Coronado. This tree given by Emily T. Thompson in memory of her husband Charles.
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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!
Someone waits on a sidewalk among pigeons, early one morning in downtown San Diego.
In the city of San Diego, the early bird catches the worm. And an early morning walker takes many photos!
One cool aspect of living in downtown San Diego is the proximity of various rivers, estuaries, bays and, of course, the Pacific Ocean. One meets a host of different aquatic birds, including ducks, gulls, herons, cormorants, least terns, and other graceful inhabitants of air and water.
Here are a few fun photos that have gathered in my computer.
One of many pigeons in the city.Small birds on sunlit grass one morning along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade.A black-crowned night heron perched atop the Pier Cafe.A seagull stands on Broadway Pier over San Diego Bay.Strangely, a great blue heron stands in the southwest corner of Balboa Park one morning, watching people walk up a path.Ducks hang out by the pool in the San Diego Museum of Art’s May S. Marcy Sculpture Court.A mother duck and two ducklings walk among leaves on the Our River mural in Mission Valley.Morning ducks in Children’s Park downtown.A morning walk past the Children’s Park Fountain near many birds.Gulls enjoy another beautiful morning in the city.
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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!
A few dead leaves cling to branches that frame a new skyscraper.
The days pass by.
Memories gather . . . slowly fade.
Whenever I walk downtown, I see visions right and left of what is old and what is new. It’s often hard to remember how and when those visions first appeared.
I suppose the passage of time makes every walk a completely new adventure. Always new surprises, new mysteries, new beauty to discover.
Here are a few photos of my walk through downtown San Diego this morning.
Every time I walk near Seaport Village, my eyes pass different buskers and an ever-changing gallery of art.A beautiful windblown feather and I meet for a moment.Removing what is discarded and unwanted.A fountain near the entrance of San Diego’s Old Police Headquarters, now a destination for shopping and dining. I visited this building decades ago. I suppose the fountain is original, but I cannot remember.A colorful bird painted on a utility box near Pantoja Park seems just as alive as when I first saw it years ago.Dying leaves turn to the same color as new paint.A sculpture titled Flame Flower stands in front of the Westin Gaslamp. Years ago an obelisk rose here–5 or 6 or 7 years ago. I can’t remember.These bricks of a Gaslamp building appear to have been patched long ago.A once fashionable car turns to rust.Every so often entrances to the Gaslamp’s subterranean clubs are painted with intriguing new artwork.The building on Broadway that was home to Superfly West Tattoos is being demolished to make room for a new downtown high-rise condo development.The front of the YWCA building on C Street has remained unchanged since its design in 1926. The ornate Spanish Colonial Revival architecture was made popular by the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park.Shoveling weathered stones. Wheeling them about.Another walk through the city as time moves forward.
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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!
Street art spotted during a walk along North Park Way. This masked face looks a bit like a cosmic ice cream cone.
I really don’t know what the correct definition of street art is. All I can say for certain is that I was walking along a short stretch of North Park Way last weekend when I spotted these creative works. All were in the vicinity of Ray Street and 30th Street.
A cool street art face in North Park.Love More Than Ever stenciled on a wall.Two silvery reindeer sculptures on the sidewalk, near a mailbox that receives Letters to Santa. You’ll find these in December outside Pacific Drapery.Three somewhat sickly smileys on a Have a Nice Day sticker.A colorfully painted You Are Radiant. Yes. You.
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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!
In downtown San Diego at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Ash Street you’ll find a very mysterious building. At first glance it appears to be a Gothic manor, or the corner of an impenetrable stone castle. Stranger still, a small shield on the building’s exterior includes the word GAS. Is this the castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, from which gas is expelled in your general direction? No–it’s a power substation of San Diego Gas and Electric!
The secure little building was designed by prominent architect Richard Requa in 1922, who would go on to become Master Architect for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park.
My imagination is always electrified when I walk past this unusual sight. Is a Frankenstein monster being assembled behind those dark walls?
Here are some photos!
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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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 