San Diego Sights Worth a Second Trip

palm trees in la jolla

While I’ve never spent more than a few days at a time in San Diego, it’s been part of some very memorable trips.

Windansea Beach San Diego

We camped at a State Park just outside of town on the final night of our trip down the coast in 2012.

Back when Phillip worked for an airline, we flew in just for an afternoon once, because we could go for free.

Another time, we took the San Diego Trolley south to the end of the line. Did you know it goes all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border? We crossed over to visit friends in Tijuana.

And, of course, there’s the trip I took with my grandma. We packed a lot of sightseeing into just a few days!

San Diego marina

Fast forward to this year.  When Phillip and I decided we’d join my brother, sister-in-law, their kids, and my parents on their San Diego trip in July, I started thinking about previous trips and what I’d want to see and do again.
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On an Uphill Track: Funiculars

Los Angeles funicular Angels Flight - current

Los Angeles funicular Angels Flight - current

I first encountered the word funicular on a hillside in Sedona. Known as the “Hillevator” (hill + elevator), the small railway gave tourists a shortcut between Uptown Sedona and L’Auberge Resort and Oak Creek at the bottom of the hill.

Hillavator funicular in Sedona
Our friends in the “Hillavator” that used to be in Sedona.

While I’m a bit fuzzy on the exact definition (I think it involves cables and pulleys), a funicular is basically a passenger vehicle that goes up and down a hill on a track.

Hillavator Sedona by Tiffany Joyce
Hillavator Sedona by Tiffany Joyce. CC BY-NC-ND

By nature, they’re very localized and customized to the spot they’re in. Maybe that’s why I find them intriguing.

 

Angels Flight Railway, Los Angeles, California

Angels Flight Railway, Los Angeles, California

While Sedona’s Hillevator is now out of commission, another quirky old funicular has recently come back to life. After its brief appearance in the movie La La Land, the push to restore the Angels Flight Railway in Downtown Los Angeles may have gained steam, and it reopened in August of 2017.

Angel's Flight funicular in Los Angeles

  • Called “The Shortest Railroad in the World,” it travels a single block.
  • At the bottom: Grand Central Market
  • At the top: California Plaza – Los Angeles Musuem of Contemporary Art, Grand Performances amphitheater, and restaurants
  • Virtual 3D tour
  • In 1901, Colonel James Ward Eddy built the Angels Flight funicular. More recently, his great-great-grandson built the Angels Flight app.
  • One way: $1

 


Penang Hill funicular

Penang Hill Railway, Penang, Malaysia

  • Longest Funicular Track in Asia
  • Located on the Malaysian island of Penang
  • At the bottom: Jalan Bukit Bendera base station near George Town.
  • At the top: former British hill station Penang Hill. The resort town’s attractions include the three-storey Astaka Cliff Cafe, which houses food courts, souvenir stands, an owl museum, and Love Lock Penang Hill.
  • Round trip: RM 30 (standard), RM 80 (fast lane)

 

Flowers in Grimsel, Switzerland Picture: KWO / Photo: David Birri
Gelmer Funicular, Innertkirchen, Switzerland

Gelmer Funicular, Innertkirchen, Switzerland

 

100 Street Funicular, Edmonton, Alberta

100 Street Funicular, Edmonton, Alberta

  • Opened this past December to provide wheelchair and stroller access to river valley trail system.
  • Has already been out of service repeatedly, partly because of cold weather. (Not sure why that was a surprise in Canada!)
  • At the bottom: River Valley Promenade
  • At the top: Promontory viewpoint, Hotel Macdonald
  • Free

 

Glória Funicular, Lisbon, Portugal

Santa Justa lift/elevator/elevador in Lisbon, Portugal

Ascensores e Elevador, Lisbon, Portugal

 

Wellington Cable Car in Wellington, New Zealand. Images via WellingtonNZ.com

Wellington Cable Car in Wellington, New Zealand

Wellington Cable Car, Wellington, New Zealand

 

Have you ever ridden in this type of vehicle? Where were you?

 


Photo sources:

Angels Flight by Channone Arif (CCL)

 

Sedona –

  • From a print of a photo I took in the early 2000s. Our friend Ozan was joking around with his hands on the window. (He’s not trapped in there or anything.)
  • Tiffany Joyce (CCL). She actually got married in Sedona when the Hillavator was still in operation!

