Construction of a new fire station at Pacific Highway and Cedar Street. When finished this station will serve the North Embarcadero and Little Italy.
Many cranes now fill the sky in downtown San Diego. They seem to be concentrated in East Village and along the waterfront. I’ve lived in downtown for a long time, and I don’t recall seeing this amount of construction activity in many, many years.
As you might have noticed, I like to walk along the Embarcadero. During the past few months I’ve been watching the progress of several construction projects not far from the water. Every time I go for a stroll it seems that I have to tilt my head farther and farther back…
It’s fascinating to watch new buildings slowly rise into the sky–and to watch as old buildings are swept away. It seems that human ambition is like an ocean that crashes wave after wave, unceasingly changing the cityscape. The things we see today will in time be replaced, and, like ourselves, become a small bit of history.
Here are some photos. Most I took late this afternoon. (The first four photos, which show the new fire station construction, were taken very recently.)
Read the captions!
The new fire station is west of the railroad and trolley tracks, in order to avoid potential delays when fire engines are dispatched to emergencies near San Diego’s harbor.I took this photo (and the next) about a week after those first two photos. Huge steel beams have appeared!A new bayside firehouse is being built in San Diego!Graphic on the fence surrounding the now closed Anthony’s Fish Grotto. A new waterside dining experience is coming called Portside Pier.Portside Pier will be just south of the Star of India and include a dock for visiting boats. (Interesting that this graphic doesn’t show Point Loma, North Island or any land across San Diego Bay!)Portside Pier will include Brigantine, Miguel’s, Ketch Grill and Taps, and Portside Coffee and Gelato.Demolition of the Navy Broadway Complex has been underway for several weeks. I believe a remotely-controlled robot is being used to destroy the old building floor by floor, starting at the top level.Another look at the old Navy Broadway Complex being slowly removed. Heaps of debris are growing.Photo taken from Ruocco Park shows the Navy Broadway Complex demolition, plus the construction of the new InterContinental Hotel (left crane) and Pacific Gate by Bosa (right crane).The Navy Broadway Complex is being demolished to make way for Manchester Pacific Gateway, which will include four office buildings, a retail promenade, tourist attractions, a park and two hotels.A look at the demolition so far from Pacific Highway. The Navy Broadway Complex has evolved since the early 1900’s and has served the Pacific Fleet in various capacities.The tall Pacific Gate by Bosa appears to be nearing completion. Photo taken near intersection of Broadway and Pacific Highway.Construction continues near the base of Pacific Gate, a high-rise luxury condo.Pacific Gate rises in the distance, behind the construction of a new InterContinental Hotel, located at the site of old Lane Field. Photo taken from across Harbor Drive.When finished, this InterContinental Hotel will provide 400 luxury waterfront rooms for visitors to San Diego.I took some photos of ground floor construction as I walked along Pacific Highway north of Broadway.Another photo of construction of San Diego’s new InterContinental Hotel.Looking upward.Lots of cranes are in San Diego’s blue sky! A dynamic city grows and continues to evolve.
Here are a couple of later pics!
The new InterContinental Hotel rises.The old Navy Broadway Complex falls.
And one more photo of the fire station after months of progress…
In this photo the City of San Diego Bayside Fire Station No. 2 is approaching completion.
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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!
Curious tourists take the Coronado ferry across the bay to downtown San Diego. What will they see?
Yesterday I bumped into a few unexpected sights. No different than any other day. A walk through the world with open eyes can tickle both one’s funny bone and heart.
A pedicab advertising marijuana delivery!A walking, smiling iced coffee!Upside down visitor information!A heartfelt welcome on the bow of the USS Midway. Welcome home to the troops.
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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!
Looking across San Diego Bay toward downtown. A spectacular view from Coronado’s beautiful Centennial Park.
Spring will soon become summer. I had to wear shorts for my long walk around Coronado today. A very warm sun was shining and the island was abloom.
Walking west through Centennial Park. Flags line the pathway for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.Gazing from a sheltered area with benches across the green grass. The skyline of downtown San Diego rises in the background.Words on one bench. Don’t be afraid to lean into the wind, love the earth in all of its glories, and take care of each other.Gazing north along the bayside beach toward Navy ships docked at North Island.Roses bloom near the old ticket booth of the original Coronado ferry.A spring bloom in Coronado.Some patriotic art on a wall by the Little Club on Orange Avenue.Walking west along Orange Avenue. Coronado is pleasant, friendly and inviting wherever you roam.Bench near the front of the Coronado Public Library.Plaque on the bench. In memory of June Lenz, founder of Crown Garden Club, whose legacy was to encourage the love of flowers and the beautification of Coronado.Flowers in front of the stately but welcoming Coronado Public Library.The big Torrey Pine on the left side of this photograph is a Coronado Heritage Tree.Flags by the library fly proudly on a spring day.A plaque on a boulder by the flagpole. The Stockdale Tribute. Vice Admiral Stockdale and his wife Sybil were distinguished Coronado residents.A shining, kinetic sculpture by the library turns in the breeze.A flower vendor brightens Orange Avenue.This life-size Marilyn Monroe by an Orange Avenue shop is in her iconic pose. The famous actress starred in the movie Some Like It Hot, which was filmed at the nearby Hotel del Coronado.Flowers along fence of a pleasant house in affluent Coronado.Looking out across the wide beach toward the Point Loma peninsula and the Pacific Ocean.A peek at John D. Spreckels’ “beach house” on Coronado.
