Final Day

We had one last day on Catalina before it was time to head back home. After breakfast at the Pancake Cottage, we did a little shopping. David purchased his traditional goofy gift for DeRon and I picked up a sign and a Christmas ornament as well as some salt water taffy. By then, it was time to check out of our hotel room, so we did so and then headed to the Catalina Island Museum.

The museum is much nicer than the first time I visited. It has a new location received an extensive makeover of exhibits and presentations. We learned even more about the history of the island from the natives who once lived there to the Chicago Cubs' spring training to the glory days of the Casino to the suspicious death of Natalie Wood. The museum currently has a special traveling exhibit of the gorgeous blown glass of artist Chihuly. There was a room filled with smaller pieces and a courtyard with an amazing installation that looked like a fantasy underwater garden. In addition, there were two beautiful chandeliers that took your breath away.

When we finished at the museum we had just a few hours before our boat to the mainland left, so we wandered around town and hiked to the Nature Center which was about a mile up the road. We walked along the golf course which I thought was where the baseball field used by the Cubs had once been. I kept looking for any remnants and thought there must be some marker or record of the field that had been built to the same dimensions of Wrigley field, but I never found anything. Later after I got home I read that there was indeed a plaque and the original clubhouse was now the country club. I'm sorry that we missed it. We did however, see the remains of the Bird Park that Mr. Wrigley established and maintained for many years. Now the frame of the original Casino once turned into an aviary is now a cage surrounding a playground for a preschool.

We caught the Catalina Express and arrived back in Long Beach around 5:30 just in time for rush hour traffic. The drive wasn't too bad and we stopped for dinner(but mostly cheesecake) at a Cheesecake Factory. As I dropped into my bed, I was grateful for the treasured time with my sons and for William Wrigley Jr. and his son P. K. Wrigley who had the vision and made the investment to create such a lovely spot for people to go for a vacation.

To read David's perspective go here

To see more photos of our trip go here.