After going as far south as we could go in Yuma, Arizona, we then traveled as far west as we could go. It is 150 miles from there to this place, where we bumped into the San Diego Bay.
We stayed in a Navy-run RV park, Fiddler’s Cove, on the Silver Strand of Coronado Island. It is a lovely place, one of the best of the military family camps, and we greatly enjoyed the three-week stay.
Coronado Island runs north and south. The northern tip of it is a Navy base. Directly south of that is the beautiful resort town of Coronado. The Silver Strand is a narrow stretch of land which leads south from Coronado, with the San Diego Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. The town was so close to us that we could ride bikes there on trails that led directly from our park and looped around the city.
Hotel del Coronado, or “Hotel Del” as it’s called in local lingo, was built in 1888. It had electricity when it was built, a novelty at the time, and supplied power to the little city around it. Presidents and celebrities have stayed here. Frank Baum wrote three books in his Wizard of Oz series while in residency at the hotel. Marilyn Monroe filmed “Some Like it Hot” here in 1958.
We took a stroll through the lobby, and then wandered around to the beach out back. From here, the hotel’s lighthouse-style cupola stands out like a beacon.
We took a harbor tour of the San Diego Bay, so some of my pictures will be from that boat ride. This picture of the bridge from Coronado Island to San Diego was taken on the boat.
I always received a beautiful birds-eye view of San Diego while riding in our truck on the bridge.
Do you see the yellow ship in back of this picture? It’s a banana boat!
On our harbor cruise, our captain told us that the Dole ships supply bananas to Western-$state grocery stores weekly from Central and South America. That’s 2 billion bananas annually for San Diego alone!
Another day, a Naval hospital ship was being assisted into port by a couple of tug boats.
On the harbor tour we caught the destroyer USS Stockdale coming in to dock, and waved to the sailors on deck.
Our time here wasn’t all about ships. Back at the park, we enjoyed views of the mountains across the bay and would check to see if there was snow on top.
We were on the very edge of our park, and could see a tall pole with an osprey nest on top from out our window. A pair of them resided in the nest and we delighted in watching them fly about or cuddle in their nest. I’m not a wildlife photographer, but I did get a hyper zoom on them one day.
To me, a great RV park has ample space for long walks. I could go right out our door to walk either along the beach on the bay or on the path directly behind it. You can see it in the picture on top of this post. If I had time for a longer walk, the path would lead to Silver Strand State Park where there were always birds hanging about.
The path had a tunnel under the road and then I could be right on the Pacific side of the state park, where people would be fishing, surfing, or just enjoying the beach.
We also walked over across the road one night to watch the sun go down over the Pacific.
The funny thing is, Coronado Island is not really an island. It’s a peninsula. The town of Imperial Beach sits at the southern end. Our bike path went that direction, too, and led into a nature preserve at the south end of the bay.
Imperial Beach enjoys the distinction of being most southwesterly point in the United States, as the restaurant at the end of its pier proudly points out.
The next city south of Imperial Beach is Tijuana, Mexico. At night, we could see the lights of the city on the hills in the distance. On a cool overcast day, we could just spot it from the pier. We also enjoyed watching a few surfers who are probably out in any kind of weather. I caught this guy right at the beginning of the crest of his wave.
Just before we were to leave our park, the wildflowers went into bloom along the path. Could there be any better sendoff than that?
Next time – visiting San Diego
Twosna Travels 
This looks like a wonderful place to stay for 3 weeks. Beautiful and interesting scenery, places to walk and ride bikes. Very nice! Your mention of Frank Baum reminded me of the book, “Finding Dorothy.” I really enjoyed that book. Thanks for your post, and I look forward to your next one.
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I read all the Oz books as a child, so I did find that interesting as well! Our Coronado stay will go down as one of the best of the winter. I’m glad you enjoyed it, more to come!
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You were in one of our most favorite areas! San Diego – we really like the ocean and turn around and you see real mountains! Love it! We have been there many times and always find new things to discover. I am so glad you are/were there and can’t wait to read your next post and more things you did there. My list is long. HAHA
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Well, now I think San Diego is one of my favorite areas too! And yes, I have a list of places that we didn’t visit and some places will deserve a return. Of course we did many things outside of Coronado, so all that will be in the next post!
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