Happy Independence Day!

Coronado's Fourth of July Parade was a two hour showcase of Americana.

Crowds flock to the island every year to watch the parade, play on the beach, then settle in for fireworks shows across the bay at night.  Parking can be pretty challenging, so we parked our car on Saturday and walked everywhere we needed to go.

Hope your holiday weekend was entertaining wherever you were! 

Sunday Concert In The Park

It is the Fourth of July weekend, and Coronado is a buzz with festivities.  Tonight's Concert in the Park was so much fun, with the Stiletto's playing to an eager crowd.

Spreckels Park was packed with music lovers this evening, and children frolicked to the beat.  The only down side was when a Eucalyptus tree lost a branch that fell into a crowd of picnickers, causing a commotion and apparently leaving one man with a banged up head.  I hope he's okay.

Tomorrow is Coronado's biggest parade of the year, and I should have photos to share with you.  Hope you have a marvelous Independence Day!

Adopt Me!

This is Boomer, an endearing little dog with a big heart.  I took his photo on Saturday at the Coronado Animal Care Facility open house, where he was waiting for the right person to adopt him and give him a good home.  Doesn't he melt your heart?  He did mine!

You can check out more adoptable local pets at www.pawsofcoronado.org.

A Peek In Village Theater

We went to the newly reopened Coronado Village Theater yesterday, and it definitely exceeded our expectations!  It is a luxurious little nod to the past with Art Deco styling and old fashioned wide aisles.

Inside the theater you are surrounded by wall murals that showcase Coronado scenes with a three dimensional effect under special lights.

We saw Cars 2, a cute, entertaining movie that kids enjoyed and parents thought was maybe a little too long, but worth seeing.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Coronado Village Theater Is Open!

Coronado Village Theater is open for business!  

I shot this last night as people waited in line for tickets to a midnight showing.  Since I went to bed way before midnight I asked around today and everyone I spoke to who has been inside the theater has been extremely impressed with the renovation.

I'll fill you in after I see a movie there this weekend!

A New Tool In The Toolbox?

The San Diego Skyline has been called the "toolbox", because several its buildings look like tools.  Here you can see two screwdriver shaped high-rises, and a phillips head screwdriver shaped building.

Now there is a new building taking shape across the San Diego Bay, and I'm curious if it will have a tool shape, or be an ordinary building.

I'll keep you posted.

P.S.  The Coronado Village Theater reopens tonight, after being boarded up for eleven years.  The newspaper showed a sneak preview of the renovations, and it looks great, keeping many of its historic features.  I'll post some photos in the next few days! 

June Gloom

June gloom is upon us, but I think the thick marine layer just adds a quiet, reflective feel to our usually sunny town.

I shot this photo from outside the Coronado Recreation Center; you can make out the boats from the Coronado Yacht Club, with the Coronado Municipal Golf Course peeking out from behind, and of course the omnipresent San Diego skyline looming in the distance.

You may have noticed I've been spotty about posting this summer... it's funny how a little thing like school vacation can throw an entire household schedule into disarray (mostly in a fun way), but I'm ready to start posting photographs of our little island community again.  

Hope you'll stop by tomorrow!

Summer Days

Life around here is slowing down in some ways {no school} and speeding up in others {beach days, a trip to Grandma's, camps}.  It's good. 

View From The Top

I shot this photo of Coronado last week from Symphony Tower in downtown San Diego.  It gives you a good idea of how close Coronado is to San Diego.  Point Loma is the finger of land you see in the distant right.  The San Diego Bay looks narrow enough to swim across, doesn't it?

The key to San Diego's charm is that so many of its neighborhoods have retained their original personalities.  Just spend time in North Park, Imperial Beach, Hillcrest, Pacific Beach or Little Italy and see for yourself.

Okay, back to Coronado; in this shot you can see a bit of the Coronado Bridge on the left, then The Shores condominiums - the only tall buildings permitted in Coronado.  If you look closely just to the right of that, you can spot the Hotel Del Coronado between the the matching San Diego high rise buildings.  Orange Avenue, Coronado's main street is between the two shorter silver colored buildings.  

Before the bridge was built in 1969, the Coronado Ferry docked at the foot of Orange Avenue.  There is now a lovely green space in that location called Centennial Park, where the original Ferry Ticket Booth sits amidst roses.  Hint: Centennial Park is a wonderful spot for taking photos!

Caught In The Net

Tonight as I strolled around the beach, searching for something new to show you, I glanced up and saw the life guard station and Point Loma through this net.  Instant art!

Coronado has been beautiful and sunny, yet there were few people on the beach this evening.

School is out for the summer here in Coronado, and there is a relaxed, playful mood permeating the island.  Hope you're enjoying these long sunny days! 

Back From Europe

Springtime in Paris... everywhere you turn lovers embrace.

The Eiffel Tower lights up like a disco ball every hour on the hour, starting at 9 pm.  This still photo does not do it justice!

Prague Castle sits atop this hill, overlooking Prague, the Vltava River and Charles Bridge.

These horses took a well deserved rest in Prague's Old Town Square.

