On a clear day you can see forever

This photo was taken from atop the hill at the Presidio this spring. If you enlarge the photo you can see the ocean on the horizon, Sea World's tower and Mission Bay. Cheers to clear skies and sunshine!

Lucky 13

You can feel the anticipation in the air as fans carefully observe their top picks before the race. Do you have any superstitions or strategies for choosing the winning horse?

Where the surf meets the turf

This is part of a long mural that travels through a tunnel at the Del Mar Racetrack leading to the infield of the track. It shows the founders of the racetrack - Bill Quigley, Bing Crosby, and Pat O'Brien. Hope you get a chance to see the races this year - good luck!

Pool party

When I went on the garden tour a few months ago I saw these funny candles in the bathroom at Rosecroft. Hope you get a chance to take a dip this summer. Happy Saturday to you all!

The holey pretzel

My kids are crazy for pretzels. I mostly buy hard pretzel sticks, but they will eat them in any form - hard or soft, stick, waffle, or traditional style. One story explaining the pretzel shape is that it represents arms folded in prayer and the holes represent the holy trinity. I guess that eating pretzels can be quite a spiritual experience! Do you eat pretzels - what is your favorite kind?

Funky house

I used to take my dog for a long-ish walk through a nearby neighborhood - passing by this house as it was being built. It took a verrrry long time, and seemed to be worked on in fits and spurts. It still doesn't look quite done in spots and it's been at least 2-3 years!

I'm incredibly curious about this place...who dreamt it up? What inspired them to make such a moorish abode? Why did it take so long to be worked on? Really captures the imagination. At least my imagination, that is. ;-)

A couple more photos here & here

Hot rod

I have no idea what kind of car this is, but it is smokin' hot! The city of El Cajon hosts the Cajon Classic Cruise Car Show every Wednesday evening with hundreds of classic and specialty cars lining Main Street. Get your motor runnin'...Head out on the highway...Lookin' for adventure...And whatever comes our way...

Cactus buds

Pretty soon these buds will bloom into beautiful flowers and look like this photo I took last April. Just shows that you never can tell when a cactus will flower. It is not so clear, but any keen locals recognize the area in the background?

Harborside boardwalk

Right behind our Convention Center there is a short boardwalk that extends over to Seaport Village. It's a fun and scenic area where you can walk, ride a bike, or rent a pedal cart. This is the area just outside of Sally's Restaurant and the two tall buildings in the background are the Harbor Club condos.

Potter weekend

I was surprised yesterday to see Harry Potter books for sale at the grocery store. So I bought one and my nieces stayed up all night to finish reading it. Just kidding. What will happen to Harry and Voldemort?! Hope you all enjoy the book.

Pride weekend

The flags are up and flying proudly for the 33rd annual Gay Pride Celebration. The event is one of San Diego's largest and is approximately the 7th largest gay pride celebration in the US. Enjoy the parade and festival this weekend and show your support for diversity and equality.

Bondi

These pods, modeled after Aboriginal-style fish traps, are among several cool design features at Bondi Bar and Kitchen. Bondi serves Australian food, wines, and beers and is named after a beach and suburb of Sydney, Australia. Get closer to Bondi by visiting Daily Photo gals Nathalie and Sally in Sydney.

Geisel Library, UCSD

Geisel Library, UCSD

Back when I was a kid, Geisel Library was a marvel - it was new, and it was a funky space ship shape - it was just plain cool. These days it seems like its old hat for the students - too bad. I still think it's pretty darn cool. I'm surprised it hasn't been used more in films like Men In Black - maybe we should make a suggestion?

Another shot here.

The Alibi

Even though the sign says, "The best kept secret in town", I think this bar is not so secret anymore. It is considered a dive bar but has become popular with the younger crowd, maybe because of the cheap beer - their Big Dipper Bud draft is around $3.00 for 23 ounces (about 1.5 pints). But, shhh, don't tell anyone else!

