Blog: Entries Tagged With 'catalina'
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Ensenada, Round Three - Thursday, April 3, 2025
Because Priscilla constantly has the travel itch, and because she keeps forgetting how much land sickness she gets after a cruise, she signed us up for another cruise to Ensenada last month. This was our third time cruising there, the previous time being in 2020 a month before the world shut down. How things have changed since then.
We stayed at Jo-Ann and her sister's condo in San Pedro overnight, and they kindly brought us to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal the next day. After waiting in lines for a good while, we boarded our ship, the Carnival Firenze. This is a newer and larger ship compared to Carnival's Fantasy-class ships that we've sailed on previously.
We went straight to the Lido Marketplace for lunch, avoiding the crowds that were mostly checking into their muster stations. After lunch, we reported to ours, but they just asked if we had sailed before and knew how to put on a life jacket, and then they signed us off. I don't know if they were supposed to bypass the safety briefing like that, or maybe they figure that people don't pay attention to or remember the briefings anyway.
We had time that afternoon to do the adventure course on the top deck. It wasn't as exciting as the treetop courses we did at Go Ape and Highline Adventures, but it was still cool to see this new addition. Here, your harness is tethered to a rail system and you're able to change freely between an easier side and a harder side at each platform. Kudos to Priscilla for pushing through her fear of falling and making it to the end.
The next day was supposed to be Catalina Island, but it ended up being our day at sea due to strong winds that made docking infeasible. Unfortunately, the wind also made for some choppy waters, and the ship was swaying a lot. I had to go back to our stateroom and lie down, but that day we still managed to eat a lot, work out, walk around the track on the top deck, and watch the Color My World music show which was beautifully done. We had dinner at the upscale Michelangelo Restaurant, and the prime rib and molten chocolate cake were divine.
Fortunately, the wind had subsided the next day and we were able to go ashore at Catalina (Avalon). We hiked 10 miles around the town, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens, and the Trans-Catalina Trail. I did a couple bonus miles and hiked to the Lone Tree Point on the south side of the island, where I was treated to breathtaking views of the coastline below. The trails this far out were also fairly devoid of people.
Ensenada was the following day, and this time we just did a zip lining excursion with Desert Nest. A bus brought us to their basecamp outside town, and then two vans took our group of a dozen people up to the nearby hills. There are five successive zip lines and the views were decent. I have to admit that zip lining was not as exciting as I was hoping, but I guess the experience is more about the views than the inherent thrill of the ride. Maybe also because we were not permitted to do it hanging upside-down like our guides were doing.
After we got back to town, we walked a mile around the Port of Ensenada but otherwise didn't have too much time or inclination to do much. We don't care to eat in town because there's plenty of food already paid for back on the ship. When we were walking along a street with merchants trying to get tourists to eat at their restaurants, I even said "ya estamos llenos" ("we're already full") to a lady, which was true because we'd eaten a big breakfast. I guess we like being boring when traveling.
There were a couple things that had changed this time around. One our first cruise in 2009, all the pictures being taken of people got printed out and hung on the wall to nudge people into buying. I always thought this was wasteful. I'm not positive but I think even in 2020 they were still doing this. Now, to cut down on costs, you just view your pictures through the Carnival app and purchase prints there. I don't think there's an option to purchase digital versions of the pictures, though. Maybe in a few more years.
The other difference we encountered was that reservations to the restaurant are now made through the app. They also don't give you a printed menu by default (though you can request one), instead making people pull up the menu on their phones. A little less personal, but it again cuts down on costs and is better for the planet.
Priscilla ended up having land sickness for a few weeks after the cruise, while mine was minor and lasted only a few days. The trip was fun enough but I was reminded that I'm not really a cruise person. Priscilla, on the other hand, enjoys being able to try different things and having all our needs taken care of. I don't think she's really itching to do a multi-month around the world cruise anymore, though doing another short cruise in the future seems to still be on the table.
We stayed at Jo-Ann and her sister's condo in San Pedro overnight, and they kindly brought us to the Long Beach Cruise Terminal the next day. After waiting in lines for a good while, we boarded our ship, the Carnival Firenze. This is a newer and larger ship compared to Carnival's Fantasy-class ships that we've sailed on previously.
We went straight to the Lido Marketplace for lunch, avoiding the crowds that were mostly checking into their muster stations. After lunch, we reported to ours, but they just asked if we had sailed before and knew how to put on a life jacket, and then they signed us off. I don't know if they were supposed to bypass the safety briefing like that, or maybe they figure that people don't pay attention to or remember the briefings anyway.