On the beachfront, at 1043 Ocean Boulevard, you’ll find one of two historic Spreckels Mansions: his “beach house”. John D. Spreckels’ more impressive “bay-side house” is now the Glorietta Bay Inn, across from the Hotel del Coronado. The successful and very wealthy businessman helped to transform San Diego into a bustling city and center of commerce. One of his business ventures included the world-famous Hotel del Coronado.
Concrete sidewalk in front of the Spreckels “beach house” is stamped 1898.Heading south along the beach toward the Hotel del Coronado, one of the world’s finest resorts.Coronado has one of the best beaches in the United States. It is regularly rated in the nation’s top five.Hotel guests and visitors enjoy the San Diego sunshine on a broad white beach.This cool sand sculpture was built near the Hotel del Coronado by The Sandcastle Man!The Hotel del Coronado is an architectural gem. Numerous world leaders, dignitaries and celebrities have stayed at the resort over the years.Sign by the beach. Hotel del Coronado continues to safeguard this magnificent stretch of Southern California coastline.This is paradise.Biking down toward the Coronado Shores.Old and new maps of Coronado Island on a portable restroom.The Hotel del Coronado’s old boathouse, on Glorietta Bay, built in 1887. It’s now home to the Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill.Bicyclists ride down Glorietta Boulevard, part of the Bayshore Bikeway around San Diego Bay.Golfers enjoy a sunny spring Saturday at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course.Photo taken beneath the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, which opened in 1969. Locals often call it the Coronado Bay Bridge.Boats moored between Coronado and the bridge. San Diego’s shipyards can be glimpsed on the other side of the bay.Colorful boats piled on the sand near Coronado Tidelands Park.A silly bench by the playground at Coronado Tidelands Park, created by sculptor Douglas Snider of Studio 15 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center.I believe this fellow down by the water is a great blue heron.My walk will soon come full circle. What a perfect late spring day.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
A group begins an easy nature hike down a trail at San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
On Saturday I visited Gunpowder Point, just south of where the Sweetwater River empties into San Diego Bay. The marshy area is a wildlife refuge. It’s part of the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, to be exact, and home of the popular Living Coast Discovery Center.
After visiting the Living Coast Discovery Center, I enjoyed a guided nature hike down a short trail through the Sweetwater Marsh.
I was pleasantly surprised by the bare natural beauty. I didn’t see a whole lot of wildlife during this visit, but I know our region’s marshes and estuaries are often teeming with birds. San Diego is part of the Pacific Flyway, a major route of migratory birds that stretches from Alaska to South America.
A map inside the nearby Living Coast Discovery Center shows the location of the Sweetwater River and the marsh where it enters San Diego Bay.Hiking through Chula Vista’s protected Sweetwater Marsh on a sunny day. It’s mid-May and the once green and flowering plants have begun to dry out. In this photo I see some prickly pear cactus. During the hike I also recognized black sage and coastal sagebrush.Our guide shows us saltbush. It is adapted to the type of salty soil in this coastal marsh. Its leaves taste salty!Sign by the trail. This area is called Gunpowder Point. During World War I, Hercules Powder Co. extracted potash and acetone here from kelp harvested offshore in the Pacific Ocean. These were used to make cordite, also called smokeless gunpowder, for the British.A sail on the bay beyond a drying field of San Diego Sunflowers.The short, easy hike is ideal for families.Some sunflowers are still yellow.The San Diego Sunflower, or Bahiopsis laciniata, is often found in a coastal sage scrub environment.The Silver Strand and Coronado Cays can be seen across San Diego Bay.We’ve arrived at the wildlife refuge’s narrow sandy shore. Birds could be seen here and there in the distance.As the group continues on, I linger to take in the sunshine and wide views. I notice what appears to be remnants of the potash manufacturing operation from years ago. Some benches allow rest and meditation.Stones and debris on a beach in the wildlife refuge.Some mysterious (to me) concrete ruins on Gunpowder Point.I arrived at a bird observation structure. All was very quiet. I saw a California least tern hunting small fish along the water’s edge. Few people seem to come out here.Depending on the tide, the area near the shore can be open water or a mudflat that supports shorebirds searching for food.Bird’s beaks are specially designed for feeding. Some beaks filter plants from the water, some grab flies out of the air, and some probe the mud.The tide must have been out, because this platform stood above a drying mudflat. I believe that might be bright green eelgrass in the shallow pool of water.Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, or crystalline ice plant, is salt tolerant. My hike through the marsh produced some beautiful surprises.Hiking through an expanse of green in San Diego’s South Bay.
