Catalina Island: December 1994

We took off for a few days before Christmas to visit Long Beach and Santa Catalina Island. At Long Beach we toured the Queen Mary -- all I can say is that the QM is to a ship what a Giant Sequoia is to a tree! Next day we hopped a ferry to Catalina. The boys and I enjoyed the 2 hour trip, but Kim turned a most unusual shade of green -- definitely not her color!

Only 30 miles from Los Angeles, Catalina has 1 town of 3000 people, clean air, and litle else. Most of the island is a nature conservancy where 300 bison roam free. We took a 4 hour bus tour around the island, went on a glass-bottom boat (the boys got to feed the fish!), shopped, threw rocks into the water (the highlight of the trip for the boys!) and dodged the waves (too cold to swim). The island has a limit of 700 cars and the waiting list is 8 years long. Most people own golf carts, which is just fine for bopping around town and picking up groceries. Even the police car is a golf cart (If you rob the only bank, where do you hide until the next ferry leaves?)! Being the off-season, there were no crowds, in fact, many restaurants were closed for the season. They say that in summer, you can't even find room to place your towel on the beach.