Catalina

Steve, Ron, and Sandi

I made my first trip to Catalina last week. Imagine living in Southern California 23 years and not going to Catalina! As the song says, it’s just 26 miles across the sea. Anyway, my sister, Sandi, was in town for a visit, so six of us drove to Dana Point, caught the ferry ($70 roundtrip each), and made a day of it. The ride over was fun-- an hour and a half, calm seas so there were no barfing passengers. We saw no whales, it’s a bit late for them, but we did see a huge school of dolphins surfing in the wake of the boat. It was just spectacular.

The view as you enter the harbor is the best one; it’s the famous one of the hillside and the old casino, now turned into a museum or something. Things were pretty quiet in town, but Ron, Sandi’s husband, knew the place well, so he was our guide. We had lunch at one of the cafes on the harbor, then rented a six-person golf cart ($60 per hour!) to circle around above the town for all the views. The botanical garden is a great place for a walk, heading up the hill through all the native plants to the huge Wrigley Memorial Phallus. More great views as we continued the drive around the top of the mountain above the town. Most of the island is controlled by the military so it’s only possible to see a small portion of it. We saw deer but none of the famous wild bison.

Back in town we stopped for a coffee and a stroll around the dull, touristy shops selling T-shirts and birdhouses. It’s odd, nobody mentioned it until later but it looked like everybody who lives and works on the island is Mexican. Where does everybody live? Surely not in the expensive condos and vacation homes. What do they do until all the tourists arrive in summer?

We caught the 7pm ferry back to Dana Point, drove an hour back home to San Diego, exhausted as though we’d swum home.