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!
Bronze sculpture of a mountain lion and cub near the Lake Poway concession building. Pride of the Wilderness, Richard Becker, 2007.
This morning, before checking out the new Tony Gwynn statue, I took a short hike up the Lake Poway Trail.
Here are some photographs…
Sign near beginning of Lake Poway Trail shows how to continue on to the summit of Mt. Woodson, location of the famous Potato Chip Rock.On a Sunday morning some people along the shore are trying their hand at fishing.Starting up the Lake Poway Trail. The natural scenery is beautiful.A trail marker.I believe this is wild mustard. Various flowers could be seen along the trail.Bright green foliage above silver water.Hikers climb the Lake Poway Trail on an overcast weekend morning.Looking back at how far I’ve come so far.Several boats containing fishermen were floating on the lake below.More hikers climbing skyward.This is as far as I came. I enjoy a breathtaking view as a ray of sunshine comes through and touches a hill across the lake.As I head back down, my eyes feast on more beauty.A small bunny is out on the trail.Almost back to lake level.Some kids were fishing.These kids who are fishing huddle together to check out something on the lake’s shore.Someone caught a huge fish! One of the kids runs over to see!During my short hike I turned around at this bench. It’s dedicated to John Finley McMinn, naval aviator who won the Distinguished Flying Cross.
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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 maze of yellow tape. That’s what you call an abundance of caution.
Here’s something funny I saw this morning as I walked through downtown. There was so much yellow caution tape wrapped around this building, it looked like a crazy web or a funhouse maze . . . or some sort of daunting, unsolvable puzzle!
A terribly tangled web. Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here!
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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!
Art on a wall in the breezeway between the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the Santa Fe Depot.
This morning I walked past the downtown location of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. In a hurry to catch the trolley for work, I passed through the breezeway between the museum and the Santa Fe Depot. And look what I discovered! I was pleased to encounter some new art on a wall that I hadn’t seen before!
I didn’t see any plaques, signs or explanations. I assume this artwork originated at MCASD.
Take a look and interpret as you wish!
Someone was walking the opposite direction through the breezeway, toward Kettner Boulevard.Creatively drawn map includes parts of San Diego County and the Mexican border. A variety of messages can be seen and read.This panel of artwork contains bold strokes of color.Inside all of that color is a complex, detailed collage including abstract faces.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
One of many park benches near the beautiful water of Mission Bay.
My walk today took me a good distance around Mission Bay.
Benches can be found at intervals along the pedestrian and bike path that circles much of the bay. Most of these benches feature a small plaque dedicated to a beloved person or memory.
I paused on several occasions to read these thoughtful plaques. One really touched me for some reason. I found it at the base of a quiet bench next to Riviera Shores. It is dedicated to Murf the Surf and Camellia the Pretty Good Dog.
There are so many stories, and so many lives. There’s much love in this world.
While I sat quietly on the bench, runners breezed past.I gazed across the sand at the calm blue water. Many have found enjoyment here.1999 – In Loving Memory – Murf the Surf and Camellia the Pretty Good Dog. They loved this beach. Ed and Beth of Buena Vista Street.
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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!
Bold faces peer from a wall in one alley on National Avenue.
Yesterday I walked from East Village into Barrio Logan. I headed southeast down National Avenue, making my way to the Chicano Park Day celebration. And look what I discovered!
Two alleys on National Avenue northwest of Beardsley Street contain some street art murals that absolutely blew me away!
Check them out!
Cool graffiti in Barrio Logan by artist Fizix includes butterflies and a Mesoamerican pyramid.A beautiful blue face and symbols on Mexican papel picado.More colorful graffiti on another wall.A jaguar leaps from an amazing street art mural in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood.
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This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
Dozens of Major League Baseball players are hanging out on Little Italy’s India Street! I saw them yesterday! I took their pictures!
One great thing about Little Italy is there are always lots of colorful street banners. They celebrate the neighborhood’s Italian culture and rich history. As baseball season gets underway, a bunch of banners have been hung along India Street that feature Italian American baseball players, past and present.
Joe GaragiolaTony ConigliaroBart GiamattiPhil RizuttoTommy LasordaJoe TorreAnthony RizzoJoe DiMaggioSan Diego Little Italy’s neighborhood boys who played baseball, circa 1938.Jason GrilliSal MaglieChristopher DenorfiaFrank TorreChristopher ColabelloJohn MontefuscoAlessandro LiddiJoey VottoNick PuntoFrank CrosettiDave GiustiGus MancusoFrank ViolaMike PiazzaDom DiMaggioPaul (Li Mandri) LattmanBarry ZitoJason GiambiDevin Mescoraco
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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 fun photos for you to share and enjoy!