The Del Coronado

by Pa Rock
Eternal Tourist

My friend from Missouri, Andrea Cleeton, and I were in San Diego last week where we stayed at the nation's premier seaside resort, the Del Coronado Hotel. The one hundred-and-twenty-year-old hotel is grand in every sense of the word: beautiful architecture, lavish interiors, world class views, and all of the amenities that the idle rich would expect to encounter. I have made house payments that were considerably less than our per-night room rate, and the Mother's Day brunch was a breath-taking $72 each for adults and $36 per child. But when it comes to wallowing in decadence, who worries about money?

The Del has hosted numerous Presidents starting with Benjamin Harrison who first stayed there in 1891. It has served as the backdrop for movies, the most famous of which was "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis in 1958. L. Frank Baum was a frequent guest and supposedly got the idea for the "yellow brick road" in his book, The Wizard of Oz, from a yellow brick sidewalk at the Del. It is a very historic and glamorous place.

Our worst experience was free. Andy is mortally afraid of birds, and to her horror, a mama bird who must have had a nest in the bush that was right outside of our door, would dive bomb each of us as we walked by her abode. Andy finally took to using the sliding glass door that led to the beach for all of her entrances and exits.

And did I mention that the Pacific Ocean rolls up onto a beautiful beach just behind the Del? It's all there: the white sands, the surf, the history, and the glitz. It was a happy extravagance!