Since luxury resorts like the Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island off the coast of San Diego were charging a fraction of their normal rates, this was a great time to go explore them during the pandemic.  I booked a Victorian Junior Suite at the Hotel Del Coronado in December of 2020 to get away from the madness of Northern California to enjoy a nice beach get away.  My wife did not want to go since we traveled a lot during the pandemic, I went with some of my buddies who were not as worried about this Covid thing either.  So, we all gathered in San Diego.  After getting my rental car at the Budget Fastbreak counter, I headed off to the historic Victorian beach resort which was built in 1890!

    Some services were still not available at the resort due to the pandemic unfortunately.  There was no valet parking.  After I arrived, the bellman did take the luggage before I had to go self park in the underground parking garage.  They did have Diamond parking spots near the elevator so it was a quick walk back up to the resort.  I saw the bellman as I left the garage elevator, and he said he printed out a room key already for me even though I had my digital key on my Hilton app ready to go.  The room key is needed to get in and out of the parking garage since it is gated.  Parking costs $40 per night!  We headed up to the room afterwards and were in awe of the amazing resort.  It is hard to imagine how these structures were built in the 1800s without modern technology or computers!  However, I guess I have seen castles and palaces built hundreds of years ago so a Victorian strucutre like this is nothing compared to those, but it was still quite a thrilling experience to see history up close!

    The hallways had a nice beachy theme to the walls.  The original woodwork looked amazing.  The old elevators were cool too!  One of them reminded me of the famous fight scene from the Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever, when Bond was fighting "Peter Franks" in the old building elevator that was in Amsterdam.  Most of the staff at the resort was super cool too with the guests not masking.  We did not hear one rude comment or request to mask from the bell staff or housekeeping staff!  In fact, most of the guests we met and hung out with at the resort were conservative and against the masking requirements also.  Government does not need to mandate people to do things.

    Once we arrived at the junior Victorian Suite which normally goes for $1,200 a night, I took enjoyed the historic elements coupled together with some modern decorations.  I did notice the robes were missing in the room.  They were available upon request due to Covid.  We enjoyed more scenic views of the resort and the holiday decorations before arriving at the patio area for lunch.  The views from there were so amazing!  The beach with the rough surf and the cliffs to the north were so cool!  I ordered my Basil Hayden and a light lunch as I enjoyed people watching.  The resort was still pretty busy for being a "Covid year."  The main Christmas tree was really cool as well.  There were artificial snow machines that would randomly make "snow" for the kids to enjoy!

    After lunch, we decided to go check out the Cabana pool.  This is the main pool at the resort.  To my surprise, the jacuzzi was open despite the web site saying it was closed due to the health mandates.  The jacuzzi was pretty large however so we enjoyed a nice soak.  A cool couple joined us in the hot tub.  We had great discussion with them on how the liberals were infringing on our rights in this state.  The idiot liberal leaders are hypocrites!  They do not mask and dine out at fancy restaurants and even travel to other countries while they mandate their subjects stay home and mask!  It makes no sense!  The California governor is the biggest hypocrite of them all.  I told my friends that as successful professionals, we make the same or more than the idiot Governor of California so we are not below him!  If he can die at the French Laundry sans mask, then we can go out and enjoy nice resorts also!

    It was dinner time after our long and pleasant conversation with the conservative couple at the hot tub.  I loved the holiday lights too as we headed to dinner at the gourmet Serea restaurant at the resort.  The Christmas trees looked cool at night.  The Del was the first hotel to have electric lights so it is fitting how the exterior has amazing lights year round.  Dinner at Serea was amazing!  My main course of the ahi tuna with the heirloom tomato gaspacho was so delicious!  The dessert was just too good for words!  This gourmet sundae had ice cream, caramel sauce, and canied nuts in a bottle that had a message hand written in it.  LOL.  Even the decaf espresso was delicious and paired well with my dessert.  The staff was all very helpful and courteous that day so we were leaving large tips to help them out since the restaurants were going to close after this weekend due to the stay at home orders.  We need to help out our fellow Americans who are suffering during the shutdowns!  Economic ruin can cause more deaths than Covid ever will.  I had my night cap at the hotel bar.  Then, we went to explore the haunted room at the hotel!  This young lady who was staying at the resort in the 1800s was killed there so her room is supposedly haunted!  I could not see the ghost however.  LOL.  So, I went back to the room since there was not much more to do at the resort due to the 10:00 closing of the bar.

    The next morning, I enjoyed a delicious yet expensive breakfast at Sheerwater at the resort.  This restaurant had amazing views of the beach also.  After having my pancakes, turkey sausage, and mimosa, I got my iced Americano before taking a nice walk on the beach.  California beaches do not impress me usually since the water is too cold, but I liked the scenery at this beach.

    Next, I enjoyed some more time in the jacuzzi and just chilling by the pool.  The mini cabanas were cool since they overlooked the large Victorian spire.  Getting back to why I was listening to Montgomery Gentry's "Lucky Man."  There is a line in that song that says how he was disappointed when his "Bengals lost on Sunday."  LOL.  It was football Sunday after all!  So, I had to monitor my fantasy football as I chilled at the pool.  My Cowboys did not play that Sunday so I was watching a little football on my Sunday Ticket app, but I was not watching as much I would if I was stuck at home.  LOL.  However, that song also says how one should be happy with all the blessings one has!  Life is short!  Enjoy!

    We got a late check out at 2:00 PM so we had plenty of time to enjoy the resort before checking out and having lunch at the patio again.  The artificial snow was just so cool to see with the palm trees in the background!  After leaving the Del, we headed to the Viejas Casino Resort where we met up with another buddy of mine.  Luckily, the casino was exempt from the California stay at home orders so we enjoyed indoor dining and gambling there.  I was up a pretty good amount also on the Goldfish slots and craps!  Moreover, I enjoyed my JW Blue!  My buddy gets 40% off since he is a big gambler there so the Blue Label was only $21 per ounce.