Ferry Trip to Catalina Island Feb 28 - Mar 1

 Ray is looking at some of Eric Dowdle's Puzzles to work on while recoverying from his knee surgery in May. While doing his searching, he noticed Eric's take on Catalina Island. He took one look and announced we're going to check out the island. Three days later here we are. lol

We chose to go on Wednesday and return on Friday, March 1st as the weather will be best for pictures, we hoped.

I managed to find us a "Winter Mid-Week Package" with the Snug Harbor Inn, a 6 room boutique hotel on the waterfront. Spectacular. (When I added up the admission to Sea World, Legoland, and the San Diego Zoo for two of us, this trip is just as much money in the end. So we didn't bother with the other attractions we'd seen years ago.)

The drive from the RV Park to the ferry terminal at Dana Point, is about an hour up the I-5 if there are no accidents. Our ferry departs at 9:30 and we needed to be there at 9. Because we were excited of course, we were up early and actuallty left at 7 am so we would have time for breakfast before boarding. We encountered one accident on the way, but traffic did not back up too bad.

Breakfast at Proud Mary's, delicious with some very thick maple syrup for the french toast.

Picture from Google

Ray took a walk around for some pictures, while I waited in the boarding line.

Ray noticed a boat named Nacho Boat

The ferry took off right at 9:30. They put your luggage in the hold via conveyer, so no one is tripping over your luggage. Most people seem to go over for a day trip.

Sloughing hillsides from all the rain they've had.

These houses below are now worthless.

After a smooth 90 minute crossing, we arrived in Avalon.

Looking at the Descanso Beach Club

Avalon is the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island, in the California Channel Islands, and the southernmost city in Los Angeles County. The city is a resort community with the waterfront dominated by tourism-oriented businesses.

What Avalon looked like in 1890.

A short 5 minute walk from the ferry and we're at our accomidation, the Snug Harbor Inn.

They let us check in early at 11:30 when we arrived. Great, so we can get out and explore while the sun is shining.

View out our window

I thought someone was tapping on our window but it's this guy. lol

We decided to share a Calamari appetizer at the Blue Water Restaurant across the street from the inn before exploring. We weren't very hungry after a big breakfast.

First up, rent a golf cart for an hour to get some view shots while the sun shines. I drove and Ray jumped out for pictures. Rent is $60 per hour with a maximum of 2 hours. This is the maximum allowed time for a tourist. Home owners are allowed one golf cart per residence.

On the way up we passed the zipline for those more adventurous.

They had a few "suckers" lol

The windy one way road up to the top.

See all the mooring buoys ... they are all filled in the summer at $50 per night.

After our hours tour we walked the streets, looking at all the shops. Ray got himself a fresh made waffle cone while I ate taco chips and dip with a beer.

Real Estate here is really expensive. Ray figured it's about $1,625 per square foot.

One of the ferries. They come over from 3 different ports on the mainland. Dana Point, Long Beach and San Pedro.

This fountain is in front of our hotel and the birds are constantly using it as drinking water

The water is so cold and very clear here, but some kids still go in. lol

We got back to our room at 4 where they'd set up a charcuterie board and wine waiting for us. Ray's an apple cider.

This is enough for our "dinner" lol

Ray popped in and out for the rest of the night taking pictures, including one of me in the window lol

The Casino, that is not what we think of as a Casino. 

CASINO IS ITALIAN FOR "GATHERING PLACE." NO GAMBLING HERE!

Commissioned by William Wrigley Jr., Catalina Casino opened in 1929, marking the 10-year anniversary of Wrigley's 1919 purchase of Catalina Island. Nearly a century later, this historic icon stands as a reminder of the days when millions made the 26-mile trip across the sea to enjoy a movie, dinner, and dancing during the Casino’s heyday as the hub of Avalon nightlife.

Unfortunately we went to see it on Thursday and it's closed. We didn't know that it was open on Wednesday and Friday morning when we left. Too bad for us. Here are a couple of pictures of what it does look like.

Theatre

Ballroom

You’ll marvel at the soaring hand-painted murals that grace the entry way of this architectural masterpiece. Created by John Gabriel Beckman, whose work also adorns Hollywood’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Casino’s murals depict the history of Catalina’s cultural evolution.

Built in 1929 near the end of the Silent Era, Avalon Theatre was among the first in the world to be designed specifically for “Talkies.” It has been fully restored to its original grandeur, complete with solid black walnut panels, Art Deco furniture, Tiffany-esque lights and gold-leaf accents. The amazing acoustics produced by the theatre’s 50-foot domed ceiling were studied and replicated by designers of New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

The theatre’s original pipe organ, one of the last of its kind, was built, shipped and installed by the Page Organ Company of Lima, Ohio. 

Ray gets up about an hour earlier than me, so he went to the little lounge next door from our room and drank his coffee. Works great so I can still sleep.

The book is full of Avalon pictures and gave Ray lots of ideas.

When I woke, I noticed we had a bit of a sunrise. I took a picture out our window. 

Ray got dressed and out he went for more. We managed to get a few pictures. Certainly not sunny like yesterday.

The Golden Light!

A great start to our day. At 8:30 am, our continental breakfast arrived, including granola, fruit, yogurt, coffee, fresh squeezed OJ and best of all ... warm banana bread. Juan set our little table. Delicious.

After fueling up for the day, we decided to start with mini golf. :) They have a great well landscaped course here just up the street from us. As it's quite cloudy now, we hoped the sun would come out later when we planned another golf cart tour up the other side of the bay for pictures.

We never kept score, but it seemed pretty even. A couple of the holes were still filled with rain water from the monsoons from a week or so ago.

