coronado

our memories of this beautiful, idyllic island are both sweet and painful.....the site of our first apartment when we moved here in november 1972 and your dad's/rob's first duty station (North Island Naval Air Station).....the small house we lived in on "B" Avenue when we decided to separate in 1973.....the coffee shop that I (Cathie) used to wait in front of for the bus to take me to San Diego State University.....and the apartment we moved into when we reconciled on April Fool's Day 1974.....so, mostly sweet and beautiful and redeemed, when you add it all up.  The mud flats area which used to be adjacent to the Oakwood Garden Apartments we called home at the foot of the 'necklace bridge' (Laura and Ally, that's for you) have been transformed into a high-end shopping/hotel/restaurant/condo area and we spent a lovely part of our day there today.  We rented a surrey bike and did the perimeter of the island (got some sore muscles tonite!) and really enjoyed the sunshine and seeing the neighborhoods, and flora and fauna in a different way than by car.

 

We stopped by Starbucks and then headed out to the beach via the Hotel Del Coronado veranda just as they were setting up for some lovely event (probably to occur at sunset)....picture 30-40 tables with white table cloths, huge white balloons, bar and buffet tables being arranged in the sand...it looked so fun!  We sat on the rocks out by the water for awhile, watching families play in the surf, imagining little Searcys, Wileys and Grissos doing the same.  Oh, and while we were out and about on the island, we stopped by the home where L. Frank Baum lived while he was writing the Wizard of Oz........

 

There's even a sign over the door that reads 'Wizard of Oz Avenue' even though the name of street is Star Park Circle.  Just a bit of cinematic trivia for ya!  After we relinquished our wheels we walked up and down Orange Avenue (the main street) reminiscing.  We rounded out our day by finding 'the perfect park bench' on the bay side with a view of the city of SD so we could watch the city lights come on as the sun set.....we were close enough to North Island Naval Air Station to hear the bugle Retreat played as the sun set.

Back at the condo in solana beach now and have pampered one another with foot massages!  We highly recommend that you do the same.:)