It's Always Sunny in LA: # 29: Catalina Island

In a recent issue of LA Magazine, they listed 50 "great" weekend getaways. In classic LA Mag fashion, about 45 of them were completely infeasible without an unlimited budget and a private jet. But one of their suggestions caught my eye: a ferry trip to Catalina Island, conveniently located just 20 miles off the coast of Long Beach. I mentioned the idea to a friend, who was appalled that I had never been to the island. She had, in fact, been there so many times that she had lost count of how many times she had thrown up on the Catalina Express ferry. (I made a mental note to suggest the trip to some other friends instead).

Then, not a few days later, my dad called me out of the blue, to suggest a family trip to Catalina! I was so surprised and excited. Moments later, of course, I realized that the only reason he suggested doing something fun was because my brother was coming into town. Of course. But either way, this was even better. Because instead of driving to Long Beach and then taking the ferry, we could take my brother's SUPER convenient plane and fly there ourselves!!

I am not a huge fan of flying, and though I've flown in my brother's plane several times, I'm always a bit nervous. However, this flight was awesome. We flew right over LA, and I was able to pick out all the landmarks that I knew from 10,000 feet above. After we flew over Long Beach, we banked west and circled over the island. When I spotted the runway - literally a small strip of pavement on top of a mountain - I died a little inside. But, I fully trust my brother's piloting abilities, and he landed us at the "Airport in the Sky" with no issue.

Once we landed, we took a shuttle from the airport down into the island's only town, called Avalon. The drive through the interior of the island was beautiful, but slow due to the tiny narrow road and numerous hairpin turns. But we were able to see a majority of the island, which visitors that come via the ferry wouldn't even have access to. We even saw a few of the notorious wild buffalo that roam the island, but our shuttle driver told us to be sure to stay faaaar away from any buffalo ("They aren't cows" he admonished).

Once we made it down into Avalon, we rented a golf cart and got exploring. Most people on the island don't have cars (not much room) so golf carts are treated like normal cars, complete with having to obey the stop signs. I don't think I've ever seen any golf cart on the Paramount lot actually stop at a stop sign. But anyway. Our first stop on the island was the botanical gardens. After meandering through the brief paths of indigenous and endemic plant species, we headed to the top of the hill towards a large cement structure. Upon reading the signs, I learned that it was a memorial to William Wrigley Jr, of Wrigley gum and Chicago Cubs fame. Apparently, he bought the island from a struggling development company in the 1920's and turned it into what it is now. He is responsible for paving the first roads, building the first hotels and attractions, and providing basic power and infrastructure to the island. For the trivia-curious: Wrigley used the island for the Cubs spring training location for over thirty years, and the Wrigley family deeded the entire island to the Catalina Island Conservancy in 1975, who now controls 88% of the island.

The memorial was, for the lack of a better word, incredibly ostentatious considering the location and the laid-back lifestyle of the island. But, he funded it himself, so it would make sense that the memorial would seem incredibly over-the-top and out of place. After we walked up and down the memorial, we drove around to the back side of the island, to see the Wrigley Mansion, which is now a very beautiful (and I would assume, very expensive) hotel overlooking the entire bay.

We wound our way back into town (after several photo-op stops, thanks Dad!) and drove past the famous Catalina Casino. There were lots of signs informing us that the casino is not a "real" casino, and that the word in Italian means "large meeting space" and was initially built as a dance hall. Now it's the island's only movie theater (playing Hope Springs, a little bit behind the times!) and on the 2nd floor is the world's largest circular ballroom. The building was built - as well as much of the town - to mimic Monaco. My dad, who has been pretty much everywhere in the world, could attest to its similarity... though I think no one would be surprised that Monaco was a bit grander.

After all the driving, we were starving and settled in for water-side dining at Armstrong's seafood, followed by ice cream and fresh-baked waffle cones from Olaf's. As anyone who knows me knows, it was the perfect lunch. We finished the day off by some gift shop shopping, and a final stroll around the main dock. By the time we were getting ready to leave, the Catalina Express ferry had come in and the town had quickly become incredibly crowded. We were happy to take the next shuttle back to the Airport in the Sky and take a leisurely flight back to my parent's house in Camarillo.

Overall, it was a great day, made especially memorable by being able to spend time with my family. The weather was absolutely perfect, the flight was smooth, and the adventures were awesome!!