Bird song filled the air the entire course. 

Huge flowering jade tree.

A par six hole at a mini golf!

Fore!

Yup full of water still.

In the plaza where the mini golf is, one can also book an eco tour to the other end of the island to Two Harbors. Either a 2 or 3 hour tour over rough roads to see Bison. I don't think Ray's back would like this tour.

Beautiful tile features throughout the town.

After a quick stop at our room to get Ray's camera, we caught the public transport bus up to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden. It would've been a 30 minute walk uphill both ways ;) , a 1.5 mile hike. The bus is $2 each and runs every 45 minutes.

The Wrigley Vision

He bought nearly every share of the Santa Catalina Island Company until he owned a controlling interest. He then invested millions in his vision to create a "playground for all" on Catalina Island, building infrastructure, a reservoir, Hotel Atwater, Bird Park, and other attractions.

You can see the house from our hotel.

The Inn at Mt. Ada

The house was built in 1919–1921 as a summer retreat for the Wrigleys of Chicago, who owned 99% of Santa Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands of California.[3] It was designed in the Georgian Colonial Revival style by architect Zachary Taylor Davis, who had also designed Wrigley Field in Chicago, and would return to design Wrigley Field (Los Angeles) in 1925. The Wrigleys used it together until 1932, when Mr. Wrigley died.[

After about 15 minutes the bus came and off we went.

The Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Garden is operated by the Catalina Island Conservancy. It's a 30-minute walk up Avalon Canyon from downtown Avalon. You can also take the Catalina Trolley, a taxi, ride a bike or rent a golf cart.

THE WRIGLEY MEMORIAL

Quarried Catalina stones can be seen in the reinforced concrete construction of the monument -- the facade having been sandblasted to hide the cement and highlight the native crushed stones. The blue flagstone rock on the ramps and terraces comes from Little Harbor, on Catalina's windward side. The red roof tiles and all the colorful handmade glazed tiles used for finishing came from the Catalina Pottery plant, which was in operation from 1927 to 1937. The marble inside the tower was quarried in Georgia.

THE BOTANICAL GARDENS

The idea for the gardens came from Mr. Wrigley's wife, Ada. In 1935, she supervised Pasadena horticulturalist Albert Conrad, who planted the original Desert Plant Collection. Catalina Island's temperate marine climate made it possible to showcase plants from every corner of the earth.

In 1969, the Wrigley Memorial Garden Foundation expanded and revitalized the garden's 37.85 acres. Along with the new plants came a new attitude. In the same way that the Wrigley Memorial uses primarily native building materials, the Gardens place a special emphasis on California island endemic plants. (Plants, which grow naturally on one or more of the Channel Islands, but nowhere else in the world.) Many of these plants are extremely rare, and some are on the Endangered Species list

The bus dropped us off at the gate where we paid our senior rate of $10 each. Then it was a quarter mile walk up a hill to the memorial.

Lots of stairs, but the risers are short, so not too bad to climb up. There is a trail to the right of the stairs that will take you higher up the mountain if you wish,

View from the top of the memorial showing a ferry coming in.

Shows how immense it is with me in the picture.

\

Then we made our way down through the botanical gardens back to the gate.

Look at the size of the branches.

(At this point there are no pictures of Ray as he is using my phone lol We noticed that one of his camera lens on his phone is cracked so if it is not a "camera" picture but a "phone" picture then my phone is being used.) 

Another huge jade tree.

With only 45 minutes between the next bus, we chugged it up the hill.  We'd less than a ten minute wait before the bus returned, so perfect timing. Back to the hotel briefly to drop off Ray's camera (he'd forgotten his spare battery and by this time his camera died) and then walked back to rent a golf cart to take the other "scenic tour". Certainly not as nice as yesterday, as the clouds hung around. Most of this road is on the other side of Avalon Bay.

You can see the road we took yesterday across the bay on the hillside.

That's Holly Hill bottom right.

Holly Hill House, circa 1890, a private residence and the third oldest house in Avalon.

After driving the golf cart to Vons to buy some more wine, we dropped it at the hotel before returning the cart. Another great hours's drive, definitely time for lunch. Since we get breakfast and a charcuterie for happy hour, we decided to have dinner for lunch.

El Galleon Restaurant is just down the block from our inn. Ray ordered swordfish and me the best prime rib from a restaurant I've eaten in a long time ... delicious

After our wonderful meal, we walked down to the Casino on the waterfront. As I said earlier, it's a shame it's not open today.

More Avalon pictures.

Catalina Chime Tower announces the top of the hour.

Beautiful tile work all along the walk.

Right in front of the casino the town have sunk a series of wrecks and a dive shop occupies space in the basement.

Every day this "Falconer" showed up on the waterfront with his bird. He would let it fly a half block then whistle it back and give it a treat.

That's a small GPS chip of the Falcon's back

The museum for art and history. My cousin Pam tells me they featured a Chihully glass display when she visited.

Another day with over 10,000 steps lol. Back to the inn for our Charcuterie. Ray did pop out here and there for a couple more shots.

Friday morning before our breakfast, Ray headed out for a couple more shots of the Pavilion Hotel. Beautiful grounds.

The water is so clear and beautiful here. In the boarding lineup you can see all these orange fish, called Garibaldi, the official fish of California.

We boarded the ferry for our 11:45 sailing back to Dana Point in the beautiful sunshine. Overall a great two day adventure. The ferry landed a little early at 1 pm. We decided to have lunch at Proud Mary's first before heading back to the coach. It turned out to be the right decision, as there were 2 accidents and major slowdowns that took 40 minutes longer to get home. It was almost 4 pm when we pulled in. Terrible traffic on the I-5.