We arrived in San Diego, CA from Ensenada, MX just after the sun came up and quickly dispatched with the clearing in process. (We used the Border Control app “ROAM” and it was very easy and efficient.)
We motored TTR through San Diego Bay to Glorietta Bay, a public anchorage right across from the Hotel del Coronado and overlooking the Coronado Golf Course.
Our youngest son, Clayton, happened to be in San Diego that day so we were delighted to get to spend the day with him on board TTR. Even though the trip from Ensenada to San Diego was an easy one, Frank and I were a bit tired from not having much sleep, so we all just hung out on Ticket To Ride and spent the day catching up and enjoying time together.
Enjoying this view from the boat was delightful!
Frank and I spent the next day exploring Coronado on our e-scooters**. Coronado is charming and picturesque. Plus the drivers are accustomed to bikers, skaters and pedestrians, so we felt comfortable puttering all over on our scooters.
We stopped at one beach that turned out to be the dog beach. The area was teeming with pups cavorting on the sand and in the water. I swear you could see the smiles on the faces of the dogs as they ran, sniffed and played to their hearts content. Pictures didn’t capture it at all! (Seeing all the dogs made my heart ache for Captain, but also lifted my spirit just seeing them play.)
Not as busy as the Maleçon in La Paz, but a nice place!
All told I think we scootered about eight miles this day, so we saw a good sampling of Coronado.
Looking across to downtown San Diego.
Of course we stopped at the very famous Hotel del Coronado so we could see it for ourselves.
See our trusty e-scooter waiting patiently? 😉
The Coronado Hotel is the second largest wooden structure in the U.S. and when it opened, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. The hotel architecture is classified as “American wooden Victorian beach resort” and is currently undergoing some renovations; but these are being handled very tastefully and are as unobtrusive as possible. The grounds of the complex are beautifully groomed; both the sand areas and the lawns and gardens.
Just one of the elaborate flower arrangements inside the hotel.
Inside the hotel, the woodwork is extremely rich and the old fashioned metal elevator gate gleamed. Greenery and flower arrangements abounded.
It is interesting to imagine what this hotel was like when it opened in 1888; ladies were wearing bustles and gentlemen sported top hats in the 1880’s. Today the attire, including our own, is incredibly casual and the patrons are exceedingly informal. Think how many changes in fashion, protocol, laws and customs that lobby has seen over the last 130+ years! The Coronado had been open for 30 years before women were even allowed to vote. I find it fascinating to imagine all the changes that have occurred during those 130 years the Coronado has operated.
The lobby was opulent but understated.
The Coronado has had an impressive number of influential, powerful and famous guests ranging from presidents to princes to movie stars, as well as military personnel and their families during WWII. The Coronado even claims to have a resident ghost! (Source: Wikipedia)
After an arduous (not!) few hours of scootering, we stopped at Clayton’s Coffee Shop for a late lunch. Clayton’s feels like a 1950’s coffee shop with its U-shaped counter seating and just a few booths. The menu is wide and the food was great, though sadly, the little juke boxes on the counters no longer work. Clayton’s is a popular spot that also sports a walk-up, order-out window if you don’t have time to sit down for a while.
Clayton’s Coffee Shop.
I am always glad to be back ‘home’ to the U.S. and San Diego was a special entry spot. The Navy has a large presence there and as a result I could hear the National Anthem played early each morning as the flag was raised. Listening warmed my heart and reminded me of how fortunate we are to have the opportunities and freedoms we enjoy here in the U.S.
All in all, I would say we scootered the stew out of Coronado and had a great time doing it! Exploring Coronado was fun and it’s nice to settle in and enjoy our own country for a couple of months before we join the Baja Ha-Ha in November and head back to Mexico.
**We bought Glion foldable scooters. They fold up and can be pulled along like a suitcase; they weigh about 22 pounds so they can also be carried and they store easily. We decided to buy the scooters to replace our mountain bikes which we found tiresome to transport to shore in the dinghy. So far the scooters have been a good compromise, though on rough road surfaces the ride can be really bumpy. We are not affiliated with Glion or Amazon.
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