San Diego Bay is being visited by a gray whale that seems to be enjoying having the waters of the Bay all to himself.
This time of year as gray whales migrate between Alaska and Baja,California, it is certainly not unusual to find gray whales visiting our coast.
In fact it has become almost a right of passage for the young and the old citizens of San Diego to go out whale watching. It is a remarkable sight to see them spouting their tails in heards as they migrate.
The San Diego Bay is a somewhat protected body of water where the usual visitors are boaters in all size of sailing vessels and sea birds, certainly not the great whales of the Pacific.
It seems our celebrity is in no hurry to leave either. In fact he has stayed long enough for a local news station to run a contest to name him. I think people have the wrong idea idea that this whale maybe like a stray dog that has decided that your home is where he belongs. But name him they did. Diego. As nice name, sort of like the city that named him, don't you think?
This whale is believed to be a juvenile that didn't get lost, the experts believe he is just curious and wondered out on his own. I guess whatever grey whales eat, ( don't forget Jonas ), he isn't likely finding much of it in the Bay and the biologist experts think that when he is hungry he will get back on his journey in the Pacific Ocean and leave the Bay.
Sightseers are flocking to the Bay Cruises and Shore Excursions and also lining up at all the Bayview points around the Bay to get a glimpse of Diego. He seems to know when people are around and shows his tail rather often, also a sign that he is content.
So who knows , he may turn Downtown San Diego into a free sea world and decide to stay. I suspect if he does, he will get a friendly escort out of town. Besides with all the boaters now trying to see him up close, he could be at risk of getting hit by one of these well intentioned boaters.
I wish him the best and certainly hope he enjoys his stay and that he returns whenever the wants to. I'll leave the light on.
The 75 Billion Housing Recovery Plan is intended to help at risk households avoid foreclosure and be able to remain in their homes. The new loan modification plan details were unveiled yesterday and one of its main features in that the program, is at least for now, limited to mortgages that do not exceed 105% of the property value.
Distressed property owners in San Diego and other cities where many property values have taken a real hit in a downward spiral will most likely discover that the value decline leaves many if not most of the distressed property owners in San Diego outside the required refinance component of the maximum of 105% loan to value to qualify.
According to MDA Data Quick statistics, one quarter of all residential properties are valued less than their existing mortgages. The cap of 105% is not likely to be that much help in forestalling foreclosures in many areas of San Diego whose median price has dropped from $517,000 at the peak of the housing boom in 2005 to $280,000 in 2009.
Over the next few months as the plan is implemented this new help aid for distressed property owners may be disappointing to many already upside down in greater excess than 105% LTV in the greater San Diego area.
What we have seen happening as the worsening prospect of more foreclosures continue to rob value from other homeowners is that the free fall in values is continuing to affect more and more homeowners. If the limits are not adjusted upward to account for these hard hit areas, the fear is that even more foreclosures will just continue to erode the surrounding values like a spreading virus with no end in sight.
San Diego Homeowners need help and we need it yesterday.
In what was surely a "do or die" situation for the San Diego Chargers, they clearly demonstrated their intent to send the Denver Broncos home in defeat. With a final score of 52 to 21, I would guess that they did a little better than they expected.
Handily demonstrating they are ready for the playoffs with the first game next week against the Indianapolis Colts, if the law of averages prevail, (San Diego Chargers won 3 out out of the last 4 times they played the Colts) I think they will do a fine job against the Colts.
The great equalizer though is that the recent loss against the Colts was just a couple weeks ago and the Colts think they finally have San Diego's number. We will see, but I was thrilled, like most San Diegans that the team who early prognosticators believed would be the key contender for the 2008 Super Bowl this year would be the San Diego Chargers.That was before season play began of course and defeat after defeat and then 4 straight wins left the Charges win statistics at .500 .
I have believed all season that the Chargers deserve to go and win that Super Bowl title but as I mentioned , actual play got in the way,. Well that was then and this is now and the Chargers now head to the playoffs , the season play behind them, the Chargers are now equal with all the other combatants, everyone starts with a clean slate and now it is one game at a time. If you win , you continue, if not, it's over.
If the Chargers can demonstrate the heart and the skill that they played with tonight, it is going to be a very interesting Post Season. Will they become what was expected of them, the NFL 2008 Super Bowl Champions? Stay tuned, I think the Chargers are just getting started. It seems fitting to say now,
"Go Chargers".
Hotel Del Coronado is a National Historic Landmark. Located on Coronado Island right across the bay from Downtown San Diego, I was there this past week to observe the marvelous Christmas Display and I certainly was not disappointed. I wanted to share the wonderful Christmas decorations that are becoming almost as famous as the hotel herself.
The Victorian styling of this hotel calls back to era of sophistication and elegance and this years Christmas Tree lives up to that tradition. There is a photo below of some of the details of the decorations. The tree is so large, it is hard to capture it in one photo so I did a close-up photo so you could appreciate the turn of the century stylings.
I hope you will enjoy these pictures as reminiscent of the by gone days brought current by the Grand Dame herself, the Hotel Del Coronado. If you have the time and the interest, I provided a link so you could read about this marvelous old hotel and the prominance she enjoyed through her life. She was visited by Royalty, great world leaders, famous movie stars and perhaps the people that appreciate her the most, the guests that spend time there.
If walls could talk to me, I suspect I would need to be a very careful journalistic editor. Thankfully she revealed only grace and elegance in my presence. Merry Christmas from our Hotel Del Coronado.
During the San Diego Christmas Celebration this past Friday and Saturday, all the San Diego museums in Balboa Park were open Free to the guests of the party and celebration. Of course, everyone in San Diego was invited and it is estimated that more than 300,000 attended over the 2 day and evening event.
It was a wonderful festive experience and one of my favorites that I want to share here with you is the Model Railroad Museum. I made up this slide show so you can get a sense of the immensity and the number of trains and different type of scale in the model trains. There are 29 major exhibits, with the 3 rail Toy train galleries my favorite. There is even a whole display room of a Lego Blocks city scape.
The variety and workmanship on these displays is a marvel. On the upper level we saw a whole new large display being designed and built by hand. I have included a few photos of what is under development as well.
For the train lovers, young and old, I am aware of nothing anywhere than can rival this museum with its many thousand square feet of display space, collections of model trains, antique Engines and Cars, to scale city scape's and the diversity of the displays.
The museum also has its own library and educational facilities as well as hosting the different membership clubs ( one designated for each of the different model scales. These clubs meet different nights at the museum and their dues help pay the huge layout and designs we get to see as we visit the museum. And no museum would be complete with its own Railroad themed gift Shop. The San Diego is uniquely blessed to be able to share this museum with all the world.
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I consider San Diego an excellent place to live and would love to share with you my enthusiasm for the numerous communities that encompass it. Looking forward to working with you. CA Lic # 01048160
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