Changing rooms

Bathing suits from around 1925. Any San Diegans want to take a guess at where this is? Come back on Wednesday (tomorrow is theme day) and I'll show you where this mural is located.

Coming soon

I like this building and it was vacant for a while. Looks like the new occupants will be dry cleaners. I try to avoid the dry cleaners by buying clothes that don't require dry cleaning or even ironing. Alas, when you need to have that wool sweater....

Gone fishin'

We've got tuna, bass, halibut, lobster, our very own grunion and so much more! This is a photo of Harbor Marine Supplies on India Street. Up until the early 1980s San Diego was home to the world's largest tuna fishing fleet. There is still a thriving fishing community and lots of fishing opportunities - deep sea, lake, and pier fishing. We'd love to hear your story about the biggest catch you ever ever had.

Roberto's

Roberto and Dolores Robledo's tortilla factory was doing so well that they opened a restaurant called Roberto's in 1964. Roberto's taco shops are now probably the most prominent and imitated Mexican fast food chain in town. Click here to read a short write up from 2000 about the many imitators and variations on the name of this taco shop.

Shoes - a sculpture

SD Daily Photo, originally uploaded by Digitalexx.

Located outside a fancy running shoe store in Kearny Mesa, these shoes welcome shoppers. I always think it's a little cool when stores do little things like this to make the outside of their store interesting. Especially when the store is located in a business park area, as this one is.

What's so fancy about this store is that you run on a treadmill, they analyze your stride, and then you get the *exact* shoes to go with that stride. Cool, no?

Bouncy room

Okay, the New Children's Museum is SO MUCH FUN, that I had to show you one more photo. This is a room with wall to wall mattresses and these soft tires everywhere. One mattress has a rope ladder for climbing to the top and then sliding or rappelling down. Woo hoo! Just try and drag your kids out of here! ;) P.S.: Mark your calendars for July 13th - the second Sundays of the month are now free.

"New" museum

The New Children's Museum is actually celebrating 25 years. It first opened in 1983 in La Jolla, then moved downtown in 1993, closed in 2002, then reopened this May in a new building. 19 artists have created fun and innovative play stations for people of all ages. Check out this rock climbing wall designed by Writerz Blok.

Fire escape

I like what they've done to the entrance of these apartments on University Avenue. It reminds me of NYC because of the fire escape. Maybe it's my bad memory, but from what I remember seeing of San Diego apartments, fire escapes are not a common feature.

Phew, it's hot!

We are suffering from extreme temperatures here - easily in the 80's by the coast and more than 100 inland. Here's Expat and his cool cat. He said, "We took pity on the cat in her fur coat and cooled her down a bit."

Shimmering lights

No tripod. I took this photo last night when I was waiting over on Harbor Island to pick my husband up at the airport. The full moon was on Wednesday, but it still looks pretty big.

La Casita's

I like the look of La Casita's on College. They have a perfect location to feed the masses of students at San Diego State University, and look at those rock bottom prices! I thought the "Munchies Pack" of 3 sodas, 15 rolled tacos, and 4 bean & rice burritos was funny and a steal for $12.99.

A Nice Walking Path

I've been finding myself walking down in Mission Valley fairly frequently as of late. With peeking views of the river and trees growing over the walk...can't you see why I keep coming back? There's also some wild grape vines growing along the walk and I have fantasies of watching the fruit mature over the summer (I know the birds will get the fruit before we people can, but it will still be fun to watch the berries plump up for a bit).

I love that it's a little escape in the heart of the city. Beautiful. I recommend you stop by and take a walk sometime in the near future. This part of the walk is easily reached from the Mission Valley Trolley Stop.

The El Cortez

Since the El Cortez Apartment Hotel opened in 1927 it has gone through many incarnations. Once the tallest building in San Diego, it has gone from a luxurious apartment hotel with opulent restaurants, to a military look-out point during World War II, and for a short time it was an evangelical ministry and training center. Locals and visitors probably remember it most fondly for an exterior glass elevator called the Starlight Express offering views of the city as it traveled to the Sky Room. The elevator was installed in 1956 and removed during renovation in the late 1990s. The building is now, you guessed it, condos. Click here to read about the current controversy over building more condos on the property. And please do tell us if you were ever lucky enough to ride on the Starlight Express.

Hold onto your stomachs

Oh, and there's more. The roller coaster is part of an amusement area that has several rides, an arcade, shops, and restaurants. The place smells of sea salt and cotton candy. This ride is called the Beach Blaster and swings from side to side 60 feet in the air. Does this look like fun to you?
Happy Birthday to Alex!

Look ma, no hands!

Can you believe that at one time this roller coaster was a dilapidated old relic? It first opened in 1925 and was quite a success, but by 1976 the roller coaster closed due to disrepair. Local citizens had the Giant Dipper named a National Landmark and rallied the community to save the coaster. It reopened in 1990 and has become an exhilaratingly fun seaside attraction once again.

Gliders

Believe me, I am no where near this spot today. This is the view from the Torrey Pines Gliderport which is very close to Torrey Pines Golf Course where the US Open golf tournament is being held. The Gliderport is closed today due to the golf tournament, but with or without the tournament you can imagine the views. Happy Father's Day to all dads!

Hang loose

These are ceramic tiles with various beachy designs that I saw at a little stand in Mission Beach. And this is just the kind of touristy stuff that I might buy instead of a bad t-shirt or keychain. See anything you would like?

