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!

Centennial Park with San Diego Skyline

I hope your not getting tired of the San Diego skyline, but here's a view I don't think I've shown you before.  Driving home to make dinner tonight, I noticed the setting sun reflected a warm golden glow on the downtown San Diego skyscrapers, and had to have a picture.

This photo was shot from the sidewalk at First Street and Orange Avenue.  You can see the layout of Centennial Park with the original Coronado Ferry Boat Ticket Booth on the right.

No wonder so many people choose to be married here at the water's edge. 

The Old Coronado Ferry Ticket Booth

Here's the original ferry boat ticket booth, glowing in this morning's light.  Located at Centennial Park on First and Orange Avenue, this was the site of the Coronado Ferry Landing from 1886 until 1969 when the Coronado Bridge was built.

A bit of trivia:  In the book In Love and War, by Jim and Sybil Stockdale, there is a description of Sybil waiting right here for an early morning ferry in the 1960's, when her husband Jim was a prisoner of war in Vietnam.