The mallu family decided to spend an eventful weekend at Catalina Islands and it sure was one awesome getaway. The previous day, we rented a monster, GMC Yukon XL for our trip. It’s like driving a bus. If the driver needs to speak to the guy in the last row (mostly me, as it’s easy to pull pranks from the back bench), he’ll probably need to make a phone call. We left on a Thursday morning from Santa Clara to LA. Reached around lunch time just in time to pick up Roju and Sneh from the LAX airport. Not before we were pulled over by a cop for speeding. Another experience to add to the list. Didn’t get a ticket, just a warning for doing 75 instead of 65 mph.
Picked the remaning two mallus from the airport and had lunch at a persian restaurant – Jino’s pars. I took a chance by recommending this place based on Kaschool kitchen that I tried last time I was around here. The Koobidehs and Kabobs did not disappoint at all.
We had to take a ferry – Catalina express to get to the islands around 6:00 PM. Thanks to LA traffic and my excellent navigatory skills, we just about made it before the last ferry for the day. What was on paper a 30 minute ride took us over 2 hours.
Nu tip: On google search for Catalina Express, golden shore, Long beach instead of Port of Long beach. They both are a few miles apart.
The ferry ride is windy as hell and takes about an hour to get to the islands.
Nu tip: If you want to be in the open air upper deck, make sure you layer up even if its hot while boarding. If you are already in the beach mode and wearing a dress/ skirt, you might wanna stay in the covered lower deck. 🙂
The island is breathtakingly beautiful. It’s a spot you need to hit with your partner. There are bunch of water related sports/ adventure one can do here – from parasailing to semi-submarine ride to zip-lining to kayaking.
While we didnt do justice to exploring the islands completely (stayed mostly in Avalon), we made sure we did what we do best in trips like these – ate and drank our hearts out.
Nu tip: The moment you arrive in the islands, depending on where you are staying, the most fun mode of transport are the golf carts. So make sure you hire one straighaway to save time walking with your luggage. There are electric bikes and cycles too to rent in case its just one/ two people traveling.
Some recommended places to eat here are: Llyod’s of Avalon for early morning coffee/ tea, Maggie’s blue rose for breakfast, Antonio’s pizza for lunch, Cayote Joe’s for happy hour drinks (don’t eat here.), Bluewater grill for seafood dinner.
Some of the activities we did were a semi submarine ride (passable as it just feels like you are in a tank and fish will come looking at your window for food), parasailing (Roshi almost got certified as she did it twice and given a choice would’ve gone again) and a boat ride (they let you take a powered boat on your own for an hour.)
The highlight of course was the fact that it was Ranji and Roshi’s 10th anniversary. Expensive gifts were exchanged (I got couple of t-shirts too from my new Mexico family members for just being there) and in a la Ranji style, ended the day with a homemade biriyani.
Great holiday (if I wasn’t in one already) with some lovely memories to take home.
A bit of work (is this the first time I mentioned this word in over 6 weeks?) and catching up with the rest this week before I head back to Chicago this weekend. Will update another exclusive Califonia video before that.
Nice updates. Have fun in Windy City next. It will be colder than you imagine.