Month: November 2013

Lake Arrowhead Lifestyles® Goes to Catalina Island.  The occasion was celebrating my husband’s birthday and neither of us had been to the Island for a bit, so what a better way to celebrate my favorite person.  We hopped on the Catalina Express out of Long Beach  and headed over on a Sunday afternoon.  It may have been the first of November but the weather couldn’t have been better.

Living in Lake Arrowhead on a clear day from the Rim of the World Highway you can see Catalina glistening in the distance.  Some days off of Highway 18 you can even make out the tankers on the water.  As the bird would fly we are only 80 miles from the Island, but I can’t fly so we took a drive.  It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes we were in Long Beach.  And so the adventure began.

We arrived in Catalina Sunday afternoon after a short one hour ferry ride on the Catalina Express.  We took a short walk to the Hotel Vista Del Mar and checked in.  The service was awesome!  We were greeted with smiles, amazing service and the room was exactly what we were hoping for with fireplace and all.  The hotel made our dinner reservations at Steve’s Steakhouse, so we had nothing to do but get acquainted with the town.  We relaxed with a cocktail and took in the beautiful sunset from the lobby of the hotel.  Our dining experience was good and had views of the ocean and town.  

The next morning we hopped up and were ready to explore the Island.  Walking around the town was a great way to see all of the speciality shops and of course I wanted to check out the local real estate, but I was obviously there on a wrong day… As the sign in the window read, “Gone Surfing, Closed”.  I always like to compare other towns to our beautiful mountain area here in Lake Arrowhead.  The prices were in line with a resort area and there seemed to be a lot of vacation rentals.  We meandered through town and found a cute little miniature golf course.  I can say I haven’t played in many years and I have been missing out on some good laughs.  After hitting 18 holes we headed out on a rented golf cart to explore the many homes on Catalina and take in the view.  The views didn’t disappoint.  Breathtaking for sure!!!  We even stumbled upon a Pet Cemetery and Man’s best friends have a great view as well.

It was Monday and we love our football, so we wanted to find a cool local’s place to watch the game, we found it at JL Locker Room.  They do not serve food, but do serve a mean drink and we were able to order out from Antonio’s Pizza.  The pizza was great and the atmosphere at the Locker Room was fantastic.  You would never know by looking at the town that so many full time people lived here, they are blessed.  Our time was short but we packed in a lot of things, most of all, time with each other.  

My assessment of Catalina from Lake Arrowhead is this is a great getaway and going from the Mountains to the Beach is a snap and too close to not go and enjoy.  As we headed out of town I noticed this Veterans memorial.  Never forget the many sacrifices our soldiers make and Catalina shows the love.  The Lake Arrowhead ~ Catalina Connection!!!

See you at the Lake!