I left my heart in San Francisco

Did you think you were looking at a photo of San Francisco? Well, this building is here in downtown San Diego. This is the only Victorian hotel of this era still located on its original site, according to the the Gaslamp Quarter Historic Foundation. Built in 1887 as the Grand Pacific Hotel, it was used at the turn of the century for "community relief services" and also housed the children's hospital until 1920.

Convention Center

This is a photo of our Convention Center and two of the largest hotels by the waterfront the Marriott Hotel & Marina and the Manchester Grand Hyatt. In 10 days the Convention Center will host Comic-Con International, an annual convention that started here in 1970 and is the largest convention in the world showcasing comic books, anime, manga, video games, and other pop culture items of interest.

Arches

Just some concrete arches on the south side of the Convention Center. This is across the street from the Omni Hotel and PETCO Park.

Yellow ribbons

I was in downtown El Cajon on Main Street the other day and all around there were these trees with yellow ribbons reading, "God bless our troops and bring them home". Yellow ribbons have been used in support of various other causes: during the Iran hostage crisis in the 70's, during the Gulf War in the 90's, and currently for raising awareness of the International Suicide Prevention Program, the fight against Testicular Cancer, for the disease Endometriosis, for Madeline McCann, and bringing US troops home from Iraq. Keep hope alive!

Dakota

Just remembering this meal is making my mouth water! I'd heard good things about Dakota Grill & Spirits, but this was my first time there. The restuarant has a Western cowboy motif and the food kinda matches the theme with mesquite grilled meats and a wood-fire oven for pizzas. I had the "bbb" special which stands for braised balsamic reduction with boneless pork ribs. Really rich and delicious. The only sad part was that I had food leftover and I forgot it there!

Snake path begins

Snake Path begins

Snake Path, created by Alexis Smith, sits next to Geisel Library at UCSD. This wonderful, winding path leads down a hillside to Warren College. Read up on Snake Path here.

Something to burn

When the weather is warm my book group usually meets at the beach for pizza and a bonfire. This photo was taken in Ocean Beach. Along many of the beaches there are fire pits that are on a first come first serve basis and alcohol is allowed at most of the beaches as long as it is not in a glass container. So, if you've got something to burn, this is the place to have a roaring fire and an entertaining evening.

Ballpark

Tonight is the Major League Baseball All-Star game where the National League plays against the American League and where the players are chosen by fans and baseball managers. San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy will be the starting pitcher for the National League team. The game will be played in San Francisco and I probably won't be watching, but I thought I'd show you a glimpse of our baseball stadium PETCO Park which is located downtown close to the Gaslamp District.

Green things

Not much to say about this green wall...so I thought I'd list some links to green things here in San Diego.
I Love A Clean San Diego
Surfrider Foundation
San Diego Coast Keeper
Sierra Club
Audubon Society
Earthworks - Tour of green homes Sept 29-30, 2007
Environmental Health Coalition
Where to recycle your stuff
Green conference in Sept 26-28, 2007
Flexcar
Eat Local Challenge - group blog on eating locally grown foods
Ocean Beach People's Organic Food Cooperative
Be Wise Organic Ranch
Seabreeze Organic Farms
San Diego Natural Guide

Mission Hills Nursery

Kate Sessions , a well known San Diego horticulturist and the "Mother of Balboa Park", founded this nursery in 1910. I like their motto, "Life's a garden, dig it!" I don't get much shade in my yard and I forget to water which is a bad combination for plants. I only wish I could grow something like these foxgloves - the pink or white tall flowers above and below a close up.

HOB

My first concert was seeing Roger Waters of Pink Floyd at the Sports Arena. When I was younger I would go to any concert that my friends were going to and ended up seeing a wide variety of performances: George Michael, Reggae Sunsplash, Metallica, the Buzzcocks, REM, Janet Jackson and many more - I'll stop now before I embarrass myself. I'm not a big fan of huge concert arenas anymore and would prefer a smaller setting like the House of Blues where the capacity is 1100 people. I've never been inside the House of Blues (HOB) on Fifth Avenue, but I've heard it is a nice venue both for music and food. Hope you have a great Saturday!

