Hey all! I apologize for not posting for over a month now. Jesse and I had not been able to hike or travel much, until this last weekend! We went on our first cruise together to both Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico! We had such an amazing time and it, of course, went by too fast. I have been fortunate to have been on many cruises before, but this was Jesse's first cruise! We are so excited to share our relaxing and exciting vacation with you all! We woke up super early, zealous to begin our vacation. As I'm typing this, I am getting that electrifying feeling back. Man, is it a good feeling! We drove up to Long Beach and paid way too much to leave our car parked there for four days. We eagerly left the parking structure with all of our luggage. Of course, Jesse is so wonderful he just threw his bag on top of mine and looked extra masculine as we opted out of having our luggage delivered to our room; and carried it on himself. We had to wait for almost 2 hours in lines and such, until we could get on the ship. When we finally got on, we basically ran to our room to put everything down and tour the ship. Say "hello" to our room! His name is U3. The first day was awesome and we enjoyed walking around the ship, taking pictures, and watching the ship leave the port; and head to Santa Catalina Island! There was this awesome section with mini golf!! We were so excited, and definitely played; among all of the 5 year olds! Oops, we'll always be children at heart. This picture shows downtown Long Beach, The Queen Mary, our ship, and the baby tug boat getting ready to assist us out to sea! This next picture is the pavilion dome-thing we waited in for almost two hours. The bridge is what we walked across to get aboard the ship. 6PM was our scheduled formal dinner time. We sat at a round table in the Mardi Gras dining room. We were so fortunate to have had a table full of amazing people. We only got one picture of some of the table, and Jesse moved as he took it. We were embarrassed to ask to take a picture again. This picture was literally taken right after I barely got seated for the first time, and no one at the table talked for like 15 minutes. The people I sat next to had just gotten married, and were on their honeymoon. They are from Anchorage, Alaska and were so nice and friendly. The couple next to them had been married for exactly a year, and live in Hawaii. They are originally from Arizona and Utah, but moved to Hawaii for work. We ended up hanging out with them later, and seeing what awesome and genuine people they are. Next to them (not pictured) was a woman and her daughter. Her daughter was about 16 and was constantly running off with her friends she met on the ship. The woman,though, was so interesting. Jesse knew from the moment she sat down that she was someone of importance; and he was right. She is in the army, and works at the pentagon; full of so many amazing stories. The last two seats were taken by another newlywed couple who were on their honeymoon as well. This couple live in Freso area and were kind, but less censored (if you will). LOL. Welcome to Catalina!!!Since the water is shallow near the dock, we had to take a boat over to shore. Please excuse these next few pictures. I had a little fun with the flag. Ever since Jesse and I have been dating, I notice flags a lot more, because he loves them. Typical. LOL. So, we were just in Catalina for two days and one night, five months ago. Last time we were there, we rented a golf cart for $60 (you get $20 back when you return it) for one hour and did the tour of Avalon. It was actually totally worth it, as we were super hesitant to spend that much. It was fun, and you get to see some really beautiful views; driving up the mountain. We also visited the Botanical Gardens and the Wrigley Memorial last time, and fell in love with the view from the memorial. We chose to go back to the gardens and spend some time there again. We rode the trolley for two dollars each, each way, and went up to the gardens and memorial. When we were at the gardens last time, we had such an amazing time. If you make it to the top, it's extremely peaceful and beautiful. I believe it's about $6 each to get inside, which includes both the gardens and the memorial. This is definitely worth the $6 each! Since Jesse is active duty military, we actually both get in free! We love this place even more because of this. We are so appreciative anytime he gets any type of discount for being in the military. He is quite a humble person, and does not think he does anything to deserve this special treatment, but I know he deserves it, and so much more. :) Lets look at the gardens! The Botanical Memorial Garden is extremely unique. It has a wide variety of cacti and succulents from all around the world, and features plants endemic to the California islands. All of the island's known endemic plants are on display! These endemics grow naturally only in Catalina and nowhere else in the world!!! There is cacti here that I couldn't have even imagined to be real! After the gardens, we then made our way to the lovely memorial. The detail is incredible, along with the view. However, you must climb to the top and check out the view from there! The blue flagstone rock on the ramp (and on both the terraces of the tower) is a natural product of Catalina. It came from Little Harbor. The Wrigley memorial is dedicated to the memory of William Wrigley Jr. Wrigley Jr. was a U.S. chewing gum industrialist. He was founder and eponym of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, in 1891. Construction for the building began in 1933, and the structure was compete in 1934. The building stands 232 feet wide, 180 feet deep, and 130 feet high, from the bottom of its circular stairway to the very top of its main 80 foot tower. The structure is dedicated as a memorial to Wrigley Jr., who in 1919 recognized the potential of Santa Catalina Island, as a nature preserve. He then took the initial steps needed, to save and protect the island, its wildlife, and its historical artifacts. Thank you, Mr. Wrigley. These bronze doors were created to exact specifications for the memorial. They are made of only the best quality architectural bronze, and the best quality statuary bronze (90% copper). Sitting up top here, gives you the best view. Or maybe it's just me. :) We eventually left the memorial and took the trolley back to the ship. This is the hotel we stayed in last time: Hotel St. Lauren. It is so nice and cute!! I'm obsessed with anything Victorian style. The location is so nice and we even found it for cheap, on Groupon. Bye-bye, Santa Catalina Island!! The next stop on our cruise--Ensenada, Mexico. Stay tuned tomorrow to see what we did in Ensenada. Let's just say there were horses, and we ate clams! Dun, dun, dun. Picture of the day is of my Jesse. We were so beyond excited to board the ship, that he swung around a pole with glee! LOL Thanks for reading!! Until next time. Ciao
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AuthorA passionate lover of food, adventure, traveling, and enjoying life! Archives
October 2017
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