Vegas and I have been married for 1 year and 2 days.
That’s 1 year and 2 days longer than I ever thought I’d be married.
Neither of us ever really wanted to be married… so we make sure to celebrate it regularly! Â For our one year anniversary, Vegas surprised Lucie and I with a day trip to Catalina Island.
The days started with an hour boat ride to the island from a port in LA. Â One of my favorite things about my wife is that she doesn’t do anything half way… she got us tickets in the lounge area which guaranteed us indoor seating and a free beverage.
I drink bubbles at 10 am. Because I’m classy.
Once we got to the island, we were greeted with crystal clear water, blue skies, and stunning views. Â I couldn’t wait to start hiking to the top!
I was excited that it was still decorated from Christmas. Â There’s something especially neat about palm trees and Christmas trees side by side.
I was ready to go trekking up one of the hiking trails to see the view from the top.  Vegas even agreed to come!  Lucie, despite being from the beautiful mountainous Switzerland, doesn’t like to hike.  She elected to hit the beach for a selfie session some photography.
But first, lunch. Â We stopped at Bluewater Avalon to enjoy the view while we ate.
A lunch with this view demands a beverage.
Scallops with bacon – perfect combo!
Then Vegas and I took off for out hike.  We chose to do the Garden to Sky Trail.  It’s a fairly easy 2.4 mile out and back.  We began in the Wrigley Botanical Garden (a $7 entry fee required).  The garden is small, but fun to look around at all of the cactus.
The trip to the top was ~45 mins. Â Coming down took just 25. Â I’d definitely recommend it for beginners! Â There are other way to reach the top and a few add ons to make it longer/tougher. Â I can’t wait to go back and try more. Â The view from the to is stunning.
Back at the bottom, we took a beer break and did a little shopping before dinner.
Dinner was quite good.  We found a place near where we needed to bard the ship called Avalon Grill.  It’s upscale dining – we shared golden beet hummus, Lucie had roasted chicken, I had a salad and octopus with barley, and Vegas got a steak.  There are pictured, but dessert was the best part so I’ll just leave you with this:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAD9OPxGjaj/
Vegas and Lucie passed out on the boat ride back.  I stayed alert to drink champagne watch our things.  It was an incredible anniversary surprise!
The next morning I was excited to make Lucie her first waffle ever (?!).  I went with the Red Velvet Protein Waffle recipe I created for Vegas about this time at year.  Vegas – determined to live it up on the last day before our diet – elected to have a GIANT cinnamon roll she bought on Catalina.
We hit the gym, ran some errands, got our nails done… and then it was time to take Lucie to the airport.  I can’t believe how fast 2 weeks flew by!  We never seem to have enough time.
Until next time…
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAGTU-Gmjep/
[Tweet “Catalina Island Anniversary trip and saying goodbye. #fitfluential #travel”]
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Today is day 1 of the new year, new us diet. Â More Wednesday…
How did you spend your first anniversary?
Do you prefer hiking or the beach?Â
Lovely. Alex and I spent our first anniversary at home (actually I dragged him out to meet someone for lunch) but then we went to Charleston (we had a wedding in the area that weekend, so we strung out the vacation).
Perfect 😉 Happy Anniversary dear!
Happy Anniversary!!
Is it bad that I can’t remember what I did for my first anniversary? I think maybe we went to Cancun.
That doesn’t suck!
So fun! I think we spent our first anniversary doing a dinner at the restaurant he proposed at? Then maybe our 4th was a trip to Catalina, hiking up and over to the other side of the island, and enjoying some super tasty foods! Great place for a quick getaway!
That sounds like a great hike – I can’t wait to go back when we have more time (and it’s warmer!).
Catalina island looks like such a beautiful place! Im so jealous!
Happy anniversary Laura! I love me some Vegas and can tell she is the ying to your yang which is such a beautiful thing. I’ve never been to Catalina but since I’m on in the Bay Area it seems like a do-able trip. That cinnamon roll looked ridiculous, I haven’t had a cinnamon roll in years. My boyfriend and I have been together… not married, for 6 years. Relationships are hard but I would’n’t pick another person to share my life with. All that being said we actually don’t celebrate our anniversary because it falls around the holiday season and there is so much going on its hard to add something else in the mix. We do do weekly date nights where I dress sexy and he throws on some semi-clean jeans…hahaha, then we go out on the town, eat, drink and be merry. WE try to keep the spark alive because I don’t want it to fizzle out before we start settling down which hopefully will be never. Happy New Year my Love 🙂 You deserve the best and it looks like you found her.
