Trolleys and Ferries and Buses

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles? No, error-prone travel movie.

"Trains and Boats and Planes"? No, mournful tone to the song.

So I went with the less glamorous, but more down-to-earth, transportation modes for the title. Following a 10-minute truck ride to Santee, we began with the trolley from Santee to Old Town.

Clean, convenient, comfor-table, and fast.

A timely transfer from the Green to the Blue Line in Old Town took us to the Spanish Mission style Santa Fe depot, which has been a bustling hub of activity since 1915. Fortunately, it avoided an encounter with the wrecking ball back in 1971.

We have a train trip planned for next week, so on this occasion we only acknow-ledged the presence of this Amtrak train as we crossed the tracks. A three-block walk along Broadway brought us to our destination. The Coronado Ferry.

Docked next to the ferry was the Carnival Splendor. The cruise ship with 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew members was 200 miles south of San Diego when a fire started in the engine room on the morning of November 9th.

Air conditioning, hot food service, hot water, and telephone service were knocked out. Toilets and cold running water were restored Monday night. Navy helicopters flew in supplies, including Spam, Pop Tarts, and canned crab meat.

Six tug boats were dispatched to haul the 952-foot, 113,000-ton liner back to the San Diego Bay, in what must have been a gruesome three-day trip.

As we purchased our ferry tickets, we learned that the Splendor could be docked in San Diego for three weeks.

From our seats in the open top deck of the ferry, we watched jets on their approach.

We learned that San Diego International is the nation’s busiest single runway airport, and that the airport is notable for its approach to runway 27, which, due to the airport's close proximity to downtown, allows spotters a view of many aircraft flying level to the roofs of the downtown skyscrapers.

Leaving the harbor, we concen-trated on the buildings that comprise San Diego's skyline.


























As we passed the USS Midway, a portion of the flag on our ferry provided a patriotic touch to this photograph of the historic aircraft carrier.

We arrived at the Coronado Island Ferry Depot where, using our one-day trolley-bus pass, we boarded the 904 bus to take us to downtown Coronado.

Once off the bus, we were greeted by this fellow outside the Coronado Candy Factory.

A few steps down Orange Avenue brought us to the Lamb's Players Theatre, located in the historic Spreckels Building. In 1994, theatre members remodeled the long-abandoned theatre space and brought it gloriously back to its original intended use.

We, along with Dick and Karen Allsing, attended the world premier of The Glory Man in the comfortable, intimate theatre that seats 350 in a European amphitheater style with terrific sightlines.

They play tells the story of Clarence Jordan's 1940s dream to establish a self-sustaining farm in Georgia, founded on faith, rooted in brotherhood, community and equality.

The members if the interracial group were threatened, excom-municated, and branded Commu-nists, but in the 1960s formed the organization Habitat for Humanity.

The four photos shown here represent the shops and architecture of Coronado.















As we boarded the ferry for the return trip, we took these photos of the San Diego skyline (north to south) from Coronado Island.
















Just as we were about to dock in the harbor, I snapped this photo of a message left by a passenger on the Carnival Splendor. In spite of the hardships endured by the passengers, at least one wanted to leave a message to those who arrived to provide help in the rescue efforts.

it read: "Thank you."