Coronado Tuesday

by Pa Rock
Sentimental Tourist

Tim, Erin, Nick, and I were out on Coronado too early this morning so that Molly and Scott could borrow my car to go get their marriage license. We had breakfast at a 50's Diner on Orange Street (Coronado's main drag). When breakfast was over we headed out toward the beach where we ran into Scott's dad, Alvin Files. We walked along the beach, and Tim took his shoes of and waded into the surf. Our next stop was the beautiful Del Coronado Hotel where we walked through the lobby (adorned for Christmas), the shops area, and the gardens.

Coronado is in full bloom. The sidewalks are bordered with flower beds and flowering shrubbery. There is a type of canna common here that I have not seen other places. It is called "bird of paradise," and the blooms look exactly like the profile of a crane. We also noticed poinsettias planted in the flower beds with their red holiday leaves stunningly out of place in the warm Pacific sunshine.

We rode the Coronado ferry over to the San Diego Harbor for a few hours in the afternoon. En route we passed the USS Ronald Reagan (aircraft carrier) that just returned to port today after several months at sea serving in the Middle East and the Philippines. There was film on television tonight of its arrival - crying families, wives with babies that had been born since the ship sailed, banners and signs - much like the reunions that I witnessed in the aircraft hangars back at Ft. Campbell.

Our main activity at the harbor was just to walk along looking at the large art displays that line the waterfront. Alvin and Susan Files showed us how to get to the ferry. Molly and Scott were able to join our group for that outing. Susan Files is a teacher, and she and I had a discussion about education - with her catching me up of some of the changes that have happened since I left that profession. Alvin is an attorney. They live in Ada, Oklahoma.

The forecast is for heavy rain later tonight. It will supposedly be the heaviest rain since January. Molly and Scott have a Plan B for an indoor wedding, but they had their hearts set on getting married on the beach. Maybe the sun will come shining through!

This evening we went back to Coronado for dinner with Scott and Molly. Little Sebastian arrived this afternoon and was quite the center of attention. We ate at an Irish Pub and were entertained by an older male vocalist (somewhere around my age!) with an acoustic guitar who sang the songs of my youth - the Beatles, Jimmy Buffett, Simon and Garfunkle, James Brown, Janis Joplin, and Arlo Guthrie - to name but a few. It was a very nice evening!

Tomorrow is the wedding day, rain though it may.

We are having a grand time in San Diego!