A cherry blossom has opened in mid-February at Balboa Park’s beautiful Japanese Friendship Garden!
Look what I discovered this afternoon while walking through Balboa Park’s Japanese Friendship Garden. A few cherry blossoms have opened!
I spoke to one of the master gardeners and he thinks there might be quite a show of beautiful cherry blossoms this year, because of our rainy winter. So everyone in San Diego who loves springtime and breathtaking displays of dreamy flowers should probably go to the Japanese Friendship Garden’s 12th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival! It takes place Friday, March 10 through Sunday, March 12.
I’ll be there!
A solitary burst of pink on a mostly bare cherry tree. This unusually wet winter might produce an amazing show of spring blossoms.Gray cherry trees in winter, but spring is around the corner!A few early cherry blossoms appear in San Diego’s wonderful Balboa Park!
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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!
The swollen San Diego River after three winter storms in six days. A gauge beside the water shows the river has subsided to about the 8 foot mark, after reaching a high level–I believe–of around 11 feet.
I did some walking in a drizzle this morning before work.
I got off the trolley at the Fashion Valley station and proceeded to investigate the San Diego River in a section of Mission Valley that is often hit with flooding. Three very rainy winter storms were finally coming to an end. What did I see?
Palm trees surrounded by flowing river water. Photo taken from the pedestrian bridge between the Fashion Valley Transit Center and the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center.A tall, shallow-rooted eucalyptus tree knocked over by the gusty winter storms. A common sight around San Diego.Fashion Valley Road this morning was still blocked off from traffic, even though the San Diego River’s water had subsided to street level.A friendly San Diego Lifeguard makes the rounds to make sure nobody needs a swift water rescue. My photo just missed his wave!The parking structures at Fashion Valley Mall that are susceptible to flooding were definitely well underwater. Thank goodness, I saw no submerged cars.Bright green grass and dark clouds. I was sheltered from raindrops by the trolley tracks overhead.As usual, the San Diego River was flooding Avenida del Rio just south of the mall. The short, dipping street is appropriately named!Yesterday someone foolishly trying to walk through this powerful moving water had to be rescued. They got washed away. A helicopter was even brought in.No worries about flooding for the trolley–at least right here!The Highway 163 underpass was flooded and muddy. I had to walk another way around to reach work. Good thing I got an early start!Sign by the San Diego River. The low rainfall and the geologic composition historically allowed the river to run below ground much of the year, hence the nickname: the Upside Down River.The beautiful river this morning through leaves.Morning sky and clouds through bare winter trees.The San Diego River is unusually wide in its swollen state after the storms. It looks like an honest-to-goodness actual river!Walking along Mission Center Road in the rain by the San Diego River.
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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!
Monster Energy Supercross is in San Diego next weekend. Some trucks have already arrived for the event at Petco Park.
What a day! I walked like crazy! In the morning I headed down to the historic center of National City in San Diego’s South Bay. I have five blog posts coming this week about National City, featuring public art, some really cool street art, and a handsome collection of historic buildings. After my walk around National City, I took the trolley back to the 12th and Imperial station, and commenced a slow walk up the Embarcadero. I took my sweet time because the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade would be held farther up the Embarcadero later in the afternoon. Yes–I’m going to blog about the parade, too!
But first, here are some photos from my relaxing walk. During the winter months fewer people are about, and few boats are out on the bay. The air is a bit cooler, but the sun still likes to peek through. It’s San Diego.
The new Park 12 luxury apartment building is taking shape just east of Petco Park.Gazing down from the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge at a long freight train and the edge of the trolley yard.If you live on the West Coast and eat bananas, they probably arrived on a Dole cargo ship at San Diego’s Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.Engine powered articulating boom lifts in a row behind the San Diego Convention Center.The high masts of super yachts rise behind the convention center into the sky.People and birds can enjoy a view of the San Diego Bay from atop the convention center.Two basketball players and a bicyclist. It’s a fairly quiet day at Embarcadero Marina Park South.Railing creates patterns at the park’s gazebo. Picnic benches are empty this quiet winter Sunday.Pigeons on the pier are taking it easy.A fine day to bat at a ball.Or to catch a wayward ball.Or to just walk along.Or dangle.Visitors to San Diego check out a map of the Embarcadero.These guys must own a boat docked at the Marriott Marina.A couple enjoys outdoor conversation at Seaport Village’s San Pasqual Wine Tasting Room.Member of the Cat-illacs band chats with folks at Seaport Village’s East Plaza Gazebo.Colorful but weathered picnic table at Embarcadero Marina Park North is the remnant of public art from years ago.Several years ago–I forget how long exactly–the picnic benches near the water at Embarcadero Marina Park North were all decorated with colorful tile artwork. This is all that now remains.A quiet day on the bay. A good time to meditate, relax.Just kicking back.
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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 strange liquid falls from the sky in San Diego. What is it?
Umbrellas! In San Diego! My eyes must be deceiving me!
Who said it never rains in Southern California? Whoever that was, they must not have been downtown this morning!
It’s only water. Perhaps those of us who live in sunny San Diego can cope. Most of these smart convention center visitors brought umbrellas!Honest-to-goodness rain has returned this winter, hopefully putting an end to our ongoing drought.Umbrellas have sprouted like colorful flowers in the rain!
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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!
