Where We Be
Talk about dinner with a view! The San Diego skyline was already
bathed in glowing sunset when a full rainbow appeared.
Coronado Island & San Diego
Coronado Island is one of those places where
you don't have to do a whole lot of anything to
have a good time. There's Coronado Beach,
there's the ferry to and from San Diego, there's
the glorious view of the skyline across the bay,
and there are fine restaurants galore. Oh yeah,
and there's the near perfect weather. What
more do you really need?

We stayed at Coronado Island Inn two blocks
away from Ferry Landing and the fantastic bay
view. We saw lots of fit people strolling arm in
arm, or walking their small dogs, or enjoying a
simple bike ride. It seemed like everyone had a
smile on their face, and who could blame them?
Later, we took a stroll over to Coronado Beach,
sometimes called “the best beach in the U.S.”
It's a really nice one anyway, with a wide stretch
of sand, rolling waves, distant headlands in one
direction, and grande dame Hotel del Coronado
in the other. We especially enjoyed watching a
dozen dogs chase tennis balls into the surf; the
sand was so hard the balls actually bounced!
Embarcadero Marina Park with its fantastic trees also
borders the bay. What a great place for a stroll!
Sea Port Village with its quaint shops and restaurants
is a bustling tourist spot bordering San Diego Bay
Next day we hopped on the ferry and made the short
journey across the bay to downtown San Diego
We opted instead for the sizzling fajitas on
the lovely patio of nearby Miguel's. Delish!
The interior of the hotel is elegant -- and so are the prices. $90 pp
for Sunday brunch seems a bit steep to this frugal-minded couple!
Beach view, complete with gorgeous sand castle,
from the verandah of the Hotel del Coronado
In the other direction you have the Grande Dame
of Coronado hotels -- the Hotel del Coronado
In one direction you've got distant headlands and rolling waves -- not to mention one fun
stretch where dogs are allowed off-leash to chase tennis balls and frisbees into the surf
The stroll across the island to Coronado Beach -- through the quaint center
of town and past immaculate Victorian-style homes -- was a pleasure in itself
Candela's offers delightful views over the bay. Heat lamps
and glass walls keep you toasty while you enjoy dinner.
From here you can take the Coronado Ferry
to downtown San Diego ($4.25 each way)
Ferry Landing is one of Coronado Island's premier attractions.
It's located right on the bay overlooking downtown San Diego.
Coronado Beach with its mile-long stretch of golden sand
was awarded "America's Best Beach 2012" by
Dr. Beach
A lot of interrupted dinners ensued as people reached
for their cameras and raced outside to take pictures
Our Coronado Island Inn was
located just a few blocks away
San Diego is a port city with plenty of naval presence -- including both active aircraft
carriers and historic ones like the USS Midway (now a museum) shown at right
Our main focus was taking the trolley to see Tijuana, but on the way back we took the
time to see a few sights along the waterfront, including the popular Gaslamp District
Sundown along San Diego Bay near the
Convention Center -- what a magical place!
A full moon was rising by the time we
took the ferry back to Coronado Island