We had time that afternoon to do the adventure course on the top deck. It wasn't as exciting as the treetop courses we did at Go Ape and Highline Adventures, but it was still cool to see this new addition. Here, your harness is tethered to a rail system and you're able to change freely between an easier side and a harder side at each platform. Kudos to Priscilla for pushing through her fear of falling and making it to the end.
The next day was supposed to be Catalina Island, but it ended up being our day at sea due to strong winds that made docking infeasible. Unfortunately, the wind also made for some choppy waters, and the ship was swaying a lot. I had to go back to our stateroom and lie down, but that day we still managed to eat a lot, work out, walk around the track on the top deck, and watch the Color My World music show which was beautifully done. We had dinner at the upscale Michelangelo Restaurant, and the prime rib and molten chocolate cake were divine.
Fortunately, the wind had subsided the next day and we were able to go ashore at Catalina (Avalon). We hiked 10 miles around the town, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens, and the Trans-Catalina Trail. I did a couple bonus miles and hiked to the Lone Tree Point on the south side of the island, where I was treated to breathtaking views of the coastline below. The trails this far out were also fairly devoid of people.
Ensenada was the following day, and this time we just did a zip lining excursion with Desert Nest. A bus brought us to their basecamp outside town, and then two vans took our group of a dozen people up to the nearby hills. There are five successive zip lines and the views were decent. I have to admit that zip lining was not as exciting as I was hoping, but I guess the experience is more about the views than the inherent thrill of the ride. Maybe also because we were not permitted to do it hanging upside-down like our guides were doing.
After we got back to town, we walked a mile around the Port of Ensenada but otherwise didn't have too much time or inclination to do much. We don't care to eat in town because there's plenty of food already paid for back on the ship. When we were walking along a street with merchants trying to get tourists to eat at their restaurants, I even said "ya estamos llenos" ("we're already full") to a lady, which was true because we'd eaten a big breakfast. I guess we like being boring when traveling.
There were a couple things that had changed this time around. One our first cruise in 2009, all the pictures being taken of people got printed out and hung on the wall to nudge people into buying. I always thought this was wasteful. I'm not positive but I think even in 2020 they were still doing this. Now, to cut down on costs, you just view your pictures through the Carnival app and purchase prints there. I don't think there's an option to purchase digital versions of the pictures, though. Maybe in a few more years.
The other difference we encountered was that reservations to the restaurant are now made through the app. They also don't give you a printed menu by default (though you can request one), instead making people pull up the menu on their phones. A little less personal, but it again cuts down on costs and is better for the planet.
Priscilla ended up having land sickness for a few weeks after the cruise, while mine was minor and lasted only a few days. The trip was fun enough but I was reminded that I'm not really a cruise person. Priscilla, on the other hand, enjoys being able to try different things and having all our needs taken care of. I don't think she's really itching to do a multi-month around the world cruise anymore, though doing another short cruise in the future seems to still be on the table.
Just Cruisin' - Monday, March 2, 2020
Priscilla loves traveling, and perhaps cruising in particular due to the aspect of everything being taken care of. And because I'm married to her, I occasionally have to go along with her crazy schemes. So three weeks ago we took a 4-day cruise from Long Beach to Catalina Island and Ensenada aboard the Carnival Inspiration. At least we got it free thanks to credit card points; all-in-all, it would've been $600 something otherwise.
This was my third cruise overall (all of them with Carnival) and my second cruise to Ensenada, the first one being in 2009 when Priscilla's parents brought us there (but we didn't do Catalina that time). Priscilla was particularly keen to include Catalina this time because it's where I proposed oh so many years ago.
So on Monday, we flew down to Long Beach Airport and Ubered to the Long Beach Cruise Center where we boarded the ship. The next morning, the ship docked off the Catalina coast and we had to take a ferry to get to shore. We walked around Avalon, which was in a quiet, sleepy state, perhaps because it was a weekday. We hiked up the same trail that we tried hiking up last time (where I had proposed), except this time we made it to the top! Priscilla had brought proper footwear this time and was resolved (or more like resigned) to get to the top, not because she likes hiking, but because she knows how much I like it. We enjoyed the scenic ocean view on both sides of the island, and had a local there talk a lot to me, before we continued along on a route down the mountain.
