Ah, Christmastime along the beach in San Diego: Palms sway in a balmy sea breeze; warm sunlight glistens off the sand; breaking surf rumbles offshore; and … skate blades scrape ice?
Holiday revelers needn’t brave the snowy roads in the Midwest, or the frigid temperatures in New England to enjoy winter’s sweet exhilaration. You can whizz around a sheet of ice with a backdrop out of a Beach Boys song.
For the past seven Decembers, the Hotel del Coronado has given people from all over the chance to ice skate by the beach. That's the reason Megan McNamara and her friends drove down from Los Angeles. They're all from the East Coast and said there's nothing like the beach-front rink back there.
"You can basically step off the rink and onto the beach," McNamara said. "I wanted to have Christmas pictures on the beach. But I think it's even better to have Christmas pictures on an ice rink and the beach is in the background."
McNamara and her friends glided around the ice wearing light sweaters and scarves which they said were purely for the sake of style. Across the rink Shohreh Hairgrove and her two daughters laughed and tried to keep their balance as they hesitantly skated along, often clinging to the wall for support. Hairgrove said they like to come to the Hotel del Coronado for the holidays. But she said this was their first time skating.
"I mean come on, ocean and ice, and such weather, it's awesome. It's great," Hairgrove said.
While it was the Hairgrove's first time at the rink, other families have made it a tradition.
Craig and Marita Swanson were skating with their 10-year-old daughter Avalon. Craig Swanson said his family has been coming to Coronado to skate for six or seven years.
"We kind of look forward to it. We do it as a family thing every Christmas," he said.
Swanson and his family then joined the crowd skating around the makeshift rink as Christmas carols about snow and sleigh rides wafted past palm trees and out toward the crashing ocean waves.
The ice skating rink at the Hotel del Coronado is open daily through January 2nd.
