Farewell Catalina

Our last day in Catalina began with breakfast at the Pancake Cottage with a little bit of slow service, but a kind waitress. After eating, we did some more shopping to find souvenirs. I found my best friend, DeRon, a proper gift and mom bought a sign for our ballroom as well as some saltwater taffy. Once shopping was completed, we headed back to our hotel to pack our bags and check out. Since weren’t leaving Catalina until about 4:00 pm, we placed our luggage in storage by the harbor. Afterwards, we headed over to the Catalina Island Museum.

Yummy

The museum was small, but featured a descent amount of history about Catalina. The island was originally purchased to be a resort, but much of the town was destroyed in a fire. It was sold to William Wrigley Jr. who rebuilt in into a resort and even brought over the Chicago Cubs for spring training. The island was used to film various portions of films and was a frequent getaway destination for movie stars. I thought it was interesting that during WWII, the island was secretly used by the Office of Strategic Services (which became the CIA) as training ground for spies. The museum also had a collection of glass art by Dale Chihuly. There were several pieces from small to huge, but all pieces were quite complex in design. After the museum, we decided to visit the Botanical Gardens.

The gardens were about a mile or two from where we were and after seeing the steep road we would have walk up, everyone, except my brother Zach, decided it wasn’t worth the trek. We still had about two hours before our boat departed, so we decided to wander around town as Zach walked up to the Botanical Gardens. We ice cream again at Scoops and looked at the different houses on the island. We later found a less steep road up to the Botanical Gardens and began walking up. Zach met up with us partway up the road and told us the gardens were too far off from where we were. We continued up the road and saw the old Bird Park which originally houses an assortment of different birds, but was now used a preschool playground. After a bit more of walking, we were still about a half mile from the Botanical Gardens and head back down so we could meet our boat on time.

The boat back to Long Beach took about an hour and we hit the road once we returned to the mainland. After some traffic, we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. The service was slow, but the food was delicious. We arrived back at home around 10:00 pm tire, but satisfied with the completion of another fun road trip.

For a different perspective of the day’s events, read my mom’s blog here.