The route down took us to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden through the rear entrance, where we were able to enter without paying a fee. I got that tip from another local who struck up a conversation with me when we were at Vons getting sparkling water (those locals really like to talk!). We were able to enjoy the memorial and garden before heading back to the ship. Altogether our trek was a little over 10 miles - not too shabby, especially for Priscilla.
Ensenada was the next day, and our time there started with a 1-hour horseback ride with Rancho los Bandidos, an excursion booked through Carnival. We joined around 18 others riding single-file on a trail in the mountains above the city. The views were great, but the pace of the horseback riding was pretty slow. I did get a lot of chafing from the times when the horse was running, due to me bouncing up and down as a result of not knowing proper technique. So I guess there's an upside to the pace being mostly slow.
Priscilla's feet were sore from the day before, so we only walked 4 miles around Ensenada before going back to the ship. We briefly passed through the area with touristy shops but were scared off by all these guys wanting us to check out our their respective souvenir shops. We didn't have a pre-planned route, so most of our walking was through nondescript parts of town. But along the way we managed to pass through the grounds of the Riviera de Ensenada, Plaza Cívica de la Patria (a park with busts of the heads of three historical figures), and Ventana al Mar (a park along the harbor near where the ship was docked). I wish we had done more walking, but next time we should probably have a plan, or at least some idea, of the places we want to visit.
The day afterwards, Thursday, was the day at sea. We went around the track in the morning (I mostly ran, Priscilla mostly walked), learned how to fold towel animals at a session, worked out at the fitness center for the third time during the cruise, and enjoyed the Motown musical Motor City in the evening.
I definitely ate a lot and often on the cruise (though my waistline would disagree). We always had breakfast and lunch at the Lido buffet, and we got burgers from Guy's Burger Joint a couple times. For dinner, we ate at the dining room except on the last night. We found that the quality at the dining room was hit or miss, and service was extremely slow. A lot of the same food was at the Lido buffet. And unlike with our previous two Carnival cruises, there was no longer a night when lobster was on the regular menu at the dining room. Lobster tail was on the menu as a $20 item, but of course we didn't want to spend extra money. Since there was no free lobster to look forward to (we were able to preview the next day's menu), we skipped the dining room and ate at the Lido buffet on the final night.
On Friday, we disembarked after breakfast and walked along the Long Beach waterfront to Yard House, where we had a couple unmemorable appetizers. We weren't too hungry and I was also starting to get sick (which happens often when I travel), so I didn't feel like ordering more.
Speaking of cruises and getting sick, there's been a lot of news/panic lately about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, and everyone on the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined in Yokohama as a result of passengers being infected. Fortunately, things haven't gotten too bad on this side of the planet (though reading about shoppers snatching up all the basic provisions at Costcos may make one wonder). Based on my symptoms, I only had the common cold. Unfortunately, Priscilla later caught it from me. Plus she had prolonged land sickness (MdDS) to deal with, lasting much longer than it has in the past for her. And she'd already booked the same cruise for her and her parents for later this year. Fun times!
The quality of the cruise could've been better. But it was still nice to get away for a few days, have food always taken care of, work out when I wanted to, and have some time to catch up on writing Yelp reviews (Priscilla had spent some credit card points to get the unlimited Internet package since she knew it would keep me sane). I guess I do get the appeal of cruising. I'd be hard-pressed to want to go on a 3-month cruise around the world, but a 4-day cruise to a couple places where we have some cool activities planned, ones that don't involve chafing on my rear end? Sure, sign me up.
This was my third cruise overall (all of them with Carnival) and my second cruise to Ensenada, the first one being in 2009 when Priscilla's parents brought us there (but we didn't do Catalina that time). Priscilla was particularly keen to include Catalina this time because it's where I proposed oh so many years ago.
So on Monday, we flew down to Long Beach Airport and Ubered to the Long Beach Cruise Center where we boarded the ship. The next morning, the ship docked off the Catalina coast and we had to take a ferry to get to shore. We walked around Avalon, which was in a quiet, sleepy state, perhaps because it was a weekday. We hiked up the same trail that we tried hiking up last time (where I had proposed), except this time we made it to the top! Priscilla had brought proper footwear this time and was resolved (or more like resigned) to get to the top, not because she likes hiking, but because she knows how much I like it. We enjoyed the scenic ocean view on both sides of the island, and had a local there talk a lot to me, before we continued along on a route down the mountain.
