Lamb's Players Theatre, Coronado Island, San Diego, Ca - Would you build an entire weekend around this building for a California beach weekend getaway? Mary & Jim, a couple we know, did so--and they said they'd do it again. Check out the current schedule at the performance theater, 1142 Orange Ave., Coronado, CA. Call: (619) 437-6050. lambsplayers.org

From Los Angeles you can be to San Diego by car in just over 2.5 hours. Here's the clincher: From San Francisco or San Jose you can get there by air in just over 90 minutes, and you can do it for less than $150 round trip (on a recent search, the prices were that amount).

What's this building about, and why would you take the time to go to Coronado Island in San Diego, when there are theater and performance groups up and down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego?

First, you're not buying a ticket to a play, you're buying a California beach weekend getaway, and a stay at the beach at  places such as  Hotel del Coronado. That's what Jim & Mary did, anyway.

The Lamb's Players Theatre touts itself as one of Southern California's best nonprofit performing arts groups. If its location just two blocks from the Pacific Ocean doesn't inspire, then the colorful performances, costumes and staging should do the trick.  Under the direction of long-time theater professionals, actors who are skilled performers enjoy a professionally-run company that's been in existence for close to 30 years and is recognized at one of the top 50 theater companies in the U.S.  With an annual budget over $4 million, and 30 staff employees, the theater has the capability to overcome obstacles many similar theater groups can't.  Tickets are affordable, the plays are superb, and the location lends to an ideal vacation activity as guests  can pretty much walk from nearby hotels just a block or two distance (Hotel del, for one).

With a  run that goes from February through November and includes five feature productions, (plus a special Christmas holiday show), our friend who watched "Hello Dolly" absolutely loved it. They strolled over from the Hotel del Coronado where they'd booked a suite for a birthday celebration and enjoyed a really special night before heading back to Los Angeles.  They ate an expensive meal (we're hoping for a report to come about that), but they did remember MooTime ice cream treats they told us to check out.

Is Hotel del a bit too rich for your blood. Then you can also walk to the play from Glorietta Bay Inn, Coronado Beach Resort Condos or a variety of hotels and resorts just blocks from the theatre.

San Diego< Coronado > Imperial Beach