This was yet another early morning. Tender tickets were available at 7 a.m.
No matter how management framed their ridiculous tickets from today and San Francisco, I was not impressed.
We ate a late breakfast while watching the shoreline as the ship approached shallow Avalon Harbor, thus the need for tenders. Once they started calling numbers, we joined countless fellow passengers hanging out in common areas where the announcements could be heard. We didn’t actually board a tender until almost noon. Thankfully, we didn’t stay onboard for lunch, which would have been a big mistake.
The famous Avalon Casino, which has nothing to do with gambling. It’s a dance hall and theater.
I believe this is the hill where the funicular used to be, referenced in the What Money Can’t Buy book series. The tea room was at the top.
We’ve never been on a ship that used local transportation as tenders. They only unloaded a few emergency boats to use as tenders but that’s what we got. Once on shore, we headed for the Green Pier. I’d done some research about a history walking tour, but Carl wasn’t up for much walking and I didn’t want to leave him while I did the tour. Additionally, they didn’t have a spot for me until 4, a little too close to our departure time. That’s an adventure for another day.
I got an idea to walk around and take pictures from the sites in What Money Can’t Buy. We headed for Metropole Avenue, the site of the old—and new—Metropole Hotel. The new one is mostly shops and restaurants.
I found the church where Elsie and Blake wed, but it’s a theater now. We weren’t expecting Avalon to be so busy. Turned out they were hosting a film festival. We weren’t allowed inside the main part of the church because they were showing films inside, but I got a few pictures.
We had lunch at a terrific little Mexican restaurant.
I enjoyed the best chili relleno of my life. The sauce was to die for. I even indulged in a rare and also yummy Margarita.
Several historic pictures hung on the walls which was a good thing because their history museum only went back to 1920.
This is a fantastic old picture of Avalon. The Hotel Metropole is in the center. The Green Pier to the left.
We got an ice cream at a fabulous little shop.
This bowl-shaped park is where, I believe, the amphitheater must have been.
And this hill, where the funicular ascended.
I finally had a chance to do some retail therapy, but gift shops proved disappointing. Only a little autumn ambience could be found. Probably my idea of gift shops is obsolete. T-shirts and junky souvenirs don’t do it for me. I discovered their only thrift shop which was in the process of going out of business. There were no antique stores on the island. We did find one lovely store on our return to the tender.
My only purchase, some fall fingertip towels.
Our last evening onboard was nice. We enjoyed the evening show featuring singing and dancing. Dinner at the buffet was really good Tex Mex. And just like that, it was time to pack.