CATALINA

Guess what? I’ve met a guy… a sweet, funny and extremely handsome man who treats me like a princess. It’s still new, but this weekend we went to CATALINA. He whisked me off for a romantic weekend and the trip was FABULOUS!

CATALINA is just an hour and half from Marina Del Rey by ferry. Saturday morning, we took the 9:15am and arrived in the town of Avalon with a whole, fun filled day ahead of us. We couldn’t check into the hotel till 3:00pm, so we rented a golf cart and toured the island. We took a scenic drive through the mountains and snapped pictures at every turn. The view of the ocean was spectacular. Who knew this treasure was so close to LA? I instantly felt like I was on vacation.

We ate lunch over looking the harbor at a spot called Busy Bee (just like me), then checked into the Hotel Metropole. It’s still off-season, so we got a great deal on a garden view room with a fireplace. Once we were all settled, we made our way down to Descanso Beach where we sipped beers while laying in the sand. The weather was less then perfect, but we made the most of it. We finished the afternoon with a dip in the hotel’s rooftop Jacuzzi.

That evening, I got all dolled up and we hit the town. We ate the most delicious dinner at Steve’s Steak House (I ordered a juicy steak and he got fish), then we hit El Galleon bar for karaoke. I sang two songs (I Will Survive and Let’s Hear It For The Boy), while he cheered me on. We finished the fun filled night by getting our groove on at the very cheesy Chi Chi Club.

We were supposed to leave Sunday afternoon, but there was so much more we wanted to do. We made a deal that if we woke to clear blue skies, we would stay another day (and deal with the consequences at work). Sure enough, when we opened the shades, the sun was shining and the skies where clear! The hotel had to move us to a different room, which was even better with a Jacuzzi tub, fireplace and king size bed.

As soon as we were settle in our new room, we ate breakfast, then rented jet skis. Jet skis are SO FUN! We speed across the ocean, jumping wakes of boats and looking for dolphins. Sadly, we didn’t spot any, but we did see two seals (not Seal and Heidi Klum, but the cute aquatic mammals). We spent the afternoon basking in the sun at the beach in full relaxation mode.

That afternoon, I bought a new dress at a cute little surf shop (I had only packed for one night) and got dressed for another fun filled evening on the town. Sunday was mellower than our first night out. We ate a delicious Italian dinner at Villa Portafino (I had the yummy chicken piccatta and he had the halibut piccatta. DELICIOUS!) We watched the end of the Lakers game, played pool (which I won two out of three, but only by default because he scratched the 8 Ball), challenged each other to an air hockey tournament (which he won) then hit the hay at a decent hour.

Monday the weather was cloudy and cool again. We wanted to go paddle boarding, but the water was too cold. We opted instead for a relaxed day, cruising the shops, hot tubbing and golf carting.

We hopped the ferry home at 5:00pm with smiles on our faces. He was the perfect travel companion. We laughed till our stomachs ached and really enjoyed each other’s company while getting to know each other better. I couldn’t have asked for a better two-day mini-vacation. CATALINA was FABULOUS! Now, back to work!