Like the song goes…twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is waiting for me…and it was! We took the first tender to Avalon before the sun rose. One of the most popular activities on the island is to rent a golf cart and explore the area on your own. We left Ann waiting for the Catalina Island Golf Carts shop to open at 8am and Cathy and I walked along the board walk to the Catalina Casino, famous for having the world’s largest circular dance floor and not a gambling establishment. Along the way we passed quaint shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. On our return to town, Ann had the golf cart rented and we were off on Catalina Island's narrow, steep, and in some instances sharp drop-offs. We followed Pebbly Beach Rd to the Three Palms Lookout overlooking Avalon Bay and the iconic casino and up to Mount Ada to the former home of the Wrigley family. We then drove up Avalon Canyon Rd to the Wrigley Memorial and the Botanical Gardens. We found the Botanical Gardens very interesting with many cacti plants endemic to the island and different from other gardens we had visited. From here we made our steep decline down to Tremont Overlook for another dynamic view of the Casino and past Descanso Beach along the back streets of Avalon to return the golf cart. It was a fun day golf carting and shopping for some treasures. We returned to the ship for a nice afternoon in the Retreat. Tomorrow, we are back in San Diego. We are looking forward to seeing our goods friends Pauline and Mike Hall and Leslie High and Handler Smith who will join us the Koningsdam. We like Avalon so much that we are coming back on Monday....
Love the photos!
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