The USS Midway's Scooter

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a very versatile aircraft. Originally designed as a nuclear bomber, this aircraft was able to fly from many smaller world war II aircraft carriers due to it's small size. It fulfilled many roles including air-to-air refuler, light attack, and even filled the agressor aircraft role for Top Gun. The US Navy Blue Angels flew it due to it's nimble performance and ease of maintenance. This small reliable aircraft quickly earned the nickname Scooter.

Pretty Maids

I realize how fortunate I am to be able to experience these great events. I used to live just down the street from a location where an amazing car show was held each year so going to a great show like the Chicano Park day show feels like going home again.

Impala Inbound

We spotted this cool impala nearly as soon as we entered the Chicano park area. I didn't have my camera out of my bag yet and it slowly cruised past us down the street leading to the park. Thankfully, I saw it crusing by once again and this time I did have my camera ready and captured several images of it.

La Gente Disturbing the Gentrifiers in Chicano Park - Barrio Logan - San Diego

The 53rd annual Chicano Park Day Celebration and Car Show was held on Saturday April 22, 2023, in the traditionally Mexican American Barrio Logan neighborhood. This very popular event honors the movement started when the people of this neighborhood organized to stand up against the City of San Diego after the city made several unilateral moves without input from the residents. These included giving large sections of the neighborhood to the US Navy and cutting off the resident’s access to the beach and the San Diego Bay. Then the city changed the zoning of barrio logan to allow industrial businesses to move in. Noise and air pollution from junk yards and other industries mixed in with the residential homes made life in Barrio Logan intolerable. The Interstate 5 freeway and the on-ramps for the Coronado Bay Bridge were built and bisected the neighborhood. The last straw was the city reneging on their promise of building a park for the residents in Barrio Logan but then without warning beginning construction of California Highway Patrol station in its place instead. The people revolted, banded together and physically stopped the construction project. They occupied the land for 12 days while negotiating with the city. The city, seeing that they could no longer do as they wanted without significant opposition, acquiesced and the 32,000 square foot park was built on the site later that year. It features a large collection of outdoor murals and has been designated a national historic landmark.

Ironically, upwardly mobile young professionals have been moving into the neighborhood and are displacing long-time residents. In prior years they might not have felt safe here, but they now see this area as a desirable place to live. I think all the noise and crowds that attend this show must disturb these new residents. Hopefully they take the time to understand the importance of the day.

This wide-angle view depicts one of the murals painted on the concrete support for the bridge on-ramp. It reads “Varrio Si Yonkes No!” This does not mean Yankees go home or anything similar. It means neighborhood yes, junk yards no! Just beyond the park’s borders you can see a building containing new condos.

Sunrise at Chicano Park

Kathy and I arrived at Chicano Park around 5:30AM but found the area swarming with cars and people in the early morning light. We had to park about 6 blocks away. We should have arrived at least an hour earlier. We had talked about taking the train but at the last minute I found myself driving Kathy's car to the park. Oh well. I caught this Chevy station wagon rolling into the park just as the sun was rising. Normally it is not recommended to shoot directly into the sun, but I like breaking the rules. 

Spectacular Sunrise Worth Waiting for - Port of San Diego

Kathy and I spent a weekend in San Diego in late March. We stayed on Shelter Island which is only an island in name. It is actually a man-made peninsula built with material that was dredged up from the San Diego Bay in the 1940's. The dredging was needed to make the natural harbor deeper to accommodate, shelter, and protect big the warships transiting the Pacific during World War II. It is located quite close to Point Loma and the Cabrillo Point Monument. Today, Shelter Island is a world apart from San Diego. It is a quiet, serene place in the center of urban sprawl. There are several resort style hotels and nice unique restaurants nearby. We had stayed on the “island” a few times before and enjoyed it. As is normal for me lately, I went to sleep early every evening and was wide awake 2 hours before sunrise. On the morning after our arrival, freshly showered I walked out onto the balcony of our hotel room at just after 5:00am and saw that the morning light was violet in color and heavy clouds were moving slowly overhead. I had hoped I would be able to photograph a beautiful sunrise from the fishing pier. The chances of doing so didn’t initially look too promising. I took a few shots including the one below from the balcony.

After about an hour and a half, breaks in the clouds started turning very slightly orange so I packed up my cameras and headed downstairs, walking across the street and onto the fishing pier. From this vantage point, I could clearly see the San Diego Bay inlet channel and the US Navy North Island facility across the way. Some of the lights on the base were still on and the San Diego skyline loomed forebodingly under the dark clouds.

12 minutes later the rising sun began pouring light down onto the downtown buildings through a long, narrow tear in the clouds. It was a dramatic sight. The glass walls of the curved roof hangers at the Navy helicopter base were beautifully backlit. This unusual and stunningly beautiful scene only lasted about 3 minutes. I was shooting images the entire time with both of my cameras. So glad I got up early and didn’t miss this sight!

Looks Good From Any Angle

Decided to take in another view of this beautiful Chevy Fleetline.

Chicano Park Fleetline

The Chicano Park car show held in Barrio Logan, adjacent to downtown San Diego is an event that Kathy and I look forward to attending each year. The San Diego area was crowded in part because the Padres and the Dodgers were playing all weekend. We took the Amtrak Surfliner train into town and rode the San Diego Trolley train from downtown to Barrio Logan and avoided all of the traffic congestion.

The neighborhood of Barrio Logan is a historically Latino area of San Diego County and the park itself has a very interesting history. Located below the 5 freeway and the approaches to the Coronado Bay Bridge, it is home to many murals painted on the concrete highway supports.

I saw this beautiful 1948(?) Chevrolet Fleetline at the show. There seemed to be fewer cars in attendance this year. Kathy and I assumed it was because of the threat of rain. This car had some cool mini-murals on the front and back bumper areas. Not sure if the wood on the sides are original to the car or not.

Hotel Window View of Downtown San Diego

Josh, Alexandra and I spent the weekend in San Diego. This was the view out the hotel room window. Sorry about the reflections on the glass. Not much I could do about them. I didn't have my polarizing filter with me.

My Favorite Photographer

See this photo on Flickr

Last April, Kathy and I spent the weekend in San Diego to attend the annual Chicano Park car show. We got there early and found 50+ cars had already arrived with what seemed like 100 more vying for parking places. After the show we walked past a small market with an interesting and very colorful wall mural. I convinced Kathy to pose for just a few shots. She hates being in front of a camera but as usual, she looked lovely. If you'd like to see Kathy's photography head over to www.tweakedpixels.com