Hotel Del Coronado
We decided to take it easy this morning as we have been very busy on this vacation so far, and have not had much down time. It turned out to be a good idea because Bethany was feeling exhausted and a little sick so we decided that we would do the hotel Coronado today.
My Mom had had this on the top of her to-do list since we came. This hotel is now the center of a beautiful community on an island. It opened in 1888 and it is one of the few surviving Victorian hotels in the country. This hotel has a lot of the same feeling as our own Mount Washington hotel in NH which was opened in 1902, same red roof with white walls. These Victorian hotels are beautiful and well worth a visit if you have one near by. The Coronado is a particularly fine example.
The day begin with the drive to Coronado island which was uneventful other then the beautiful bridge over San Diego bay, which gave us amazing views of downtown San Diego. We then walked around town a little and had lunch in a very good Chinese restaurant. My boys have become obsessed with beef teriyaki on skewers, which sadly, this restaurant did not have, so the kids had a hard time other then Christian who loved everything.
After lunch we went to the hotel to look around, and did a little shopping. We took the elevator up to the lobby and it was the old fashioned type with the multiple doors that has to be run by an attendant. It was the original elevator and using it felt like going back in time.
While upstairs we found a really cool little shop called 1888 and it had all kinds of little trinkets, quill pens, steampunk stuff and some Christmas decorations. They had an entire section devoted to Wizard of Oz. Before we went into the store I had explained the rules, not touching anything, no running, etc. and was just waiting for them disobey but they were good. We looked at some little old fashioned TVs with Christmas scenes inside. The boys really wanted to turn the knobs and see what happened but they refrained and I turned the display on for them and it was pretty cool. It was at this time that the shopkeeper came up to us and said how well behaved my kids were (I was shocked because well behaved and my boys are not phrases that sit comfortably next to each other) and gave them each medals for being so good, the medals were real bronze with a big red ribbon. The kids also seemed shocked but very happy, it was great.
After shopping my mom wanted to get some dessert on the patio over looking the beach. Trying to get them to choose what they want for a meal is like pulling teeth but they were very enthusiastic about picking their own dessert. Jon got a strawberry cupcake, Will got a red velvet cupcake and Christian only wanted a sugar cookie, they were all happy with their choices.
After dessert I wanted to go back to the car to drop off some of our stuff and Christian had to come with me. He had wanted to be with me all day and on the way to the car he was singing "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" over and over again, it was pretty adorable. After moving the car we went to the beach and the boys got to run around, Will told me he wanted to come back tomorrow. I think we could have spent the entire week in the water and my boys would have been fine.
We stayed on the beach for about an hour and watched the sunset over the ocean. Whether from our apartment or from the beach I think seeing the sun setting over the pacific is my favorite part of the trip. I love that, at our little beach, people come down to spend a few minutes watching the show. It is always spectacular.
As my wife says it it getting late and tomorrow is another big day goodnight.
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