The route down took us to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden through the rear entrance, where we were able to enter without paying a fee. I got that tip from another local who struck up a conversation with me when we were at Vons getting sparkling water (those locals really like to talk!). We were able to enjoy the memorial and garden before heading back to the ship. Altogether our trek was a little over 10 miles - not too shabby, especially for Priscilla.
Ensenada was the next day, and our time there started with a 1-hour horseback ride with Rancho los Bandidos, an excursion booked through Carnival. We joined around 18 others riding single-file on a trail in the mountains above the city. The views were great, but the pace of the horseback riding was pretty slow. I did get a lot of chafing from the times when the horse was running, due to me bouncing up and down as a result of not knowing proper technique. So I guess there's an upside to the pace being mostly slow.
Priscilla's feet were sore from the day before, so we only walked 4 miles around Ensenada before going back to the ship. We briefly passed through the area with touristy shops but were scared off by all these guys wanting us to check out our their respective souvenir shops. We didn't have a pre-planned route, so most of our walking was through nondescript parts of town. But along the way we managed to pass through the grounds of the Riviera de Ensenada, Plaza Cívica de la Patria (a park with busts of the heads of three historical figures), and Ventana al Mar (a park along the harbor near where the ship was docked). I wish we had done more walking, but next time we should probably have a plan, or at least some idea, of the places we want to visit.
The day afterwards, Thursday, was the day at sea. We went around the track in the morning (I mostly ran, Priscilla mostly walked), learned how to fold towel animals at a session, worked out at the fitness center for the third time during the cruise, and enjoyed the Motown musical Motor City in the evening.
I definitely ate a lot and often on the cruise (though my waistline would disagree). We always had breakfast and lunch at the Lido buffet, and we got burgers from Guy's Burger Joint a couple times. For dinner, we ate at the dining room except on the last night. We found that the quality at the dining room was hit or miss, and service was extremely slow. A lot of the same food was at the Lido buffet. And unlike with our previous two Carnival cruises, there was no longer a night when lobster was on the regular menu at the dining room. Lobster tail was on the menu as a $20 item, but of course we didn't want to spend extra money. Since there was no free lobster to look forward to (we were able to preview the next day's menu), we skipped the dining room and ate at the Lido buffet on the final night.
On Friday, we disembarked after breakfast and walked along the Long Beach waterfront to Yard House, where we had a couple unmemorable appetizers. We weren't too hungry and I was also starting to get sick (which happens often when I travel), so I didn't feel like ordering more.
Speaking of cruises and getting sick, there's been a lot of news/panic lately about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, and everyone on the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined in Yokohama as a result of passengers being infected. Fortunately, things haven't gotten too bad on this side of the planet (though reading about shoppers snatching up all the basic provisions at Costcos may make one wonder). Based on my symptoms, I only had the common cold. Unfortunately, Priscilla later caught it from me. Plus she had prolonged land sickness (MdDS) to deal with, lasting much longer than it has in the past for her. And she'd already booked the same cruise for her and her parents for later this year. Fun times!
The quality of the cruise could've been better. But it was still nice to get away for a few days, have food always taken care of, work out when I wanted to, and have some time to catch up on writing Yelp reviews (Priscilla had spent some credit card points to get the unlimited Internet package since she knew it would keep me sane). I guess I do get the appeal of cruising. I'd be hard-pressed to want to go on a 3-month cruise around the world, but a 4-day cruise to a couple places where we have some cool activities planned, ones that don't involve chafing on my rear end? Sure, sign me up.
Five Year Anniversary - Friday, November 25, 2011
As of today, after a five-year relationship, Priscilla is now my ex-girlfriend. Unfortunately for her, that's because she's now my fiancée, which means that she's stuck with me for another five years, and another, until the end of our days. Muahaha.
I woke up this morning before dawn to have breakfast at Priscilla's house and take her to the Long Beach cruise terminal. She of course had no idea what we were going to do today or that I had been planning a second trip to Avalon on Catalina Island for months. I'd booked a one-way trip to Avalon by helicopter, and after a quick weigh-in and safety video at the Island Express office at the cruise terminal, it was off to Avalon on a calm, 15-minute ride.
After we landed, we took a shuttle into town and took a walk up a residential street and found an amphitheater-shaped terrace half enclosed by the backs of some nice houses. The terrace was composed of high stone walls and grass. The area is probably the most serene and secluded place two blocks from the main part of town.
Next, we walked down to the mini man-made "beach" next to the pier, and I brilliantly decided to stand too close to the water and got my jeans and shoes soaked when the tide suddenly came in. I'd brought a towel, so we sat in the sun for an hour trying to dry me off. However, socks don't dry well in partly-cloudy November weather. I had to go without socks for the rest of the day. Serves me right, I guess.
