Catalina Island

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I've been really proud of myself in morphing seemingly ordinary trips into legitimate Baseball Road Trips. Whether it is a trip through the San Joaquin Valley or out to Palm Springs, I'm always looking to incorporate baseball into all my travels. Tomorrow will be the epitome of this ideal as I took an opportunity and turned it into a unique experience.

Before getting into my itinerary for Catalina, I'd like to recap the Angels game from last Sunday:

It was the first time in six weeks that I had done the whole bike ride on the Santa Ana Trail from Anaheim Canyon to Orange. I really forgot just how much I enjoyed it, and I'm a little sad to realize that I'm only going to be doing it two more times for this season.

The Angels got some solid starting pitching from Hector Santiago to keep the Detroit Tigers at bay. In the bottom of the 8th, David Freese hit a go-ahead solo homer for the Halos to give them a 2-1 win. Huston Street came on to save the game in the 9th inning for the Angels, and the last out he got was a strikeout of 2013 AL MVP Miguel Cabrera. It was a great game with some great clutch hitting and pitching.

Ok, now on to Catalina...I have been researching out my essay for the past few weeks now, and I have an idea of an outline for the essay. I'm going to focus on three parts: the Island itself in terms of history and geography; William Wrigley and his influence not only on Catalina but also the game of baseball; and, finally, the Cubs history on Catalina. I'm going to expand on all of these sections using information that I have researched here in the Inland Empire and, primarily, on Catalina itself.

The ferry leaves Long Beach at 10am sharp and takes about an hour to get to Catalina. I'm bringing my bike along, and after docking in the only city, Avalon, I'll ride up to the Wrigley Botanical Garden and Mansion to see what I can find there. I know that was the location of the park, so hopefully I can find some individuals there who can offer me some insight into the location.

My second stop will be both the Avalon Library and City Hall. I'm going to be looking for what archival information is available and, hopefully, be directed to anybody in the city who was alive and living during the time the Cubs trained on the island.

It wouldn't be a visit to Catalina without some sort of ocean activity. After the archives, I'm going to rent some snorkel equipment and do some diving in Lover's Cove, which is just outside Avalon. From what I have read, it is an extraordinary experience with so much marine life to see. I've snorkeled before, but never in the actual ocean before. I'm a little freaked out about the sea life I might encounter (SHARKS), but I've never been one to shy away from fear, especially on a Baseball Road Trip.

I'm hoping that my morning efforts will yield some contacts for the afternoon. It is my intention to sit down with the people of Catalina who were around when the Cubs trained and record their stories. Just to speak with three or four individuals and listen to their stories would be more than enough for me.

That's my itinerary for tomorrow. I don't want to go too much into what content I'll be writing about because I want all of you to read the final product. I can tell you that I will be very active on social media during the day, so that is the best way to track my travels.

It should be an amazing adventure and I am so excited to have all of you along for the journey!

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)