We got a great room overlooking the pool area in a quiet location. The hotel has a workout room, laundry, small gift shop, restaurant and office center. We decided we would get ina lot of walking each days scoping out the town nd also taking a day trip to Catalina Island. Our first day we walked around quite a bit and looked at what was close for stores and restaurants. We found a few good walking trails and parks. We settled into our room and unpacked only what we thought we would need for five days.
Some of the walkways and trails around the wharf area...
Dan uses apps on his phone to find parks and trails and map our routes.
We passed this home with the largest Poinsettia I have ever seen!!!! They grow big here.
We stopped by this little community market and bought a few grapefruit and some cheese.
Folks told us they are totally revamping the whole San Pedro parkway and developing new restaurants and stores. They told us Disney purchased much of the property along the waterway to develop.
We took a trolley ride around San Pedro one day and saw the USS Iowa and the SS Lane Victory a WW II cargo ship that has been restored. The waterfront hosts a variety of landmarks and memorials. There are lovely water pools and fountains that are synced to music. The trolley also takes you to a nice new large brewery with inside and outside seating and a large warehouse called Crafted that hosts unique artisans where one can take classes related to the crafters or purchase unusual high end products. The warehouse is only open Friday through Sunday and that’s when the trolley runs too. We really enjoyed the free tour that we took on Saturday. We toured Crafted for about an hour and then walked over to the Brewery where we had a cold one and our dinner of fresh humid and pita bread. We took the trolley back to the wharf and then walked the long way home back to our hotel.
USS Iowa
Memorial to all the armed forces.
On Sunday we got up early and took the Express to Catalina Island. The day was cool but sunny. The boat ride takes an hour. Arriving around 10:30 we decided this would be a full day of walking.
We docked at Avalon which is one of the only two towns on the island, the other being Two Harbors. The town is very small with four thousand full time residents. It’s totally a tourist area. It changed hands historical throughout the ages going from Spanish rule back to the US where several individuals owned it. But the most famous individual to own the island was William Wrigley Jr., the owner of the Chicago Cubs who moved the teams spring training site in 1921 where it remained for 30 years. Mr. Wrigley created a botanical garden on the island where later a memorial was erected to him and his body laid to rest. The Wrigley Mansion is a beautiful site atop a hill overlooking the bay and the town but now it is a bed and breakfast. The island has had its share of problems from dirty polluted shorelines to sewage problems. Fourteen Bison were brought to the island in 1924 for a movie and then after the film crew left they left the bison!!! Over the years the bison multiplied to 600. The film that brought them to the island actually cut the footage for the movie that included the bison. Realizing the island couldn’t sustain the bison they asked the Lakota tribe in South Dakota if they would take part of the herd back. They blessed and transported around 400 bison back to their original tribal lands.
Ine of the famous films made on Catalina Island includes Mutiny on the Bounty; there have been over 500 productions filmed there in the last 90 years.
Philip Wrigley,Williams son, establishes the Catalina Island Conservancy in 1972 to preserve the island interior. The island is part of LA county and is one of the oldest private land trusts in Southern California.
In 1934 CBS broadcast Big Band music from the Casino Ballroom on the island which isn’t a casino at all but a huge round performing arts center. In 1942 the military took over the island to use it as a training station.
We stayed on the island walking over 6 miles seeing as much as we could. We are at a cute local Mexican restaurant and then boarded the Express shuttle boat at 5:30 to take the dark ride back to San Pedro.
The free San Pedro Trolley.
The huge warehouse for Crafted.
Lots of cute holiday displays inside
These are Grinch holiday treats made with grapes, banana and strawberries!!
I loved how they used the old suitcases in their display
All recycled items used to make art!!
The brewery by Crafted. I had the Blonde Ale
Inside seating by all the vats.
The duo :)
Dangling to the food truck for our humus and pita bread with a little baklava!!
On Monday we got in a three mile walk taking another part of town. I found a pedicure salon where I got a fresh pedicure and Dan took a ride on an electric scooter!! Ha ha. We explored a few more stores and stopped by the visitor center. We got in a little exercise in the weight room and then decided to hit Niko’s pizzeria for a salad for me and lasagna for Dan. It was a great local restaurant with nice ambiance and great food. Dan had enough left over for lunch the next day!
Tuesday we once again headed out to walk. We got in three miles and another stop for some old medicine for me and a few things for our next cruise! Fellow passengers starting arriving today and tonight we will meet several for dinner at the restaurant. We are pretty much ready for tomorrow with our suitcases repacked and our new luggage tags on. We’ve had fun talking with our kids through video messenger and taking some crazy holiday photos.
So that’s it for now. The next posting will most likely come from Hawaii!!
Bob Voyage 🥂🚢🌲
A cute crab found along the waterfront !
A visitor hanging out by all the eating establishments.
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