 

Los Angeles –

 

Penang Hill –

 

Switzerland –

 

Edmonton –

 

Lisbon –

 

Wellington –

Your 2018 Local Art Loves

becklaneartistFinished portrait of soul singer Lauren Mitchel.

In February, we focused on local artists and asked you to share local art you love from wherever you are.

Check out these submissions by artists and fans, and keep showing love to local arts!

 

Sculpture by Peter Skidd

 

Scottsdale, Arizona

Peter Skidd produces large works in steel, especially hand-painted wall art in the shape of bowls, waves, or lotus flowers.

He and his wife Sarah are a dynamic team, who we got to meet during a Hidden in the Hills studio tour.

 

Manitoulin Island, Ontario

Jocko Moriarty shared this work “purchased from a craft and souvenir shop in M’Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island, Canada and painted by island artist Leland Bell*.”

 

Richmond, Virginia

Mixed media artist Sarah Irvin shared High Note. It’s part of a series of pieces she creates by writing on Yupo, a smooth synthetic paper, and then smearing the ink with a squeegee. Her solo show, In and Out of Weeks, is at the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond through March 31.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BdrEGZHAB_L/

Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

Another Virginia artist, Jessie Rublee creates ceramics for both functional and decorative uses. This porcelain vase is from her Frail and Sound series, which explores the dichotomy between the strength of the earth and fragility of pottery.

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/539611287/unique-mandala-pillow-self-care-anxiety

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jenny Parks draws an original, one-of-a-kind illustration on each pillow she makes – like this mandala “cuddle pillow” with a napping bunny curled up in the center. Her work is meant to comfort people in need of healing.

 

Beck Lane's portrait of soul singer Lauren Mitchell.

Sarasota, Florida

Many of Beck Lane’s works are vibrant, unconventional portraits of women. She recently completed a two-canvas painting of soul singer Lauren Mitchell.

 

San Francisco, California

Matthew McKinley shared pieces from several artists he’s worked with in the Bay Area. (More on his Instagram.)

 

Art by Barking Owl

Sophia Lee incorporates non-traditional materials into her paintings, like the expired make-up that gives color to Night Stroll.

 

Self-proclaimed “artist of multiple personalities” LE BohemianMuse feels abstract art is more able to capture the complexity of life. Her acrylic painting Bedlam Desired is from the Chaos Series.

 

Parade

Arran Harvey is interested in how people group together. In this spirit, Parade Crowd 2 focuses on the spectators, rather than what they’re watching.

 


*Note: This is the Canadian Leland Bell (a.k.a. Bebaminojmat), Woodlands school artist of Anishinabe (First Nations) ancestry. He was born on Manitoulin Island in 1953 and still lives in Ontario. Not to be confused with the American Leland Bell (1922-1991), a figurative painter born in Cambridge, Maryland to Russian-Jewish parents. Anyone else think it’s a weird coincidence that there are two 20th-century North American artists with the first name Leland?

 


Photos in this post link to their sources. Each one comes either from the artist or the person who submitted the work.

Love Unlocked

Pont de l'Archevêché Love Locks by JD. CCL

Over the past several years, the phenomenon of love locks (or “love padlocks”) has spread to 5 continents.

To symbolize their love, couples place a lock – often with their names written or engraved on it – on a bridge or fence or sculpture and throw away the key.

Love Locks by Philip Robins. CCL

Locks Are Cheap

It’s an activity most popular with tourists, who often believe they’re participating in a harmless local custom. Perhaps they feel that snapping the lock shut binds them to the city, as well as their partner. Like carving initials into a tree, it’s a way people leave their mark on a place they love, unaware they’re damaging it in the process.
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Year Four in Nine Videos

Sculpture

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Travelcraft Journal! (And the 350th post!) I thought we could take a look back on the past year in 4 places, 4 projects, and 9 videos.

Pasadena City Hall

1. Southern California/Pasadena

First, let’s road trip to Pasadena in one minute. Of course, we’ll stop for date shakes on the way. Once we get there, we can visit the Norton Simon Museum and the jungle garden at the Huntington.

Video: Phoenix to Pasadena in one minute

Project: In honor of sea breezes and Santa Ana winds, make a mobile or wind chime!
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