Coronado, CA

San Diego is one of the largest congregation of military personnel in the free world, and it's going to get a little bigger next year when the U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CVN-70), a nuclear aircraft carrier, moves to the North Island Naval Air Station from Norfolk, Virginia. Currently, the North Island Naval Air Station is home to the U.S.S. Nimitz (CVN-68) and the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) aircraft carriers.

The U.S.S. Vinson was commissioned March 13, 1982, and carries 85 planes and a crew of 5,500.

F-14A planes from the Vinson starred in the movie "Top Gun," and you can see the Vinson herself in the opening scenes of the movie "The Presidio," and she starred in thet movie "Behind Enemy Lines."

The military will be upgrading Berth Lima on the base's east side to the tune of $38 million, which also includes fenders and mooring bollards, utility and computer system upgrades, and street paving and drainage work. Additional work to handle the 5,500 service personnel will include reconfiguring the First Street entrance to North Island to provide four lanes of inbound traffic during the morning rush hour and improvements to some streets and intersections surrounding the Naval Air Station.

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If you need help buying or selling a home anywhere in San Diego County, please contact me. I'll help you find just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals. Military service personnel welcome! I'm available 24/7, so don't hesitate to contact me by phone or email.

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My most recent 20 posts (they'll open in a new window):

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Hotel Del Coronado is a National Historic Landmark. Located on Coronado Island right across the bay from Downtown San Diego, I was there this past week to observe the marvelous Christmas Display and I certainly was not disappointed. I wanted to share the wonderful Christmas decorations that are becoming almost as famous as the hotel herself.

The Victorian styling of this hotel calls back to era of sophistication and elegance and this years Christmas Tree lives up to that tradition. There is a photo below of some of the details of the decorations. The tree is so large, it is hard to capture it in one photo so I did a close-up photo so you could appreciate the turn of the century stylings.

I hope you will enjoy these pictures as reminiscent of the by gone days brought current by the Grand Dame herself, the Hotel Del Coronado. If you have the time and the interest, I provided a link so you could read about this marvelous old hotel and the prominance she enjoyed through her life. She was visited by Royalty, great world leaders, famous movie stars and perhaps the people that appreciate her the most, the guests that spend time there.

If walls could talk to me, I suspect I would need to be a very careful journalistic editor. Thankfully she revealed only grace and elegance in my presence. Merry Christmas from our Hotel Del Coronado.

Since I'm the resident "golfer agent" in this company everyone asks me for recommendations of where to play golf in San Diego. Wow..this is a loaded question in that there are over 70 courses to choose from! I have my obvious favorite, Coronado Golf Course, right in my own back yard. This is one of the most recognizable courses in San Diego having the San Diego Bay line so many of the fairways, fabulous view of the downtown San Diego skyline, great vistas of the famous "blue bridge", this course has it all. Over 103,000 rounds are played here each year, more than any other course in the county. It's not just the wonderful views, fabulous hole layout, great clubhouse, food sevice, staff....no, I think it has more to do with the fact that the greensfees are only $25.00. Yes, I said $25.00. Where else in San Diego will you find a more ideal place to spend 4 hours for only $25.00? I urge you all to come and play our course, and after you finish your game spend a while strolling the streets of our downtown enjoying the sights and sounds that make this "village" so unique. Actually, Coronado is it's own city...but Village sounds more "quaint".

I am putting together a story about hotel hauntings, and surely one to top the list would be reports of hauntings at the Hotel del Coronado, which have circulated for years.

The most famous San Diego and Coronado ghost is a young woman who reportedly committed suicide near the turn of the last century after her husband or lover abandoned her. I don’t remember exactly where she stayed that fateful night at the Hotel del Coronado, but I do recall a desk clerk giving me the room number during a stay at the Hotel Del Coronado a few years ago.

Unable to resist the temptation, I went by that small interior room in the hotel (with windows that opened into the hallway), but the window coverings were drawn shut and I could see nothing. The clerk said that many psychics and ghosthunters reserve the room–either out of curiosity, or the possible opportunity for a Coronado seance.

I am not aware of any threatening gestures made by the ghost or spirit that supposedly roams the halls and grounds of the Hotel del Coronado, but would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has encountered any ghosts or spirits at this legendary San Diego hotel–or from who have their own hotel haunting stories.

(In my original post about this story on San Diego Previews, there were several interesting responses and stories--that were far more interesting than my original article. Unfortunately, during the recent hacking attack these comments were deleted. Perhaps the story can be rebuilt into something even more interesting.)

Silver Strand Coronado San Diego California

The Silver Strand is a narrow stretch of land between Coronado and Imperial Beach in San Diego. It connects Coronado to the mainland of San Diego and was used before the Coronado Bridge was built which now takes on the majority of traffic to and from Coronado. There is a great beach there called Silver Strand State Beach with miles of white sand and crashing waves. The sand at Silver Strand State Beach has gold flakes in it and sparkles when the wave's crash and churn up the sand. It's incredibly beautiful.

We decided with some friends to go to the Silver Strand SB Campsites and spend the weekend. We couldn‘t have picked a nicer weekend. Temperatures were in the 90's which for April in San Diego is hotter than normal. We went with two other families, close friends, and reserved spots next to each other right on the beach. The fun began as soon as we got there. This is one of the finest campsites in all of California - on the beach in Coronado with miles of mostly quiet San Diego Beaches.

The weekend consisted of relaxing, eating, laughing, swimming, fishing, walks on the beach, sand dollar hunting, sun bathing, naps in the sun, smores, camp fire talks and scary stories, charades, and so much more. It was so much fun we made reservations and are going back in 2 weeks. We went to MooTime in Downtown Coronado and got some great ice cream. We fished and caught Surf Perch and Halibut but no Corbina yet. We went on a sand dollar hunt and found over 300 sand dollars. The beaches for day beach goers were packed and the sail surfers were out in force. There is an $8 fee to day park at the beach. It was a weekend we'll never forget. We work hard and play hard too. It balances out nicely. Because we are in San Diego we can also take care of emergencies that come up in the real estate world if need be.

If you get a chance visit the Silver Strand State Beach and if you're a camper with an RV or Trailer make some reservations and stay a while. You'll love it.

If you're interested in buying a home or condo in Coronado or anywhere in San Diego visit our web site and give us a call. Our San Diego Real Estate web site has great real estate search tools and great maps.

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All information is believed to be correct but not guaranteed.

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