Day 1
Off to the next adventure. I'm WAY due for a vacation with all the stress from work.
In all my trips to Catalina, I never had the time and chance to explore Avalon.
We all had a great time.
First off, a good start! We saw a lot of dolphins in the ferry crossing. They are jumping on both sides of the ferry and I never saw so many dolphins in my life!
B estimate the number of dolphins to be close to a thousand. Unfortunately, my attempts to capture them is spectacularly unsucessful, as seen by the pictures =)
We found a vacation home in Avalon in VRBO.
It's really nice and roomy and the golf cart that came with the apartment was put to good use.
I really like the view from the apartment patio.
The first thing i noticed about Catalina is all the vehicles are miniature size. Golf carts are the top transportation choice. And the other vehicles (vans and trucks) are usually not that much bigger than a golf cart. It felt like we are being dropped into a miniature world!
We are able to leave our baggage in the apartment, after arriving at 1130 am. Our first stop is the Botanical Garden/Wriggley memorial.
After the garden, we went to the Sand Trap for $1 tacos happy hour. They are pretty decent.
http://www.catalinasandtrap.com/home1.shtml
After a light taco lunch, we did a store run and made a delicious steak dinner.
Day 2
We had breakfast at The Inn @ Mt Ada. It's a B&B that has been converted from the Wriggley mansion. The view/setting is fantastic, the price is reasonable and the breakfast is exquisite, with endless mimosas.
After that, we went for the Casino tour. I learned that the word "casino" really means a place for gathering. Vegas used the word Casino as a place for gathering and in the long run, associated the word with gambling. The Casino in Catalina has no gambling. Instead, it has a dance floor and a movie theater. The whole building is very interesting. The theater has great sound system with natural amplification and the dance floor is huge! Trivial: The walnut wooden paneling in the casino is priced at ~30 million. And it conforms with current building code (earthquake etc) due to its box in a box design.
After the tour, we roam the streets of Avalon, first in a buggy and then by walking.
Then we head to Bluewater grill for dinner. Great food at reasonable price, not a tourist trap.
Day 3
We checked out of the apartment after having spam sandwiches for breakfast. We also topped up the fuel for the buggy. It came to a surprise to all of us that we used less than 1 gallon of gas. That is 10 hours of driving in the buggy, 4 passengers and climbing mountains.
We did a submersible tour and saw a lot of big fishes @ the Lovers Cove Marine preserve
All in all.. a great Avalon trip
We had breakfast at The Inn @ Mt Ada. It's a B&B that has been converted from the Wriggley mansion. The view/setting is fantastic, the price is reasonable and the breakfast is exquisite, with endless mimosas.
We checked out of the apartment after having spam sandwiches for breakfast. We also topped up the fuel for the buggy. It came to a surprise to all of us that we used less than 1 gallon of gas. That is 10 hours of driving in the buggy, 4 passengers and climbing mountains.