TYPE "HOTEL DEL CORONADO"... and "L. Frank Baum" into any search engine and you'll encounter a number of tales from the past. They involve the ties between the storied, 19th-century hotel and the writer of "The Wizard of Oz," and they're true, as the fanciful scribe actually spent a lot of time on the idyllic island near the beginning of the 20th century. And just about every yarn related to The Del and the creator of the Tin Man and Toto mentions the pretty crown chandeliers found in the hotel's spacious main ballroom. That's because Mr. Baum designed them, a fact that's uttered several times a day, one might imagine, by any "Wizard"-loving hotel guest who happens to encounter the sizable crowns for the first time.
IT'S TRUE, IT'S REALLY TRUE: So a skeptical soul might be forgiven for not quite believing that the ocean-adjacent destination offers ice skating near the sand, and has for 13 years now. "Surely this is another fictional story, one that can't be true?" "Do I need to click three times to go to this sparkly place?" Well, click three times if you like, like Dorothy Gale so successfully did, but it is true: The Hotel del Coronado features Skating by the Sea each holiday season, and neither a house-transporting whirlwind nor a hot air balloon is required for traveling there. You'll just need to make your way to the San Diego icon from...
THANKSGIVING THROUGH NEW YEAR'S DAY, and then dance, with all the sprightliness of the Scarecrow, to the Windsor Lawn. It's $30, and, yep, your rented ice skates are a part of that price, and Make-A-Wish San Diego will receive a portion of the proceeds. You'll want to check out hours and other good-to-knows before going, and note a special closing time on Dec. 5 and Dec. 13, 2017. As for twirling near the sand, near the Pacific, and near one of California's most famous hotels? It might have a touch of yellow-brick-road-o-sity to it, fantasy-wise, though this surface is not brick but ice.
