It was admittedly a bit gloomy as we set off "26 miles across the sea" as the song goes, aboard the Catalina Flyer. That's the Harborside Restaurant to the right. We pull out around 9:00 a.m.
A glimmer of sunshine along the way.
I spent about half an hour standing on the deck next to the--what do they call it?--the place where the captain hangs out. When we hit waves, I hung onto the railing and let my knees take the shock.
I felt like Slim Pickens riding the rocket at the end of Dr. Strangelove. Whoo hoo!
We passed an outgoing vessel on our way into port. The man next to us explained to his infant son that the jet engines put a lot of bubbles in the water and turned it this color. Thanks, daddy.
The Catalina Flyer safe in the harbor. That's the Avalon Casino in the background, from the Italian word for "gathering place." It's a movie theater and museum that never was a gambling place.
After poking around in some shops and having lunch with the gaggle of cousins, we hopped the trolley to the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Gardens, where we saw such Dr. Suess-esque plants as this one. (It has island in the name of it, appropriately. Why oh why don't I take notes?)
Along the way we pass this bum. I sneak up to leave a dollar on his chest, only to discover it's our very own Hydra grabbing a nap while the rest of us coo over the succulents and cacti.
From beneath the monument. That's Cuz-M pointing something out.
I love all the details and shoot at least fifty pix in and around the monument.
Inside looking out. What a glorious day.
Hydra and I split from the pack and head for the casino. One of our number has a stress fracture in her foot and is not up for more walking, which is so reasonable. We feel like we need to move.
It only takes us about ten minutes to get there, and we buzz through the museum, which includes a great little exhibit about the May 2007 fire that burned more than 4,000 acres on the island. That's about 10% of it. 2700 people were evacuated by vessels like the one we came over on.
We head back to the mainland at 4:30.
By 6:00, we're back and the lights are on at the pavilion/Harborside Restaurant.
Our welcoming crew. Anyone know what this guy is?
2 comments:
That looks like a heron to me, Sally (although which one of the various species I can't say without consulting a bird book).
=CCC=
3C - Hmmm... I don't think it's a heron. Herons seem to all have long necks. (Google Heron and click images.)
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