exploring
Beach Cities
Left to right: heading out for a surf in Coronado; boards and beach cruisers at the Mission Beach Boardwalks; the lighthouse at Point Loma.
From Coronado to Pacific Beach: Welcome to Southern California’s most scenic oceanside neighborhoods.
Coronado
Coronado is an island of small-town quaintness amid San Diego’s big-city bustle. Well, it’s not really an island, though many locals call it that. Coronado is actually an isthmus, attached to the mainland at the southern end of Silver Strand State Beach. Though driving there via the iconic Coronado Bridge is always a thrill, it’s also great fun to travel by sea. The Coronado/San Diego Ferry leaves on the hour from downtown’s Broadway Pier between 9 am and 9 pm (619.234.4111), while San Diego Water Taxi offers on-call transportation around the bay from 9 am to 10 pm (619.235.8294). Upon arrival, you can browse the shops and restaurants at Coronado Ferry Landing Marketplace (1201 First St.), then rent a cruiser at Bikes and Beyond to explore Coronado’s flat, tree-lined side streets. Head south on the main drag of Orange Avenue to find an inviting entertainment district, with shops like women’s apparel boutique La Mer (1122 Orange Ave.) and La Provençale (1122 Orange Ave.), with French-inspired linens, bath-and-body items and gifts. Don’t miss two new side-by-side shops, Be Styled, with chic tops, dresses and accessories, and Blue Jeans & Bikinis, which makes it easy to shop for those two items women notoriously hate having to try on (1113 Adella Ave.). Continuing on Orange toward the beach brings you to the storybook Hotel del Coronado (1500 Orange Ave.), opened in 1888 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. For more on the town’s history, stop by the Coronado Museum of History and Art (1100 Orange Ave.), which has a new exhibition celebrating the 100th anniversary of naval aviation. Spreckels Park (Orange Ave. between Sixth and Seventh sts.) sits between these two retail zones and is an ideal place to take a break from all that strenuous shopping.
Shelter Island and Harbor Island
Shelter Island and Harbor Island aren’t really “islands” either; they’re connected to the mainland and were created more than 35 years ago with tons of sand dredged from the floor of the bay. Shelter Island, with its many bars, restaurants and nautically themed stores, is the departure point for various sportfishing charters. The area is also home to Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay, a 1,400-seat outdoor theater that hosts jazz, blues and pop headliners in warmer months. Nearby Harbor Island has its own, smaller outdoor festival site, Spanish Landing Park, and several bayview restaurants. Both islands offer postcard vistas of the downtown skyline, plus flat paths for walks and bike rides.
24 WHERESD.COM SUMMER 2011
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