Day 4 - Catalina or Bust
So this vacation was to be more about relaxing and taking it easy. We had done
Disneyland and California the last three years. They have been glorious to say the least. Our first visit to DL was in October and we got to see not only DL for the first time but we witnessed Remember Dreams Come True, HM overlay (love that!), and see all the decorations. The next year was the vacation that has ranked #1 since....we went to San Diego for three days before we went to DL. In San Diego we splurged because we wanted something on the ocean and we didn't want to take any chances. Final result was the Hotel Del Coronado. Wow. The history, elegance and charm of this establishment are overwhelming. Expensive? Yes! But the location is so worth it. The kids enjoyed the salt water swimming pool, the oversized hot tub, and the views were ones people dream of. Oh yeah DL wasn't too bad either. The third year was suppose to be the grand finale. We flew into LAX and then drove to Monterey. From there we went to San Francisco for the day and then on to Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is one of those places that everyone has to see before they die. It is literally heaven on earth. The waterfalls were so massive and had such force. It was all so good. We then drove back down to DL for a few days.
Alright so we had been burning the candle down pretty far each of the first few nights. The plan was to go to Catalina on Friday. I had been researching all the different scenarios on how to get over there. I really also wanted to visit Newport Beach too. I finally found that I could do both and if you knew me then that would be the way to go! Try to cram as much as you can to see and do everything is my motto.
So we had just closed down the park the night before. I looked at my wife when we were going to sleep and said we are not going to make it are we? I then told her that we should sleep in. This was suppose to be a relaxing vacation. So we wake up late the next morning. How I love the extra two hours from KC. I'm still recovering from it today. Does this mean I'm really getting old? Don't answer that question. I'm like Mickey Mouse. I might be old but I still got it after all these EARS!
So its morning and my wife can see that I'm a little sad. We ended up having lunch at ESPN Zone. It was the first time we ever ate there. I have to say it was really good. It was also really expensive. Two of us had hamburgers and I had the chicken parm sandwich. So we are walking out and my wife tells me its not too late to rent a car and drive to Newport. I look at her and say no its ok. She persists and the next thing I know we are at the GC customer relations and they are booking us an economy car with Alamo. We get the kids ready and we head off to Downtown Disney's Alamo. Painless. It didn't take us very long to get down to Newport either. I really wanted to find Corona Del Mar. I had heard so many good things. So it was a quest. I kept driving down the PCH looking for some kind of sign. We kept driving and driving. Finally i saw the sign. Yippee. Here is what we saw as we drew closer.
I knew this as going to be a good day. Here are some more beach shots. I must say it was something out of a postcard. We had seen several beaches before as we drove up from Newport one year all the way to Hollywood. I didn't think much of most expcept for Laguna which was much more south than Newport. It as just a perfect crescent shaped beach. Luxurious high dollar houses above the cliff. The dream for most of us.
Let me stop here and say thank you to my wife. I had such an amazing day here. Funny story. So me and my son are out in the ocean fighting through the crashing waves trying to work our way where we can just float and relax in about shoulder high waves. We do just that. Everyone knows that waves keep coming and sometimes they are gentler and sometimes they come in stronger. So both of us take our eyes off the situation and look back towards the girls on the beach and the big one is coming for us. It crests before we can turn around and see it and completely knocks us on our cans. It was one of those OMG I'm going to die moments. It knocked me down, drug me on the bottom of the ocean skinning my knee up and then the water was ripping me back in. I get up and thank God that I'm alright. I look for my son and he had the same experience. The ocean is so powerful. It's funny how in just 5-10 seconds one can feel like minutes have just transpired and you feel like its all over. How silly am I?
So we spend a few hours there and then decide to drive back up to Newport to see what was happening. We stumbled upon this.
It was the Catalina Flyer. Sherry my go to Diser on all things Catalina again I must say sorry. When both my wife and I saw it we though lets forgo a day at DL and do it tomorrow. We then walked down the boardwalk a little further and saw they had several cruises available. We both wanted to be on the ocean this time around. We found a simple little cruise that toured the harbor showing billionaire homes and then would take us out on the ocean for a sunset cruise. Let's do it! It was well worth the money. It was under $20 per person for an adult. The cruise was very relaxing. When we finally got out on the ocean he turned off the engine and just floated for a little bit. Those are some mighty waves I tell you. We went around some seal on a buoy and enjoyed the sun setting what looked like over the Santa Monica Mtns. Gorgeous. Here are some more shots.
This kind of cool. A wedding cruise ship. What a cool idea. We saw the bride and groom and the waiting crowd in which looked like the first dance. Probably pretty expensive but cool idea.
One final shot of Newport beach under the pier.
We ended up driving home later that night. All of us so happy to say that we had been on the Pacific Ocean, had some beach time, and had a relaxing day. Catalina didn't happen but it is still on my bucket list. Currently at home its Shark Week on Discovery Channel and they are showing footage from 2008 when there were several shark attacks along the Pacific Coast. One in Huntington and one scary one of a lady who went kayaking in Catalina while here Husband and two kids were on a bigger boat that was anchored. Her kayak was turned over by the shark (it ended up being a great white) and she swam for her life to her kids. Her oldest as yelling at the dad explaining the situation and he was trying to pull up the anchor to bring the boat to her. Somehow someway she was able to reach another person's smaller boat who helped pull her in. I can't remember how far she had to swim but it was far. She said as she swam as fast as she could away that the shark hit his fin against her three times. Can you imagine?
Day 5 is ahead. Stay tuned.
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P.S. I really love Shark Week on Discovery!!!
