In Flanders Fields

Coronado Island, California.

When you are in San Diego, make it a point to travel to Coronado Island. Visit the iconic Hotel Del Coronado and take a walk on the beach. You will likely find a sandcastle or two, and if you are lucky, you will get to meet Bill Pavlacka, the Sandcastle Man. Bill often spends eight hours or more creating sand sculptures. To see examples of his castle art, you can visit his website here.

Whether the work in this photograph is his or belongs to someone else is unknown to me. Since it’s not a sand castle, I suspect it’s not. But as it turned out, this sculpture featured a San Diego sunset where my castle photos were taken earlier in the day. I felt this image would make a better subject converted to the 3D popout effect. You can find out more about Coronado Island and Bill Pavlacka if you visit my original blog post here.

John Steiner

Pronounced La Hoy-ah, this photographer who grew up in California was at least a dozen years old when I realized that La Jolla and La Hoya were the same place. OK, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.

On the day we visited the Cove at La Jolla, I don’t know who had the greater population, the people or the birds. As it says on the La Jolla website, the water is calm and ecologically protected… Because the water is protected, surfboards, boogie boards and other flotation devices are not permitted.

 The wildlife is abundant at the Cove. This bull sea lion was barking menacingly at another bull who was encroaching on his space. Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Leopard Sharks, Garibaldi, Brown Pelicans and Cormorants are just a few of the wide variety of wildlife that you will find in the protected waters of the cove. Yes, you can swim with the Leopard Sharks, if you can find them. This species of shark is elusive and harmless. Adults can reach up to 6 feet (1.8 m) in length, and in the spawning season, late summer to early autumn, pregnant females are attracted to the warm water to help them in their live birthing process.

Water sports are popular pastimes, but there are those, like myself and this gentleman, who prefer to walk along the shore, resting along the way and enjoying the views.

The Cove has interesting caves and tunnels where people and wildlife explore and enjoy.  Kayakers, snorkelers and scuba divers can get up close and explore the shoreline. The only negative thing I can say about the area is that the air is pungent with the smell of the sea and the large amount of wildlife, er, ah, shall we say, residue.

The furthest beach area in the image above is the Children’s Pool. The man-made cove is a great place to take the relatives and friends from out of town. The winter and spring are great times to view newborn seal and sea lion pups.

The gallery of images below features images captured on the day we visited La Jolla Cove. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

In 1542, the Spanish Galleon San Salvador left Mexico to explore the western edge of the continent. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s exploration along what is now the United States shoreline traveled as far north as Oregon. Cabrillo himself, though didn’t complete the voyage. He died on San Miguel Island, off the coast of Santa Barbara, from complications of a broken leg. His landing at what would become San Diego is believed to be at the east shore of what is now known as Point Loma. The image above is a close up look at the lens assembly in the Old Point Loma Light, a beacon that was first lighted in 1855. The lighthouse was meant to protect ships from the rocky point as they navigated the safe harbor to the east.

Point Loma is also home to the Cabrillo National Monument. Part of the area is a naval base, home to one of the United States Navy’s submarine fleets among other installations. Our goal for the day, however, would be to visit the national monument and the old lighthouse. We also made a stop at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, all within minutes of the tip of the point.

The visitor center complex was busy on the day of our visit. An exhibition of historical military vehicles was the attraction of the day. In the gallery of images that follow, you will find a couple of images taken of these privately owned collector vehicles. As it turned out, the placement of the light was inappropriate. High on the tip of the point, it often shone above the low layer of clouds and fog that often shrouds the harbor. By 1891, the light was extinguished and a new lighthouse built on lower ground to be visible below the low clouds took over lighting the way into the harbor.

My first visits to Point Loma were not pleasant ones, involving the interments of my brother and his wife at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. Situated on a high point with views of both San Diego Harbor to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, the cemetery has been the final resting place for military personnel since the mid-1800s. The cemetery is now closed to new burials with the exception of subsequent interments for veterans and relatives of those who are already interred.

The gallery of images below feature views of the lighthouse and Cabrillo National Monument. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

Last week we visited some of the gardens in San Diego’s famed Balboa Park. This week we celebrate the architecture and history of the area originally known as City Park. With the completion of the Panama Canal, San Diego would be the first United States port of call for ships travelling westbound, and the last U. S. port of call for eastbound ships. It was a natural for San Diego to host a celebration of the completion of the canal, but to do that would require facilities that would support thousands of guests for over a year. The exposition was to open January 1, 1915, and last into the next year. In the planning stages for San Diego’s exposition, civic leaders selected the City Park for the site. They gave the city park a more fitting name for the park, one that reflected the heritage and history of America. Before the exposition began, the park would be named for Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean on his explorations of Panama.