Here's the West end of the Charles Bridge in Prague.  It leads to Lesser Town, the section of the city I stayed in.  My hotel was just to the right of the tower.

Of course you didn't stop by Coronado Daily Photo to see shots of Europe, but I had to show you why this blog has been silent for the past few weeks.  Tomorrow I'm back to blogging about Coronado!

Nature's Gift On Mothers Day

These two baby pigeon chicks hatched in our backyard just in time for Mother's Day!

They're not as pretty as their mom yet, but they've already won my heart.  I think they hatched on Sunday morning, but it could have been the night before.  They spend most of their time huddled under their mother's breast, which is wise since our weather has suddenly turned chilly.

Hope you had a Mother's Day that was just right for you!  We went to church, followed by a delicious brunch, then came home to discover the pigeons had hatched in our lemon tree.  That's a perfect day in my book.

Pelicans Flock To Coronado

This was the scene at Coronado Beach yesterday; there were oodles of people on our shores trying to cool off and enjoy the sun, when a huge flock of pelicans spotted fish in the shallow water.

To me it looked like pterodactyls were attacking the swimmers, but in reality I don't think the pelicans paid much attention to people when they were focused on catching their fish lunch.

That school of fish must have moved fast, because you could watch the flock of pelicans move down the beach, diving and soaring over the waves.

It's Hot In Coronado

It is hot, hot, HOT in Coronado today!  I walked on the beach for awhile this afternoon before school got out, but unless you are actually in the water it's a little too warm for my taste.

See the rolling hills in the background of this photo?  That's Tijuana, Mexico.  Yes, we are in Southern California!

View of Coronado Bridge From The San Diego Bay

This was our view of the Coronado Bridge earlier today while sailing on the San Diego Bay.  It was a clear, sunny day with blustery winds that kept boaters on their toes!

Note the San Diego Skyline peeking under the bridge in the distance, with Coronado sitting on the far left.

Pelicans in La Jolla

We saw these pelicans today in La Jolla, while having lunch at George's At The Cove.

I read about this phenomenon in the newspaper; pelicans are migrating up from Mexico, but no one knows for sure why.  The best guess is they've found a plentiful food source, but it's kind of strange.  Locals say they've never seen anything like it.

As the pelicans swarmed around, I thought of the 1963 thriller, The Birds, by Alfred Hitchcock, but these pelicans aren't harming anybody, if you ignore the impressive amount of waste they leave behind.

Village Theater Is Coming Along

Coronado will soon have its own movie theater again!  The Village Theater re-opening has had its share of setbacks, but its now on track for June.  My family and I can't wait!

Driving Down Orange Avenue

Today's photos were taken as I drove down Orange Avenue this morning.  I thought these {very} casual photos of Coronado's main drag would give you a feel for our seaside village.

Coronado Beach At Sunset

The sunset seemed particularly golden tonight, so I ran down to the beach for a photo just before the sun set over Point Loma.

There were still plenty of people out strolling, jogging and playing with their dogs at dog beach.

Today is the last day of Spring Break here in Coronado, so tomorrow life slows back down a bit!

Happy Easter!

This mother pigeon brought her own Easter eggs to our backyard.  She is the sweetest thing, and we're growing pretty attached to our feathered house guest, and check on her regularly.  I'm not sure that she likes that, but she's very patient with us.

I snapped a photo of her eggs when she flew off briefly to get some food.

Saturday Morning At The Dog Park

I wandered over to the dog park at the Coronado Cays this morning while I waited for my son's soccer game to begin, and found this playful pack of dogs.

You have to love dogs - all they want is someone to take them for a run and throw their ball a few (hundred) times, and their perfectly satisfied!

The Pigeon's Nest

This pigeon has taken up residence in an old flower basket hanging from our lemon tree.  Her mate flies back and forth with bits of grass, but they are having a great time pulling apart the basket lining.

In all the years we've lived here, this is our first bird's nest, and I'm unaccountably pleased that she chose our backyard.  I keep an eye on her from my desk, and keep the dogs far away from the mother-to-be.  In turn she keeps a calm eye on me.

If you know anything about pigeon care, please leave a comment.  Thanks!

Adopt these Shih Tzu's!

These Shih Tzu bothers are looking for a good "forever" home.  They are six years old, well behaved, and even cuter than their picture.

Their names are Harry and Winston (just like the diamond magnate, can you beat that?), and I would have happily scooped them up, but my husband and dogs wouldn't have liked that much.

If you are in the area, and think you'd like to include these little cuties in your household, contact www.pawsofcoronado.org.

Coronado Flower Show

Here are a few photographs from the Coronado Flower Show being held this weekend at Spreckels Park.

There were so many gorgeous roses, I could hardly choose which to take pictures of!

The Zoo's Who category is my favorite though - it's a friendly competition for children to creatively assemble a fruit and vegetable sculpture, and the results will make you smile every time.  This is the first year we haven't had a Zoo's Who entry, and I felt a little nostalgic walking by the precious produce and toothpick creatures.

Can you tell which table top entry I loved?  Yep, the one with Blue Willow dinner plates and the French inspired box of flowers.  Divine!

Sweet community events like this make me so, so happy to call Coronado home.