Comments on: Our Catalina Island Family Getaway

By: brodyjen

brodyjen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:49:42 +0000

My MIL was born and raised on the island, and they still maintain a vacation home (duplex) there – so we go normally twice a year (May and October), plus one diving trip for my husband. We *love* Catalina – it is such a place of relaxation for us! We always go to Big Olaf’s for ice cream, and Antonio’s at least twice – once for dinner and once for their very yummy Hawaiian breakfast. I’m not a beach person but Descanso Beach Club works fine for us – shade & grass for me, sand/rocks & water for the kids, and Buffalo Milks delivered right to your sand chair! We take a lot of walks, take the cart up on the hill to see the harbor from above, hike to Wrigley Memorial…

By: Lori

Lori — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 19:22:41 +0000

I haven’t been for years, but LOVED the boat ride out to the island and coming back they had a live band and dancing on the boat! But it was beautiful and I’d love to go back!!

By: kirsten

kirsten — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:14:46 +0000

i’ve never been to catalina but wow, i want to! it looks gorgeous

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:56:53 +0000

Sounds like so many of you have such great memories!! It’s time to take another trip to Catalina!

By: Susan Blossom

Susan Blossom — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:43:45 +0000

I haven’t been there for 20 years but we used to go often with our young daughters when we lived in Southern California. My inlaws took their kids there a lot, so it’s a family tradition. Our favorite thing was to stake out our place on the beach early in the day then spend the day in the sun or shade, playing cards, reading, visiting, swimming or rafting. It’s a relaxing step back in time to the 1940’s with the craftsman tile work & architecture. We’d rent a house & make easy dinners at night or hit KFC, which we swore was the BEST KFC in the world. We’d play in the arcade in the evenings (everyone cramming into a photo booth) & found out our little 4 year old had a knack for Skee Ball. Buffalo Burgers at the top of the island’s airport was always a hit.

By: Laurie/MobileMommy

Laurie/MobileMommy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 03:54:17 +0000

That sounds like a great trip! We were just in SoCal and decided against Catalina due to time constraints, now I kind of wish we’d found the time! My boys would have gone crazy over the flying fish!

By: m

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:40:58 +0000

On my gosh! I haven’t been there since I was 5! I remember that everything
seemed to be painted aqua.

m ^..^

By: aimee

aimee — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:08:29 +0000

Looks like such a great time. we’re planning a trip to CA next year, but we haven’t figued out where yet. this looks so nice.

By: Laura

Laura — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:55:04 +0000

My husband took me there back when we were dating and we had sucha great time! Our favorite memory we have fun laughing about was when we were looking through one of the art galleries. We had walked back into one of the smaller rooms with art and as we came out to leave, we realized the owner had left the gallery and locked us in! We ended up calling the local police to get us out and they said something like “yea, that happens a lot to that owner/gallery. He probably just went to get lunch and will be back soon.” Sure enough, 20 minutes later, the guy came back, completely unsurprised to find us inside. It was a fun trip!!

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:04:35 +0000

I love Catalina. My wife and I have only been once, but it was magical. My wife and a friend rode the Catalina Flier out of Newport Beach while the two guys followed the boat on wave runners! (Not recommended for the faint of heart or the unprepared.)

Avalon is a great town and a perfect vacation spot. We also rode the wave runners (all of us on them) up north to Two Harbors and stayed at a bed and breakfast. That part of the trip was amazing with nearly fifteen miles of private beach, blue water, sand and adventure.

Thanks for this post, Marie. I can’t wait to go back.