Olive and Sully at the Hotel del Coronado

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

My son, Tim, and his family have been on vacation in California for the past week or so and have shared bits of their trip with me.  I know that they have visited Disneyland in the Los Angeles area where the kids - and I suspect the adults, too, had a wonderful time.  Olive is ten and Sully is five.  I was ten when I made my first and only visit to Disneyland, an adventure that I still remember fondly and clearly.

Now they have gone south to the San Diego area where they will be visiting San Diego's world famous zoo.

Last night Tim emailed a photo of Olive standing in the lobby of the beautiful Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.  I have written about the "Del" several times in this blog.  It is a sumptuous, historic old hotel right on the beach in San Diego, on a strip of land referred to as "Coronado Island," although it is technically not an island.   Coronado is accessed by a very long and high curved bridge that spans a mile or so of a beautiful blue inlet off of the Pacific.   The bridge to Coronado was featured in the opening to the old "Simon and Simon" television series.

And the beautiful, architecturally unique, Hotel del Coronado is a focal point of the "island."  It was built in 1888 and has hosted many prominent world figures over the years and several US Presidents going as far back as Benjamin Harrison.  The Del is also the hotel that was featured in the 1950's film classic "Some Like It Hot," with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Joe E. Brown all cavorting on the beautiful beach that sits between the Del and the Pacific.

I first became familiar with the Hotel Del Coronado when a friend and I stayed there in one of their cheap rooms in May of 2008.  It seems like we paid $300 a night for a room that wasn't even in the main section of the hotel.  I checked my old blog-posting from that weekend and found that the Mother's Day brunch was $72 per person.  (We were neither one mothers, so we ate elsewhere!)

My daughter, Molly, who was living in Oregon at that time, was planning her wedding for November of 2008, and she wanted the big event to happen on a beach.  She chose, without ever seeing it, the beach behind the Hotel del Coronado because it was literally one of the southernmost beaches on the West coast and would still be warm enough for a late November wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony, even with the frisbee players running along the edges of the big event - a nearby volleyball game - and a platoon of Marines jogging past singing Jodies and then stopping right next to the wedding party and pulling off their tee-shirts in unison!

I seldom visit that San Diego without stopping by the Hotel del Coronado and spending some time enjoying its lobby, gift shops, and beach.  I have taken the "ghost tour" where a local historian leads a group through the historic building and relives strange occurrences of its past, and I have also visited during the holiday season and enjoyed the massive Christmas tree that is displayed in the lobby.  

The Hotel del Coronado may not be as much fun as Disneyland, but I am happy that my grandchildren have been introduced to it.  Now, on to the zoo and the wonders of Balboa Park!

Enjoy San Diego, Olive and Sully, and have wonderful lives.   Time goes by way too fast - I was ten just yesterday!