Thank you so much Mary! I hadn’t had a cinnamon roll in years either. That’s one of my favorite things about Vegas – she orders stuff I won’t so I always get a bite (or 5). HAHA!
It sounds like you two do a good job of keeping things fresh! I love that you still date each other. That’s something we make an effort to do too. Complete with semi-clean jeans.
e’ll make it up the coast one of these days and maybe we can double date. 🙂
Awww, how fun. Congrats on your anniversary!
Sounds like a fab anniversary! And the food and bubbles… Perfect!
I can’t remember what we did for our first anniversary :-S – then again it was 6 1/2 years ago now… But I’m sure we will do something special for our 7th with being in Australia.
And I would pick hiking, if it was in scotland, hiking here scares me with all the wildlife that I’m sure just wants to kill me!
HA! I’d be scared too. Vegas has spent time there and her stories about leeches in the forest and other fun adventures scare me. I think I’d stick to wine tours. 😉
How fun, I love Catalina!! Isn’t it like the mini Mediterranean island of California?! The first time I visited there I did that exact hike with my mom. And my hubby and I did a hiking/camping trip around Catalina for our 5th anniversary! I’d love to head back there for a weekend full of snorkeling and water sports sometime.
It is! I said it felt like being on an Italian island. Glad we got to show Lucie too! We want to head back to do some water sports too when it’s warmer. I bet that would be a fun place to SUP!
Oh what an awesome surprise and an amazing way to celebrate your 1st anniversary! I personally prefer the beach but every so often, I wouldn’t mind going on a hike so long as the weather is decent :)! And dude, that apple cheesecake looks and sounds UNREAL!
I don’t have a clue what we did on our anniversary, any of them really, except last year. We always go out to a nice dinner somewhere and that’s about it. Last year though, we decided to take a trip to San Diego. 🙂
Happy Anniversary.
P.S. I’m with Vegas on the cinnamon roll.
I think you should make the SD trip a tradition. 😉
maybe next year we can all celebrate our anniversaries together!! separate rooms of course. hehe. and yay to new diet! i want to hear
Ummmm… YES! And yes to the separate rooms. Bwhahaha!
Looks like an awesome day. I’d love to do that hike, just the bit I did at Cabrillo Point in San Diego made me want to hike all over California!
Happy anniversary! Your trip sounds perfect on all fronts.
V and I went on our honeymoon for our 1 year annv since we couldn’t go right after the wedding. So much fun, so many memories!!
Beautiful spot! Happy Anniversary. Those red velvet waffles sound legit
So beautiful! We actually went hiking for our first anniversary! Those blue skies are breath taking!
I think I’ll take one of those waffles… even over a cinnamon roll.
Happy (late) anniversary!!! We were POOR on our first anniversary, so I think I cooked John dinner (meatloaf, maybe??) Romantic, right? Yours sounds much better!
That’s really sweet he cooked you dinner though! I love to be in charge of the kitchen, but it’s super sweet when Vegas takes over.
I want to be back!
I did not take any selfies at the beach.
🙂
How life changes in a year! So happy that you are happier than happy!
Crazy, right?! Thanks Jody. 🙂 Have a great weekend and enjoy your cookie.
Hiking always takes so much longer going up… My knees don’t love the trip down though. Just God’s ways of keeping me humble. 🙂 Weak on the way up. Sore on the way down. 😀
We have the same issues coming back down! i’d much rather do uphill.
Aw – this looks so fun! I’m so glad you had an amazing anniversary. I think you need a second Colorado celebration, by the way. 🙂
I know! I keep telling Evie we need to go there to ski/board. There’s nothing like Colorado powder.
My first ever hike was four months ago, and it took me 4.5 hours. I should have definitely started with a 45 minute one haha
Happy anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year already!
I remember you posting that… and being shocked. LOL! I love hiking though. There’s something about feeling like you’re the only one in the world.
Thank you! 🙂