Balboa Park would become a long-term showcase for art and history. The buildings were designed with quality materials giving the city a permanent showcase for theaters, museums and art galleries. It’s been a hundred years since the exposition opened in Balboa Park and the buildings have stood the test of time. On the day of our visit, we spent only a few minutes inside of any of these buildings, despite the fact that it was cloudy, dreary and threatening rain much of the day. We arrived fairly early, so there weren’t many visitors at first. As the day wore on, however, people showed up to spend the afternoon, if not the whole day at the park. Today’s post is long on images and short on text. I will leave it to my readers who are interested in learning more about Balboa Park to find there is much to see at the park’s website here. Those interested in architecture may enjoy reviewing a document from 1914 that describes the architecture designed for the park here. For those just interested in the pictures, I submit my gallery of Balboa Park. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

John Steiner

San Diego, California.

Visitors to San Diego often know of the San Diego Zoo, but many don’t realize the zoo is just one component of a 1200-acre city park that is one of the oldest public-use recreation areas in the United States. On our one-day visit, we couldn’t begin to visit the entire park, nor could I feature photographs from every area we visited in a single blog post and expect to do it justice. In addition to the zoo, which we saved for another visit some day, the park is home to gardens, theaters, museums, sports and recreation facilities, shops, and restaurants. In this post, we focus on three of the over a dozen gardens in the park. The opening photo features the indoor botanical garden’s building and pond.

Our first view of the park, only because of its closeness to our parked car, was the Old Cactus Garden. Developed for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition, the garden features a wide variety of large succulents, and African and Australian Protea plants. The first images in the garden gallery features views of the Cactus Garden and some of the surrounding park area.

 Our next stop in our garden walk was the Inez Grant memorial Rose Garden. More than 130 varieties of roses live in a 3-acre garden. There are roses in bloom from March through December, but if you are lucky to visit during the months of April or May, you’ll get the best view of roses in bloom. The image gallery features a collection of macro images of roses in full bloom.

The final images in our garden gallery feature images from the Botanical Building and grounds. The garden, it’s lily pond, and lagoon were built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. As of this writing, interpretive tours of the building and it’s more than 2,100 permanent plants are offered on Fridays. The gallery of images below features but a few of the gardens of Balboa Park. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery. Next week we feature some of the park’s historic architecture as we stroll down the park’s main pedestrian malls. More information about park activities can be found here.

John Steiner

San Diego, California.

In September, 1945, the USS Midway began it’s nearly fifty years of service. Named for the decisive victory at Midway Island in the Pacific in World War II, the aircraft carrier served proudly until she was decommissioned in 1992. Today, thousands of visitors stroll her main decks and climb the narrow stairs to the bridge. On October 16, 2015, my wife and I, accompanied by other family members and friends took our turn visiting the floating museum, now anchored in San Diego Harbor. Many question whether the ship is either grounded or somehow fastened to the dock. It is neither. The gangplanks are designed to move and tilt in response to the ship’s movements as it raises and lowers following the tide’s change in water level in the harbor. The USS Midway is truly a floating museum.

The self-guided tour starts at the hangar deck where static displays of historic aircraft are up close and personal. Probably the smallest detail about the Navy’s ship construction was revealed to me. The USS Midway is numbered 41. As Navy ships are built, they are numbered in sequence. The newest Navy aircraft carrier in the fleet as this is being written is number 77, the USS George H. W. Bush. The USS Midway is over 1000 feet (305 meters) long and weighs around 70,000 tons (63503 metric tons).

The giant chains in the image above support the pair of 20-ton (18,144 kg) anchors when they are not resting on the bottom of the ocean. According to a retired sailor, the anchor only holds the chain in place. The chain holds the ship. A chain’s length is measured in “shots”, (90 feet or 27 m), and each shot is color coded so sailors can tell at a glance the depth of the anchor. Three elevators shuttle aircraft from the hangar deck to the runway deck. The ship is configured to hold as many as 80 aircraft. The USS Midway was a small city when it was in full operation with a population of around 4500. The museum focuses on a working aircraft carrier. Important areas are made into dioramas that, with the use of mannequins, demonstrate working areas as in the example photo below.

The hangar deck contains entertainment for all ages, including flight simulators and other attractions that, for an additional fee, will entertain the most disinterested museum attendees. The self-guided audio tour includes hand-held devices, with headsets, that describe each of the areas as you pass by. A sign near each area prominently displays a number that, when entered into the guide handset, generates an audio narration of the area being viewed. The self-guided tour is included in the price of admission to the museum.

The floating city needed to supply 13,000 meals daily. That was accomplished through four kitchens. The main chow line is depicted in the image above. In her varied career, the USS Midway saw action in Vietnam and in the first Persian Gulf War. To find out current information, museum hours, ticket information and more details, check out the website here. The gallery of images below feature just some of the areas that are open to visitors to view. Click on an image to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

Note: One of my blogging friends, GP Cox features a blog about the World War II in the Pacific Theater. You can check out his site here.

John Steiner

This week, we have been traveling around San Diego taking in the sights. One of the major attractions is Balboa Park. Located next to the iconic San Diego Zoo, the park contains gardens and buildings designed for the Pan American Exhibition of 1915. I will feature more images in a future post.

The rule for Cellpic Sunday images is simple. The photo must be taken and edited on a mobile device.

John Steiner