Wedding Weekend Get Away!

Bill and I went to Catalina this weekend to attend a wedding of the young man who runs our Sound Body Sound Mind Fitness Foundation. He was marrying his high school sweetheart from Bakersfield...they have been together for more than 10 years! All their buddies from Bakersfield were there, which made for a "festive" event!!! It was an especially glorious celebration because they are 2 of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.

I had never been to Santa Catalina Island before, even though it is just 22 miles from the coast of Los Angeles.   Bill had been with Lulu and the Indian Princesses, and with Willie for the Canyon School 5th grade trip (one for the history books, eh Susie?) but alas I had never made it over there, and frankly was not really all that interested in making the trip. But my rather laks-a-das-ical attitude was way off the mark, as it is a really FUN place---words I would use to describe Catalina would be kitschy  for sure touristy, young, strikingly beautiful especially in the early morning light, fun, relaxing, and a great spot to hop over to where even though it's only 2 hours door to door, you feel a million miles away.

Because of Bill's work schedule on Friday, we ended up taking a helicopter over which was exciting - the pilot circled several times half way over as he had spotted two huge spouting whales! On the way back, due to the fog, we opted for the Fast Ferry, which was only 1 hour...it was a smooth ride thankfully!

There are a lot of things to do in Catalina if you want to, and some new very good restaurants (The Avalon Grill is an award winner) - lots of walking, hiking, biking, a million water sports (para-sailing, swimming, kayaking, jet skiing, scuba certification...). We grabbed a $40/hour golf cart and rode all over up and down the hills. There are about 150 American Bison in the middle of the island - 14 were brought in years ago for the movie The Vanishing American.

The island was developed by the chewing gum magnate, William Wrigley Jr (a good Chicago man). After one visit to Catalina in 1919, he loved it so much he bought out the Banning family, and started building. For 30 years the Chicago Cubs did their spring training in Catalina. In 1929 Wrigley built the most recognized building on the island - The Catalina Casino. There was never any gambling there! Wrigley died in 1932 and a huge Spanish mausoleum was built within the Botanical gardens...but he was never buried there!

Today there are almost 4100 permanent residents on the island, 90% of whom live in the only incorporated city on the island Avalon.

Sooooo - - - - Catalina is in NO way Newport Beach classy or Laguna Beach artsy by any stretch, but it's a fun and spirited get away for the LA folk. Oh - and in the past few years a few nice hotels have sprouted up - we stayed at The Metropole, which is off the main drag. Other nice spots are The Pavilion, and The Hotel Portofino.