03 October 2006
The Honeymoon: Part Two
Catalina Island
Our first port of call on Tuesday, the 26th, was Catalina Island (a.k.a Avalon, CA). Our ship dropped anchor several yards away and we had to take a tender (small charter boat) to the island. We anchored here for about 8 hrs. Before I went on my honeymoon, I found out that the company I work for has a company cottage out here. Open for use to company employees, the only payment to stay there is a DVD. Nice, eh? Steven and I might have to take advantage of that sometime.
We took the Inside Adventure Tour and it was pretty cool. Out of all the animals listed on this tour, we saw only one: buffalo. They were brought over for a movie in 1924 and have remained ever since. The higher we got to that "Airport-in-the-Sky," the antsier some of the older-afraid-of-heights-but-didn't-really-know-it-until-that-moment tourists got. The road that wound up the mountain was narrow--to the point where we had to pull over a couple of times to let other cars pass--and steep as hell. We even saw a couple of hardcore bicyclists on the roads. The higher we got, though, the views just kept getting better and better as you can see from the picture.
Steven and I got off to a late start with this tour (the 11:45am tour was all booked up so we did the 1:30pm one) and didn't have much of a chance to do a whole lot of shopping. The tour was two hours and we had to be back on the ship by 4pm. I did manage to buy a brown leather Billabong belt (cuz my jeans needed to be held up) and Steven bought a baseball cap (to avoid getting sunburned on his head). The weather was cool, in the late 70's and a little breezy.
Stuff we learned:
~ Buffalos and bald eagles make their home here.
~ The island was bought by John Wrigley Jr (as in Wrigley's gum) for $5 million back in 1919.
~ Famous best-selling western fiction writer, Zane Grey, built a home here. We passed by it, but didn't get to see inside.
~ People make there way around the island using motorized golf carts. There are only about 80 vehicles on the island. Which could be due to the fact the cost of gas here just went up to $5.02! We heard there was a 15 yr wait for a vehicle here.
~ The homes are really cute, like small cottages, and quaint.
~ It's 22 miles from the mainland and can be reached by sea or air. Helicopter only. Planes no longer land on the island.
~ Population is 3500.
~ It's really, really beautiful here and it's only snowed once, up in the hills...in 1941!
~ I don't remember how much the cost of living was here--it was a tad pricey, I think--but we both agreed that we want to retire here.
~ If you get the chance, you need to visit this place.
For more scenic views of this wonderful, relaxing place click HERE.
Stay tuned for THE HONEYMOON: PART THREE
*Be sure to read the first honeymoon post--and the two-part wedding posts--below before they're archived*