After resting on the beach, we took a stroll on the pier and found a company taking signups for a 50-minute scenic bus tour. Our guide, an older lady named Becky, took us around the island and shared some interesting facts with us. For instance, 99% of the residents rent their homes from the Island Conservancy. There's a 15-year waiting list to bring a car onto the island, and a gallon of gas runs for $7. The only export good out of Catalina is rock from the quarry.
Instead of going to a restaurant for lunch, we got a rotisserie chicken, chips and ginger ale from the local Vons store for $9- less than what we would've paid per person at a restaurant.
After the late lunch, we walked through the town and up the main road to the entrance to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, but we didn't want to pay the $7/person to get in, so we started heading back. I wanted to take a detour and go on a 1.75 mile hike up a mountain and propose at the top, but Priscilla's feet were hurting by that time due to all the walking and her uncomfortable shoes. Still, I managed to coax her into going up about halfway, which during the whole time she was probably hating me. At the point where we stopped, we could start to see the town at the bottom of the valley (a semi-nice view), and the sun was starting to go down, so I decided that that was the right moment to propose.
Over the course of the day, I had let her read segments of "The Book" in which I handwrote 100 things that I appreciate about her. The final segment transitioned into a corny "proposal speech" and she started crying just reading it. I told her to hurry up and get to the last page, and when she did, she was met simply with:
Will you take the next step with me?
Will you marry me?
And two checkboxes- one for "Yes" and the other for "Of course!". I also said something corny and did the one-knee thing. She was totally crying at this point but managed to say yes. I then pretended like I didn't have a ring, which she said was fine, but then I fished it out of my backpack. She loved it. And the rest of the way back to town, her feet mysteriously stopped hurting. Love conquers all, I guess.
Aside from taking the ferry back to the mainland, we ended up doing completely different things today than the first time we visited Avalon, which was totally unintentional. I'm happy with how the day turned out and wouldn't change anything about it. Well, except maybe the part about having wet shoes the whole day. ;)
I woke up this morning before dawn to have breakfast at Priscilla's house and take her to the Long Beach cruise terminal. She of course had no idea what we were going to do today or that I had been planning a second trip to Avalon on Catalina Island for months. I'd booked a one-way trip to Avalon by helicopter, and after a quick weigh-in and safety video at the Island Express office at the cruise terminal, it was off to Avalon on a calm, 15-minute ride.
After we landed, we took a shuttle into town and took a walk up a residential street and found an amphitheater-shaped terrace half enclosed by the backs of some nice houses. The terrace was composed of high stone walls and grass. The area is probably the most serene and secluded place two blocks from the main part of town.
Next, we walked down to the mini man-made "beach" next to the pier, and I brilliantly decided to stand too close to the water and got my jeans and shoes soaked when the tide suddenly came in. I'd brought a towel, so we sat in the sun for an hour trying to dry me off. However, socks don't dry well in partly-cloudy November weather. I had to go without socks for the rest of the day. Serves me right, I guess.
After resting on the beach, we took a stroll on the pier and found a company taking signups for a 50-minute scenic bus tour. Our guide, an older lady named Becky, took us around the island and shared some interesting facts with us. For instance, 99% of the residents rent their homes from the Island Conservancy. There's a 15-year waiting list to bring a car onto the island, and a gallon of gas runs for $7. The only export good out of Catalina is rock from the quarry.
Instead of going to a restaurant for lunch, we got a rotisserie chicken, chips and ginger ale from the local Vons store for $9- less than what we would've paid per person at a restaurant.
After the late lunch, we walked through the town and up the main road to the entrance to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, but we didn't want to pay the $7/person to get in, so we started heading back. I wanted to take a detour and go on a 1.75 mile hike up a mountain and propose at the top, but Priscilla's feet were hurting by that time due to all the walking and her uncomfortable shoes. Still, I managed to coax her into going up about halfway, which during the whole time she was probably hating me. At the point where we stopped, we could start to see the town at the bottom of the valley (a semi-nice view), and the sun was starting to go down, so I decided that that was the right moment to propose.
Over the course of the day, I had let her read segments of "The Book" in which I handwrote 100 things that I appreciate about her. The final segment transitioned into a corny "proposal speech" and she started crying just reading it. I told her to hurry up and get to the last page, and when she did, she was met simply with:
Will you take the next step with me?
