Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Coronado Island


Built in 1888 across from San Diego harbor, the turreted original wooden Victorian seaside Hotel del Coronado is a national treasure. Millions recognize the structure from the Marilyn Monroe comedy “Some Like It Hot”, which was filmed here in 1958 with co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon . The San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge links the city and the "island" (actually a peninsula) of Coronado. At 246 feet, the 1969 bridge is tall enough for the Navy's aircraft carriers to pass beneath. From the top of the span you can see Mexico twelve miles to the south, the San Diego skyline, Coronado and Point Loma. Since 1986 passenger ferry service has linked Coronado with the docks of San Diego’s harbor.


The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum rented a house which still stands at 1101 Star Park Circle, Coronado (photo above). He wrote two of his famous children’s books here, The Road to Oz (1909) and The Emerald City of Oz (1910). He wrote an earlier volume of the popular series while residing at the Hotel Del Coronado.

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