Maggi

Back from our trip, and want to thank all of you for your suggestions.

rjw: Sir Winstons was fabulous, chateaubriand for two, with souffles for dessert, yum! The ship was so great we never did get into Long Beach.

vivi: Loved La Jolla! We strolled the cliff path along the ocean and breakfasted at Brockton Villa. Shopped in town. As you said, very charming indeed. (And we were lucky to get a parking spot right at Seal Beach.)

mscarls: The Fish Market was awesome (best cioppino I've ever had.)

barbara: I'm glad we opted to just do the WAP. We'll leave the zoo for another visit. We were very fortunate not to run into many traffic snarls. Actually the freeway driving was not as difficult as was predicted here on this board. Maybe it's because we're from Detroit and have also driven extensively in Europe.

navywife: We tried for Miguel's but there was such a long wait for a table we opted out. It did look charming in there. We'll save it for next time. That marine layer was thick, as you said. Didn't see blue sky til later in the afternoon most days.

kal: I see what you mean about Cabrillo, bro. Picked up subs at Little Italy on the way in. Wish we had more time there. They kicked us out well before sunset.

I posted some pics of our trip to whoever is interested at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/maggiwun

Trav

Maggi,

Checked out your pics. Very nice. Would you expand on two places for me? Were you happy with staying on the Queen Mary? Would your experience be that much different if you stayed elsewhere and just did a day visit? Did the tour of Catalina live up to your expectation, or would an alternate have been a better choice? I'm planning a trip for my 75 year old (active) mom and I to meet up in Long Beach (she's in Florida and I'm in northern California) and three things on my agenda are the Queen Mary, Catalina and the Getty. Thanks for any insight you can give me on the above questions.

Maggi

Trav, it's hard to answer objectively. We had sentimental reasons for sleeping on the ship (my husband came over as a child with his family from Germany in 1958). The rooms are pretty much the way they were back then; lots of wood paneling and plastic. An old (nonworking) fan mounted on the ceiling. It's not the "luxury" you would get on today's ships, but was very luxurious for the time. We took two tours that take you into sections of the ship not normally open to the public. The "Ghosts and Legends" tour is hokey, but funny and takes you down into the boiler rooms seen in "The Posieden Adventure" (sp?) with Gene Hackman. If you want to treat your mom, take her to dinner at the expensive but classy Sir Winstons.

The Jeep eco-tour on Catalina was expensive ($100 per person), dusty and a wild ride over steep hills. Don't know if your mom would be up to that. They also have air conditioned bus tours that are probably much more affordable. Give yourself time to tour the Casino and have a meal on the deck at Armstrongs and a drink at Descanso Beach Club. In fact, I would recommend staying on Catalina over Long Beach. It's like a real vacation. (Long Beach did not impress me at all.) From the Queen Mary you leave your car in the lot and take the Catalina Express over from the same dock. It was really convenient.

SaraLM

That actually looks like a nice itinerary, lots to see but not too crammed. I agree that doing the zoo and the animal park in one day will make it very long. If you were to do the bus tour in the zoo and not really check out all the animals (especially the deer-like animals at the far end) you could do both. We just like to read every sign - one of those deer-like animals has been seen killing and eating small rodents! Wow! Anyway... do see the Pandas first when there isn't a line.

I agree with Top of the Market, very good food!

I also agree that Old Town is not a full day, even doing all the shops outside of the official Old Town.

Enjoy!

Trav

Maggi,

Thank you. Your insight is much appreciated. We may pass on staying on the ship and do an overnight on Catalina. Mom and I did a day excursion on Catalina from a cruise ship several years ago and she loved it. We rented the gulf cart at that time due to time restrictions. I think more time exploring the island by motorcoach as you suggested would be the way to go. I'll try both of your restaurant suggestions both on the Queen Mary and in Catalina. I've vowed to take my mom on a trip every year as long as she is up for it (what a bonus for me!).

Maggi

Wow, Trav, can I adopt you? What a lucky mom you have!

rjw_lgb_ca

Maggi, glad you had fun on the Queen Mary! And also glad you enjoyed Sir Winston's-- I gotta get back there!

I hear you about Long Beach not being impressive to visitors-- it's not really a tourist town (despite the QM and the Aquarium, which are great). I love living in Long Beach (it's a gritty, fun town with really fun, warm people), but given the choice of a weekend at home and one in La Jolla, I'm a-sunnin' at the Cove, baby!! And isn't LJ incredible...?

Glad you had fun here in Southern California!!

Maggi

RJ, I wasn't prepared for how much I would like La Jolla. Wish I could have spent much more time there. Next time, for sure!

I was a bit hasty about my comment on Long Beach. The part of the city we drove through getting to the QM dock was practically all we saw of it. But the shopping and park area closer to the ship looked very nice and I would have liked to have a look around.

rjw_lgb_ca

I once participated in a conference in La Jolla, and was just bowled over by its laid-back (yet upscale) charm. Definitely calmer than, say, Laguna Beach up the coast.

No worries about the Long Beach remarks, Maggi. Downtown is challenging-- you have to look past all the construction and some dead spots to see the nightlife, which consists of some great restos and some killer blues nightclubs. Belmont Shore, to the east, is more charming, but it's really a place for locals, not tourists. Which is kind of how I describe Malibu to visitors (except Malibu is MUCH more expensive).

Still, it sounds like you had a wonderful time. I do hope you get another chance to explore the area!