Catalina

Oh Catalina, you did me good! Its funny that I grew up in southern California and not ONCE made it out to Catalina. Well I decided that it was time to go and what better time then to celebrate my big 30th birthday.  I did have a BBQ at our house on my actual birthday weekend which I will blog about soon, but for now we are going to talk about Catalina.

So VERY early Saturday morning we headed off towards southern california.  We booked our ferry to leave at 1:30 and we figured it would probably take us about 6 hours to drive down there.  We were hoping that we would have time to stop in Santa Monica for lunch but with all of that LA traffic we made it to the dock just in time! (Which means 30 minutes early) I had never been on a ferry before so I was interested to see how everything would go down.  It was very easy. You walk right into the terminal (for lack of a better word) and check in to get your ticket. They had a little cafe where you can get drinks or something to eat.  Zac and I both got sandwiches that were actually pretty good! There was already a line outside at the gate to get on the ferry but we wanted to enjoy our food so we waited until we saw the line start to move before we walked outside. They actually allow dogs on the ferry but I guess you have to have them in a muzzle.  The ferry filled up quickly but Zac and I were able to find seats together.  They are pretty comfortable but you pretty much feel like you are in an airplane.  Before we knew it it was time to head out to the island.  The captain of the ferry came on over the mic and told us that the trip would take us about 70 minutes and that the weather was pretty nice although there was some left over wind waves from the day before.  Zac asked me if I would get sick or if I needed to take dramamine……hmm…..I didn't even think about it, I just assumed it wouldn't be an issue in such big boat.  

It wasn't an issue, for me.  However once we got going the boat crew was walking all around handing out these mini trash bags for people to throw up in. Gross.  However, this is the only way to get to the island unless you take a helicopter or plane. 

Well before we knew it we arrived on the island and it was beautiful! Just what I had imagined.  When we left the dock we had a shuttle waiting to take us to our hotel.  This is not something that ALL the hotels do because most of them are within walking distance from the ferry but our hotel was more in the canyon.  We COULD have walked but it was to easy to hop on the shuttle. Once we arrived at the hotel we checked in and my mom had champagne, cheese and fruit waiting in our room! Thanks momma, so sweet of you!  Once we dropped off our bag and settled in a bit my sister and Matthew arrived to pick us up and take us on a little tour of the island with the golf cart they had rented.  My sis wasn't able to make it to my BBQ so it was so nice to be able to spend some time with her in Catalina.  

After driving around the island for probably over an hour we were ready to get some food!  Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to have dinner at the Bluewater grill which is right on the water. The "downtown" area is SO cute! My sister wanted to get one more ice-cream before she left.  Her and Matthew had been on the island since the morning and they were taking the last ferry so after dinner Zac and I walked them back to the dock and said our goodbyes.  The night wasn't over for us though we decided to do a little wine tasting! There was a small little restaurant that does flights so we were able to sit, sip and people watch!

Day Two! We slept in. Like REALLY slept in.  Since we were up so early the day before we didn't get our of bed till probably 10:00 on Sunday! But we had nothing to do but lay out by the beach.  I had rented to lounge chairs for us at Descanso Beach.  I did a little research and by the pictures….I wanted to go try it out! We took the shuttle down town and then walked to the beach.

       Iwas VERY impressed with Descanso Beach, I would go back in a heart beat! The view was amazing and the service was very good! They were very accommodating and quick to get you anything you ordered and check in on you to see if you need anything.  We spent MOST of the day there until we decided to walk back into town to explore and get some dinner.  The next morning we had to get up around 6:00 because our ferry left at 7:45 so it was off to bed fairly early.

The next morning 6:00 came way to fast! We were up, packed and out the door by 7:00.  The shuttle took us to the dock and we were ready to go.  As we walked towards the ferry there was a man sitting on a bench who asked us if we getting on the next ferry…..well….yeah….So then her starts to tell us that because of the wind the ocean is to choppy and the wind waves are to large so the ferrys have been canceled.  Uh, how are we suppose to get off the island!? So then he says that there are helicopters that can fly you to long beach but the company doesn't open till 7:30 so he is waiting to call.  Well, if thats the only way off then thats what we need to do! We figured spending the money for a helicopter would probably be cheap then having to get another hotel room for the night along with meals.  So we sat on the bench in the cold wind waiting for the helicopter place to open.  More people started to arrive to get on the ferry and then found out the same news that we had.  Before we knew it there were multiple people with the same helicopter ideas as we had. When 7:30 rolled around everyone was on their cell phone! Zac kept re-dialing and re-dailing.  That poor helicopter company was probably getting bombarded with phone calls…..oh wait….at $125.00 per person for a 15 minute ride I don't feel bad for them at all! As Zac kept calling the man next to us who had told us about the ferry got through! As I sat there listening to him set up his flight out of here I kept thinking….what if we don't get through? What if we can't get one? What if everyone else gets one and we are stuck here another day? (Not that it would be the worst thing in the world). So I leaned over to Zac and said "Im going to ask him if we can ride with him" Zac gave me the nod to do it so I did! I merged right into his phone call and said "Hey, can we come on the helicopter with you if they seat 4?" And that sweet, sweet man gave me a nod and asked the person on the phone! I felt a sense of relief! Once, he as off the phone and everything was set we thanked him and offered to take him to breakfast.  We had a few hours before our helicopter left so we might as well get some food! So thats how we had breakfast with complete strangers.

After breakfast we all walked back to the ferry to get our refund on our rickets and then chose to walk to the helicopter pad. It only took us about 20 minutes.  It was pretty windy but it didn't seem like it was windy enough that the ferry boats would have any trouble.  It was only suppose to get worse as the day went on so we were happy that we found our way back to the main land.  I wasn't to upset though because helicopters are so cool and I was excited to get to go in one!  We were back to long beach in about 15 minutes and then back to the jeep for our drive home!

If you ever have the opportunity wether by boat or helicopter I highly recommend checking out Catalina for a nice relaxing vacation! I will definitely be going back one day!