Summer in Coronado is for the tourists. It's a time when thousands of Arizona residents relocate to Coronado and hotels and businesses thrive. Everything that can be rented, is.
A restaurant barely making their rent can make enough during summer to carry them well into the next year. And young people experience what it's like to wait tables and go home at night with pockets full of tips – often it's their first jobs. It's been that way since 1900, and the opening of Tent City and a railroad connecting us to the mainland.
Homeowners living within a five-block radius of the beach have to adjust to not having street parking during summer months. There is no point to driving your car, because you have nowhere to park when you return. It's the time of year when the bicycles are brought out and dusted off.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that this time of year kids go back to school, Zonies return to their homeland, and Coronado experiences what I think is the best time of year.
It's a time for big south swells to march up from Mexico, often blessing Coronado beaches with massive, uncrowded waves. The local police lighten up on ticketing for riding bikes on the sidewalk. The Indian Summer begins, and we experience often perfect weather, topped with memorable sunsets.
It's a time of year when everyone on the island takes a huge sigh of relief because Coronado once again belongs to the locals.
Photos and captions by Chris Stone. Text by Joe Ditler
