Thursday, January 2, 2020, San Diego, California
CALIFORNIA
California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents across a total area of about 163,696 square miles, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
California's economy, with a gross state product of $3.0 trillion, is larger than that of any other U.S. state and is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If it were a country, California would be the fifth-largest economy in the world (larger than the United Kingdom, France, or India), and the 36th-most populous as of 2017. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.3 trillion and $1.0 trillion respectively as of 2018), after the New York metropolitan area. The San Francisco Bay Area PSA had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita in 2018 ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas, and is home to three of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and three of the world's ten richest people.
California culture is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, politics, and entertainment. As a result of the state's diversity and migration, California integrates foods, languages, and traditions from other areas across the country and around the globe. It is considered the origin of the American film industry, the hippie counterculture, fast food, beach and car culture, the Internet, and the personal computer, among others. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as centers of the global technology and entertainment industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, Califorina's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state.
California shares a border with Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. The state's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. Although California is well-known for its warm Mediterranean climate, the large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains. Over time, drought and wildfires have become more frequent challenges.
What is now California was first settled by various Native Californian tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish Empire then claimed and conquered it. In 1804 it was included in Alta California province, within Spanish New Spain Viceroyalty. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its successful war for independence but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego is a city in the U.S. state of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 120 miles south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico. With an estimated population of 1,425,976 as of July 1, 2018, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. It is part of the San Diego–Tijuana conurbation, the second-largest transborder agglomeration between the U.S. and a bordering country after Detroit–Windsor, with a population of 4,922,723 people. The city is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.
View from Coronado Ferry Landing.
Views from Coronado bridge.
San Diego has been called "the birthplace of California." Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, it was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly declared Mexican Empire, which reformed as the First Mexican Republic two years later. California became part of the United States in 1848 following the Mexican–American War and was admitted to the union as a state in 1850.
The city is the seat of San Diego County and is the economic center of the region as well as the San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. San Diego's main economic engines are military and defense-related activities, tourism, international trade, and manufacturing. The presence of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), with the affiliated UCSD Medical Center, has helped make the area a center of research in biotechnology.
Panoramic San Diego
We saw the
sights of San Diego on a scenic drive. We embarked in our motor coach and begin our
tour along the waterfront. We passed the USS Midway aircraft
carrier, one of the longest-serving aircraft carrier designs in history. We continued to the lively Gaslamp Quarter, home to an array of Victorian-era
buildings, restaurants, cafés, trendy shops, upscale boutiques, and art
galleries. It was named the Gaslamp Quarter in 1868 due to its installation of
modern gas lamp streetlights. We visited Balboa Park, strolled through its famous
gardens and took in its many museums and theaters before heading to San Diego’s
charming Spanish-influenced Old Town. Founded in 1769 by Spanish explorers, the
first European settlement in California is now home to historic buildings and
museums. We enjoyed free time to leisurely explore the neighborhood’s Mexican
heritage and colonial-era atmosphere before rejoining our guide.
Statue of well known WW II photo at end of the war.
Retired Midway aircraft carrier; has the longest period of continuous service.
Current aircraft carrier on Coronado Island.
Located at a view point of USS Midway.
Bob Hope contributed greatly to military moral.
Balboa Park is a 1,200-acre urban cultural park in San Diego, California. In addition to open space areas, natural vegetation zones, green belts, gardens, and walking paths, it contains museums, several theaters, and the world-famous San Diego Zoo. There are also many recreational facilities and several gift shops and restaurants within the boundaries of the park. Placed in reserve in 1835, the park's site is one of the oldest in the United States dedicated to public recreational use. Balboa Park is managed and maintained by the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of San Diego.
Balboa Park hosted the 1915–16 Panama–California Exposition and 1935–36 California Pacific International Exposition, both of which left architectural landmarks. The park and its historic Exposition buildings were declared a National Historic Landmark and National Historic Landmark District in 1977, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Botanical garden inside.
Art Museum.
Photography and Film Museum.
Buttery fly museum.
Casa del Prado Theater.
The Moreton Bay fig tree in San Diego's Balboa Park is one of the largest trees in California. It began its life when it was planted in 1914. During the Panama–California Exposition it was part of the San Diego County garden exhibit; as of 2017 it is the last remaining plant from the exhibit. The area underneath it was fenced off to the public in 1989 due to damage to the fig caused by foot traffic.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the City of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California. In 1969, the site was registered as California Historical Landmark #830. Then on September 3, 1971, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Old Town San Diego Historic District.
Church across the street from entrance to state park.
On July 14, 2019, the parish celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the Dedication of Immaculate Conception Church with a Mass officiated by Bishop John P. Dolan. It now serves over 300 families throughout the San Diego region as well as visitors from around the world.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=church+of+the+immaculate+conception+san+diego+ca&t=chromentp
As old San Diego was years ago.
The Colorado House was a hotel constructed and operated by Cave Johnson Couts, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Dragoons. Controversy surrounded the hotel's construction and opening; it was rumored that Couts obtained the property illegally. Construction was completed in 1851, and the two-story hotel had a first-floor veranda and square-shaped false front. Additionally, the hotel boasted a "spacious and airy dining saloon" and billiard table.
In 1851, he married Ysidora Bandini, the daughter of his friend, Juan Bandini. Among the wedding gifts was a title to over 2,200 acres of property near San Luis Rey, where Couts built his family residence. Couts lost interest in the Colorado House due to preoccupation with his rancho, and leased the hotel in 1854.
Over the next 12 years, the building was renovated to provide office space for the San Diego Herald, a surgeon, jeweler, hairdresser, and other businesses. Couts sold the property to Joseph Mannasse and Marcus Schiller in 1866, and the building burned in the 1872 fire on San Diego Avenue.
California State Parks reconstructed the building in 1992, and it is now operated by Wells Fargo as a stage stop and telegraph office.
Semester at Sea (SAS) is a study–abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State University is the current academic sponsor for the program while the program itself is run on a cruise ship. Throughout the history of the program, nearly 63,000 undergraduate students from more than 1,500 colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.
During the spring and fall semesters, the approximately 100-110 day program circumnavigates the globe, with up to 600 undergraduates traveling from North America heading either east across the Atlantic or west across the Pacific, visiting from 10 to 11 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and North America. The program previously had voyages that would sail through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, but due to piracy concerns in the Gulf of Aden, voyages now typically travel around Africa.
For many years, the Institute of Shipboard Edubation (ISE) hosted a shorter 65-day Semester at Sea program in the summer that concentrated on one general region of the world. In May 2011, Semester at Sea introduced a new short-term or Maymester voyage with a curriculum focused on the UN Millennium Development Goals. These voyages lasted 26 days and offered students the opportunity to earn 4–5 transferable credits. However, following the Maymester 2012 voyage, Semester at Sea made the decision to cancel Short-Term voyages indefinitely due to low enrollment. Additionally, a two-week "Enrichment Voyage" program was previously held for continuing education participants during December and January. Itineraries for these voyages focused on Central America and South America, often transiting the Panama Canal or traveling up the Amazon River. ISE currently offers only fall and spring voyages.
We will leave San Diego at 11 PM and arrive Los Angeles (San Pedro) 6 AM tomorrow.
Comments
Post a Comment