Where in the World?

This week, we took a detour from our MYSTERY TOUR to attend a family wedding in San Diego, California. Perfect weather, perfect temperatures, on what was named "America's best beach" as recently as 2012. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends, and discovering many places we would like to return to. Not the least of which was the historic  Hotel del Coronado.

Not because it is so beautiful (it is!). Not because of all the history (120 years of continuous operation), or even because it boasts of standing on the most beautiful beach in America (it does!). We would like to return to this HUGE famous hotel mostly because we… um… never found it. True, we saw it coming and going from our various activities that revolved around the wedding. Passed it several times, in fact. Even made a note to come back and explore whenever we had an hour, or two, of free time. 

Which we discovered we would be able to fit in on the afternoon of the great event. So, we arranged to meet some of our family there and look around. As you can see from the picture, this place is definitely not small. Nor is it hidden within a maze of winding streets. But since time was limited, we decided to use… the GPS to get there. 

Big mistake.

Here are the three phrases that bamboozled us. "Analyzing traffic conditions," "Recalculating," and "New route." Times two. Because we were going in two different cars with two different electronic devices. Which both parties trusted more than their own common sense. That still might have worked out, if not for the propensity of Internet droids to fill in any blanks with the "next best choice." 

Add to this mix the fact that the greater portion of businesses in the district have the word Coronado in their name, and you can see why we immediately got separated, missed each other by car lengths on numerous occasions, and ended up in several rendezvous locations that turned out to be somewhere else. 

We finally did meet up with each other… at the wedding… and had to agree that was one of the craziest hours any of us had spent in a good long while. So, I wrote the experience off as a "goofy family thing" and made a mental note to come back, sometime. Without all the electronics.  I find the history of the place beyond intriguing.  A good location to fit into a future novel, maybe. I've even heard there are hauntings, but those are probably just rumors. I'm sure about one thing, though…

Our experience could definitely make the cover of the "GOOSE CHASE GAZETTE."