A song for you?

Many Mexican food restaurants here sometimes have a mariachi band strolling around asking if you'd like to have a song played. It is a genuine touristy thing to do, but it is so much fun! This photo was taken at the Casa de Reyes restaurant in Plaza del Pasado in Old Town. Can you guess what song was being played for these kids?

I Want My Teddy!

The newest sculpture in UCSD's Stuart Collection is Bear, by Tim Hawkinson. This sculpture presents an interested paradigm - it looks cuddly, but it's hard as a rock!

Read more about it here.

This was already posted by Felicia here, but I couldn't help but revisit the sculpture - it's just that cool!

Bombs bursting in air...

I took this photo tonight at Lake Murray's fireworks display. Happy 4th to you all!

Totus mundus agit histrionem...

This sign for the Old Globe Theatre shows Hercules Atlas holding a globe on his shoulders with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" or "All the world's a stage". In the background, the short brown building is part of the theatre and the tower and dome are called the California Building. Like Alexandra mentioned a few weeks ago in her post of a sculpture near the theatre, San Diego's Old Globe is a replica of the one in London. It was built for the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935 and was one of the most popular attractions. Today there are 3 stages - the main stage, a stage in the round, and an outdoor stage where the Summer Shakespeare Festivals take place. Tonight is opening night for "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"!

Half Dome

I saw this mural from Interstate 5 then got off the freeway and drove around and around trying to find the place. Getting to the location of this mural and the Solid Rock Gym is tricky because it's between the freeway and the trolley tracks on a partial one way street...well I got there. The mural is of the famous rock form called Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. I hear that Half Dome is a serious climb with a guard rail at the peak where you hold on tight and pull yourself to the top. I'm scared just thinking about it! Any Half Dome climbers out there? Tell us about your brave adventure!

Theme Day - the color red

A Red Shoe in the Woods

For most people, UCSD is simply a great local university. For me, it was where I spent much of my youth. My mom was a grad student there when I was little, so I have many warm memories of our times spent there (I thought it was a great big playground!). Much of my happy memories surround the great sculptures you can find hidden all over campus. Red Shoe is but one of them - easy to find, but many would probably never see. Read up on this sculpture here. One more shot here.
See all things red around the world:
Shanghai, China - Mumbai, India - New York City (NY), USA - Manila, Philippines - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Hamburg, Germany - Stayton (OR), USA - Los Angeles (CA), USA - Hyde, UK - Oslo, Norway - Brookville (OH), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Stavanger, Norway - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Joplin (MO), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Selma (AL), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stockholm, Sweden - Seattle (WA), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Arradon, France - Evry, France - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Boston (MA), USA - Grenoble, France - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Hilo (HI), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - La Antigua, Guatemala - Brisbane (QLD), Australia - Singapore, Singapore - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hong Kong, China - Sequim (WA), USA - Paderborn, Germany - Saarbrücken, Germany - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Tenerife, Spain - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Sydney, Australia - Naples (FL), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Mainz, Germany - Toruń, Poland - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Singapore, Singapore - North Bay (ON), Canada - Jakarta, Indonesia - Montréal (QC), Canada - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Baziège, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - New York (NY), USA - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Sharon (CT), USA - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Villigen, Switzerland - Chicago (IL), USA - Torquay, UK - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Paris, France - Seoul, Korea - Manila, Philippines - Milano, Italy - Austin (TX), USA - Chennai, India - Madrid, Spain - Seoul, South Korea - Wailea (HI), USA - Toronto (ON), Canada - Ajaccio, France - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Zurich, Switzerland - Sydney, Australia - Budapest, Hungary - Moscow, Russia - Auckland, New Zealand - Torino, Italy