Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Historic Coronado, California

Evening view of "the Del"
Evening view of "the Del"

I float in a sun-warmed, peanut-shaped tile pool, watching the breeze flip the palm fronds against a turquoise San Diego sky, sipping a midday mimosa.

Cally, the woman for whom I was house sitting, had encouraged me to drink the champagne in their wine cellar, as they were no longer partial to the bubbly stuff. She and her husband had also told me to smoke their cigars since he suffers from angina, which the cigars seem to aggravate. Generous as their offer was, I had yet to even look in their humidor.

Rippling reflections of the afternoon sun on the water cast themselves against the six-foot-tall prickly pear, oak-planked door and the adobe-arched wall above it. Chimes sound; doves coo. Pretty nice for my first day in the trenches here in Coronado, California.

The city of Coronado evolved around the Hotel del Coronado, a National Historic Landmark, which was built primarily by Chinese immigrants in 1888 as a real estate draw by its developers during a land boom.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although the scarcity of lumber in the arid desert environment first impeded development of this grand but wooden Victorian, Queen Anne Revival–style resort, the red-roofed wonder, once completed, was first in the world to offer electric lighting and oil furnace heating. Edison himself approved the final installation.

A saltwater pool, Japanese tea garden and ostrich farm lured princes and presidents – as well as a host of Hollywood starlets. The Hotel Del served as the backdrop for several novels and movies, including Some Like it Hot. And it was the setting for the movie version of Richard Matheson’s novel Bid Time Return called Somewhere in Time (although the novel’s setting was in fact at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island north of Chicago).

Coronado started as a seasonal Tent City, similar to that which founded Washington Grove outside Washington, D.C. Permanent vacation cottages eventually replaced the tents that had been erected south of the hotel.

Unlike Washington Grove, however, Coronado’s makeshift canvas city that flourished for almost forty years had nothing to do with summer revival meetings. The tents outfitted with electric lights served as the hotel’s economy rooms for seafaring families on a shoestring budget. A century later, tourism is still the bread and butter of this small suburban community, and the Hotel del Coronado – now with a four-star hospitality rating – is still a world-class draw.

As the synchronicity that seems ever-present in my current life would have it, Coronado’s North Island – once sold to the government, now a military training facility – served as the starting point for the transcontinental leg of Lindbergh’s New York-to-Paris 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. I had recently visited Vikingsholm Castle on Lake Tahoe built by Lora Josephine Knight, the primary financial backer for his trend-setting flight.

Everything’s got a reason or a season, as the saying goes.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Evening view of "the Del"
Evening view of "the Del"

I float in a sun-warmed, peanut-shaped tile pool, watching the breeze flip the palm fronds against a turquoise San Diego sky, sipping a midday mimosa.

Cally, the woman for whom I was house sitting, had encouraged me to drink the champagne in their wine cellar, as they were no longer partial to the bubbly stuff. She and her husband had also told me to smoke their cigars since he suffers from angina, which the cigars seem to aggravate. Generous as their offer was, I had yet to even look in their humidor.

Rippling reflections of the afternoon sun on the water cast themselves against the six-foot-tall prickly pear, oak-planked door and the adobe-arched wall above it. Chimes sound; doves coo. Pretty nice for my first day in the trenches here in Coronado, California.

The city of Coronado evolved around the Hotel del Coronado, a National Historic Landmark, which was built primarily by Chinese immigrants in 1888 as a real estate draw by its developers during a land boom.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although the scarcity of lumber in the arid desert environment first impeded development of this grand but wooden Victorian, Queen Anne Revival–style resort, the red-roofed wonder, once completed, was first in the world to offer electric lighting and oil furnace heating. Edison himself approved the final installation.

A saltwater pool, Japanese tea garden and ostrich farm lured princes and presidents – as well as a host of Hollywood starlets. The Hotel Del served as the backdrop for several novels and movies, including Some Like it Hot. And it was the setting for the movie version of Richard Matheson’s novel Bid Time Return called Somewhere in Time (although the novel’s setting was in fact at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island north of Chicago).

Coronado started as a seasonal Tent City, similar to that which founded Washington Grove outside Washington, D.C. Permanent vacation cottages eventually replaced the tents that had been erected south of the hotel.

Unlike Washington Grove, however, Coronado’s makeshift canvas city that flourished for almost forty years had nothing to do with summer revival meetings. The tents outfitted with electric lights served as the hotel’s economy rooms for seafaring families on a shoestring budget. A century later, tourism is still the bread and butter of this small suburban community, and the Hotel del Coronado – now with a four-star hospitality rating – is still a world-class draw.

As the synchronicity that seems ever-present in my current life would have it, Coronado’s North Island – once sold to the government, now a military training facility – served as the starting point for the transcontinental leg of Lindbergh’s New York-to-Paris 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. I had recently visited Vikingsholm Castle on Lake Tahoe built by Lora Josephine Knight, the primary financial backer for his trend-setting flight.

Everything’s got a reason or a season, as the saying goes.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Next Article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader