The First Half Of Our Catalina Adventure (or Exploring And Touring)

Earlier this week, I spent a few days in Catalina with my mom, aunt, and sister-in-law. Having a trip this time of year is becoming a tradition because we do the trip when my dad and brother go on a big skiing adventure. My mom figures since they get to have a fun trip we get to have one as well. This year, they went heliskiing in Canada and my mom and I decided we wanted to go to Catalina Island.

My mom grew up going to Catalina all the time. My grandparents had a boat and they would said from LA to Catalina and spend weekends there. My parents took me and my brother there when we were little, but I don’t remember that trip at all. The last time we were there was for my sweet 16 party. My mom and grandma took me and 3 friends to Catalina for a weekend. It was the best trip and I loved it. It’s crazy to think that was almost 20 years ago and I hadn’t been back since. It’s not that far to go since there is a boat that takes you there from Long Beach. The boat is only about 45 minutes from me and the boat ride is only an hour. But for some reason I just hadn’t been back and I was so excited to get to be there again!

We took the boat over to the island after I was done with work. It had been raining on and off and we were worried that it would be raining our entire trip as well. It was raining on the boat, but fortunately when we got to Catalina it was cloudy but dry. We rented a house right in front of the water next to the main street of Avalon (the main town of the island). Our view was amazing and we loved people watching since it was right next to the boat dock where everyone was arriving and leaving.

The day we arrived, we didn’t have too much planned. We got to the house and unpacked and then walked to the grocery store to get things for the few days we were going to be there. They used to not have a regular grocery store on the island so it was a big deal when they got a Vons, We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was just like grocery stores on the mainland so we were able to get everything we needed for breakfast and snacks. We went out for a casual dinner and relaxed at the house before going to bed. It was the perfect first day of our trip.

The next day we had two different tours scheduled. The first tour was a tour of Avalon and it was a van tour. We were driven around and got to learn a lot of history about the island and the different aspects of life there. We also got to see some incredible views of the town from up in the hills.

The one stop that the tour had was at the country club which is famous because the island used to be the training location for the Chicago Cubs and the country club had their locker room and clubhouse. It was a really cute place and even though it started to rain while we were there it was still so nice out!

The tour was about an hour long and it was the perfect introduction to the island. Next we had a backstage tour of the Casino, which is probably the most famous building on the island. It is not a gambling casino nor has it ever been. But instead it is a theater and ballroom. In the past, famous bands would come and perform there. The ballroom is used for various events now and the theater shows movies there daily. I don’t think I had ever seen the inside of the Casino before, so I was so excited to go on the tour.

We had a really great tour guide and he knew so much about the Casino and the island in general. He was full of lots of information, but to be honest I was in awe with how gorgeous the inside was that I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have.

Our first stop was the theater on the first floor. Everything in the entire building is original from almost 100 years ago with the exception of the carpet (which was replaced with the same pattern as the original). And even though the theater isn’t new, it was one of the most spectacular theaters I’ve ever seen.

There are murals all around depicting the history of the island. And the murals were even more incredible when the lights were dimmed and the artwork was lit up.

We watched a little movie about the history of the island, and then we had the opportunity to go up on the stage. I love seeing the view from the stage since that means so much to me. And standing on that stage and getting the view of everything was so special and I was so happy we got to do it.

Next we walked around the various backstage areas of the theater. We got to see different dressing rooms and green rooms before going into the projection room. They had the current projector set up (since they screen movies every day), but they also had the different old projectors that they used to use. I love learning about the history of filmmaking and this was exactly what I enjoy learning about.

The last stop on the Casino tour was the ballroom. It is on the top of the building and it has almost 360 degree views from the windows.

They recently had their Oscar party there, so there were some tables and chairs around the room. But it was close to empty so we had the chance to walk around and explore. I loved seeing the views of the island from the huge windows.

We also got to walk around the balcony outside of the ballroom. Not only did we have the view of the town, but when we walked around to the other side it was so clear out that we could see the mainland!

It’s tiny and not super easy to see in my photo, but trust me we could see it. Considering the rain that we had earlier in the day, we were so lucky that it had cleared up enough that we could see that far out.

Of course, we also had the take advantage of the view and get a group photo because I knew that we probably wouldn’t do another one that trip.

After walking around outside, the tour of the Casino was over. It was a really informative and full tour and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting Catalina and wants to learn a lot about the island history as well as Hollywood history.

The rest of that day was nice and relaxing. We walked around a bit more and we had a nice dinner that evening. It was so much fun getting to spend that time with family that I don’t always get to see and there was no pressure to get a lot done or to rush around. It was the perfect first full day of our vacation.

Tomorrow’s post will be about the rest of the trip, but I think you all can tell from this post how much fun I had the entire time!

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