Red Sails Inn

Don't know much about this place, but I have a little story to tell about it. I haven't mentioned this before, but my mom was 1 of 12 children and when birthdays rolled around her parents would take the birthday kid out to dinner to wherever they wanted to go. And this was the place my mom remembers choosing when she was a kid. Maybe they had a buffet back then (kids LOVE buffets), who knows?

Purple Arches

Bouganvilla (in the background) is a popular plant grown around San Diego. It's beautiful, showy leaves (bracts) look like fower petals, when in fact, the real flower is located in the center of one of the 3-leaf clusters. Their beauty is just one reason for their popularity - another big reason is that they're pretty drought-tolerant, something especially important now that Arnie (the Governor) has declared that the entire state is in a drought.

The nasturtiums in the foreground are popular 'round these parts too - they explode with big leaves and pretty yellow, orange, and red flowers in the spring. To me, they're a canyon flower - they seem to take over canyons in the springtime.

This pretty display is located deep in the heart of South Park.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

Well, I thought it was a bird but it is actually a concrete "structural gazebo" on Shelter Island called "Pacific Portal". It was built in 2006 by local artist James Hubbell to replace a wooden gazebo that stood at the spot for 27 years.

The Nile

Yesterday, I posted about the Egyptian Theater turned condos. Around the block, there are still some remnants of the Egyptian influence on architecture in San Diego from the 1920's. Click here to read a detailed article about several buildings that were built with an Egyptian influence during this time. The article points out that the Egyptian style in this block was so strong that some buildings, such as the Nile Apartments above, were named to "fit in" with the other Egyptian styled buildings even though the architectural style of these apartments is definitely not Egyptian!

The Egyptian

Okay, it doesn't look very Egyptian and it's just a photo of condos, but the story behind why it is called the Egyptian is interesting. A movie theater called the Egyptian or Bush Egyptian used to be right next door and I think this space was part of that property. The theater opened in 1926 and was one of San Diego's first luxury movie theaters. The original movie theater building is still there and has two big columns out front and some Egyptian figures along the top of the building. The space is now up for lease.

Golden

Anyone know what the deal is with these golden fire hydrants? I've seen several in the downtown area and they certainly are eye-catching. Most of the other ones around the city seem to be plain yellow. What color are the fire hydrants in your city?

Peter Pan on a surfboard?

Expat shows us how they hang ten: This charming bronze is on the bluff at the North end of Cardiff State Beach. Its official name is 'Magic Carpet Ride, 2007' and it's the work of Matthew Antichevich. The inscription on the plinth reads:

GIFT OF THE
CARDIFF 101 CHAMBER
CARDIFF BOTANICAL SOCIETY

CITY OF ENCINITAS
PUBLIC ART COLLECTION

Considering the dismal examples of public art you can find elsewhere (naming no names but thinking of that ship's prow thingamajig where Laurel St. meets the airport road), I reckon this is pretty fine. And the drive down that stretch of 101 is spectacular, under any conditions.

Holding its own among towers

Serving the masses of hungry downtownies, Mexican Fiesta Mexican Food on India Street is flanked by two towering skyscrapers. This "look", older establishments or single homes surrounded by high rise condos/new construction, is the landscape of our downtown. Sadly nowdays, for the older homes, you will often see them fenced and being prepared for destruction.

Sea World's Bay of Play - New!

When Sea World closed down their kid's area at the end of last summer, I was worried. I'd heard that they were putting some rides in and I didn't like the sound of that. You see, as a parent, what's so great about the kid's area is that it's a perfect place for the kids to run around and shake off some of that extra energy they have. My biggest fear was that we'd return and all the great places for kids to run around would be replaced by rides where kids sit down and let the ride do it for them. Lame.

Happily, my fears were unfounded. Sea World kept the main essence of their children's play area - the above being just one great part - and only replaced some of the stuff around the perimeter with three new rides. Oh, and have I mentioned that they now have a dancing Sesame Street character show? Heh, awesome.

Stone castle

And now for something completely different... A few weeks ago I mentioned an article that surveyed cobblestone use in San Diego. Along with walls, piers, pillars, and chimneys the article mentioned a cobblestone house and I think I found it here on Adams Avenue.

Britt-Scripps Inn

Just down the street and around the corner is another gorgeous Victorian that was built in 1887. This is the Britt-Scripps Inn and it was restored and opened as a hotel in 2005. Again, the house's name comes from its first two owners: Judge Eugene W. Britt, a water-rights lawyer and sold to Edward Scripps, the mogul behind Scripps Howard newspapers and brother of Ellen Browning Scripps, a well known San Diego philanthropist.

Long-Waterman House

This is the Long-Waterman House, built in 1889 by D. P. Bensen. The name of the house comes from its first and second occupants: John Long, president of the Coronado Fruit Package Company and then Robert Whitney Waterman, the 17th Governor of California who bought the place for $17,000. The house is in the neighborhood called Bankers Hill or Pill Hill because back when the house was built many bankers and doctors lived in the area which is located on a hill overlooking the bay and is close to downtown.
Happy Birthday to my friend June, cousin Nate, & uncle Tom!

Rock n Roll baby

The Daily Photo group has theme day on the first of the month and this month's theme is "your favorite corner store". 7-Eleven isn't my favorite corner store. I decided to post this photo today because today is the Rock n Roll Marathon. Runners will be a block away from this corner at 4th and Robinson, and starting around 6:30 a.m. live bands will be jamming out tunes about every mile of the course.
Click here to view thumbnails for those participating in theme day.