Sunshine and the sounds of summer linger on a building in downtown San Diego.
Yes, San Diego has sunny, temperate weather for most of the year–many say our city has the best weather in the whole wide world. But, you know, these mornings in December can seem a bit chilly. At least to me. So I was thankful to spot some warm art this morning at the corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street.
Memories of summer linger on . . .
Musical notes and birds fly among palm trees. As winter nears, an image on a utility box warms the heart of 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!
Gazing east through dark trees into Balboa Park. The California Tower is a small spike inside a golden sunrise.
Early yesterday morning, the weather was so pleasant that I decided to walk to work. It’s about a four and a half mile journey. I started from downtown San Diego up Sixth Avenue along the west edge of Balboa Park, walked from Bankers Hill into Hillcrest, then finally descended Bachman Place into Mission Valley.
These photos capture the golden glow of a cloudless sunrise. Moving through the warm morning light was a modest adventure in a magical world.
Buildings along Sixth Avenue on Bankers Hill reflect breaking day one early January morning.A warm glow and reflection on the Redwood Bridge Club sign at the west edge of Balboa Park.A stately house at Sixth Avenue and Upas Street seems magical.Happy orange flowers poke through some bars along the sidewalk.The Tap House has a glowing light bulb on their business in Hillcrest.The sky is gradually brightening above a shadowy Hillcrest alley.A reddish splash in blue water. Morning photo of the fountain in front of Scripps Mercy Hospital.Eucalyptus trees in warm winter morning light. Photo taken while walking down Bachman Place into Mission Valley.Reflection in windows of the once-proud San Diego Union Tribune building in Mission Valley. The newspaper offices are moving to a smaller location downtown.
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Car deep in the water. The flooded lower level of a Fashion Valley mall parking garage in San Diego’s Mission Valley.
Occasionally I post not-so-cool photos on my blog. Here are some that are noteworthy. I took these this morning while walking through a section of Mission Valley on my way to work. Because it lies right next to the San Diego River, the area is notorious for catastrophic flooding.
Yesterday we had a storm that brought intense rain to our region. It was the second winter storm of this El Nino year. Today we’re having our third storm, and it looks to be fairly rainy for many days to come.
Of course, after California’s long drought, we need the water. Unfortunately, the rain that falls in Mission Valley and many other parts of San Diego isn’t captured–it simply runs off into the ocean. I hope there isn’t too much damage caused this winter by El Nino. To my blog’s followers who are affected, take care!
The morning after an early winter storm during an El Nino year. The sun is out as people cross the San Diego River near the Fashion Valley Transit Center.Areas along the San Diego River are notorious for flooding. Yesterday a long deluge raised the water to an unusually high level.A couple dozen cars were spotted flooded at the Fashion Valley shopping mall. This one was stranded not far from Macy’s, which also suffered some flooding inside the store.More cars abandoned in the flood. Many storms are in line to strike San Diego in the coming days during this El Nino year.The bike and pedestrian pathway beneath Highway 163 flooded and was impassable. The nearby river was swollen with the recent rain.A beautiful morning photo of the San Diego River taken from Mission Center Road. This spot floods during severe storms and traffic must be diverted.A barrier stands ready for the next storm. It looks to be a long, watery winter!
Sign at downtown’s Omni Hotel, across Tony Gwynn Drive from Petco Park, proclaims San Diego is America’s All-Star City.
Winter is a week away. Time to start dreaming of next summer!
To help you dream, here are some photos I snapped in the past few months. During my walks around Petco Park, I’ve noticed a variety of signs which anticipate the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It will be held right here in San Diego!
Digital display on Western Metal Supply Co. building at Petco Park, the downtown stadium of the San Diego Padres, counts down the days and hours until the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.One cool “window” of the Omni Hotel seems to offer a view into the future, as the 2016 All-Star Game is being played in San Diego.Baseball’s All-Star Game is coming next summer! A few signs have popped up around Petco Park many months in advance. It’s going to be fun!
UPDATE!
Look what I saw in mid-December 2015…
Just before Christmas, All-Star Santa has been painted on the window of the San Diego Padres Store in the Western Metal Supply Co. Building!
Birdwatching on north side of San Diego River, not far from Pacific Ocean.
Today I enjoyed a glorious walk. I hiked along the always life-filled San Diego River Estuary.
Beginning along the north side of the San Diego River from Friars Road, I headed west down the bicycle and jogging trail which parallels Sea World Drive. I then crossed the river over the Sports Arena Boulevard bridge and returned along the San Diego River Trail back east to Morena Boulevard.
I didn’t expect to get any decent shots of birds with my dinky little camera, but as it turned out I got lucky. While the estuary is always teeming with both migrating and native birds, most tend to gather on the small islands and mud flats a fair distance from the path.
The San Diego River Estuary is one of the best birding spots in Southern California.Great egret takes flight from river’s edge, very close to pedestrian and bike path.Hummingbird takes a rest on a twig on a sunny winter afternoon.Plenty of ducks and shore birds dot the living river throughout the year.Black-necked stilt walks through the water, perhaps watching for a meal.Looking north across blue water. Mission Bay and SeaWorld lie beyond the trees.Huge flock of seagulls takes flight from mud flat near mouth of San Diego River.A fish-hunting osprey flies above the San Diego River Estuary.
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