Will you marry me?
And two checkboxes- one for "Yes" and the other for "Of course!". I also said something corny and did the one-knee thing. She was totally crying at this point but managed to say yes. I then pretended like I didn't have a ring, which she said was fine, but then I fished it out of my backpack. She loved it. And the rest of the way back to town, her feet mysteriously stopped hurting. Love conquers all, I guess.
Aside from taking the ferry back to the mainland, we ended up doing completely different things today than the first time we visited Avalon, which was totally unintentional. I'm happy with how the day turned out and wouldn't change anything about it. Well, except maybe the part about having wet shoes the whole day. ;)
Catalina Island - Friday, June 8, 2007
I've been wanting to take Priscilla to Avalon Bay at Catalina Island since the beginning of the year, and today I finally made it happen in celebration of her recent birthday, a.k.a. our six month anniversary. I made boat reservations and checked out activities in mid-May, and I sent her a letter a few days ago detailing what items to bring. Of course I kept the place a secret, and she had no idea where she would be going until we arrived at the San Pedro boat terminal this morning.. bright and early at 7:30. The 1-hour cruise to the island was pretty enjoyable, and we even went on-deck to take pictures in the chilly wind with Priscilla's hair flailing all over the place.
When we arrived on the island, we scouted out the front of the town and found our way to the Avalon Casino, which turned out to not be a gambling casino as we had assumed. Instead, the place was named for the original meaning of the word "casino": a building used for meetings or entertainment. Entertainment here being theatrical.
From there we checked out the adjacent Avalon Museum, where we learned some of the history of the island, including the involvement of chewing gum company founder William Wrigley Jr.
At lunchtime we found an outdoor cafe, where I got a swordfish sandwich, and Priscilla got a quesadilla oozing profusely with grease. Afterwards we chillaxed on the man-made beach and almost got sunburned despite having sunblock on. Then we rented bikes to explore the town, and gruelingly made the ride up a hill to see the Wrigley Memorial, except that when we got up there we discovered that bikes weren't allowed inside, and we didn't have bike locks. But the ride back down was pretty fun, and most deserved.
Then it was off to kayaking which we're also pretty bad at. We couldn't sustain paddling in sync for more than 20 seconds. Finally to conclude the fun, we checked out a bunch of different shops and talked with one shopkeeper about how island residents have to pay the same inflated prices for services as tourists do, and how the island is a nice place to live but housing is so ridiculously expensive, and shops close up in winter when tourists aren't coming. There's also a 13-year waiting list for bringing automobiles to the island, and probably an even longer one for getting a home since the governing body isn't allowing more homes to be built. ;p
So it was Priscilla's first time to Catalina, and we had fun, though it would've been nice if we could have stayed longer and done more things. If we go there again, it probably should be on a Saturday when the boats run back later. The only downside is that it'll be more crowded. :)
When we arrived on the island, we scouted out the front of the town and found our way to the Avalon Casino, which turned out to not be a gambling casino as we had assumed. Instead, the place was named for the original meaning of the word "casino": a building used for meetings or entertainment. Entertainment here being theatrical.
From there we checked out the adjacent Avalon Museum, where we learned some of the history of the island, including the involvement of chewing gum company founder William Wrigley Jr.
At lunchtime we found an outdoor cafe, where I got a swordfish sandwich, and Priscilla got a quesadilla oozing profusely with grease. Afterwards we chillaxed on the man-made beach and almost got sunburned despite having sunblock on. Then we rented bikes to explore the town, and gruelingly made the ride up a hill to see the Wrigley Memorial, except that when we got up there we discovered that bikes weren't allowed inside, and we didn't have bike locks. But the ride back down was pretty fun, and most deserved.
Then it was off to kayaking which we're also pretty bad at. We couldn't sustain paddling in sync for more than 20 seconds. Finally to conclude the fun, we checked out a bunch of different shops and talked with one shopkeeper about how island residents have to pay the same inflated prices for services as tourists do, and how the island is a nice place to live but housing is so ridiculously expensive, and shops close up in winter when tourists aren't coming. There's also a 13-year waiting list for bringing automobiles to the island, and probably an even longer one for getting a home since the governing body isn't allowing more homes to be built. ;p
So it was Priscilla's first time to Catalina, and we had fun, though it would've been nice if we could have stayed longer and done more things. If we go there again, it probably should be on a Saturday when the boats run back later. The only downside is that it'll be more crowded. :)