Why You Should Visit Anaheim, California

Ah getting married - so much romance, so many plans to make. When my wife and I were preparing to tie the knot, one of the many things we had to decide was where to go for a honeymoon. After you get engaged, your expensive dates must slow down so you can put money into the wedding. So I came up with a fun plan on how to decide where to go on our honeymoon. I told my then fiancé to write down the five places she wanted to go (plus one joke answer) on small pieces of paper. I would do the same, too.

I took my sweetie to a horse-riding exhibition as a setting for our date. We got a blanket and had a picnic on the grass among the myriad of people watching their loved ones ride horses. We didn't know a soul. After lunch, we exchanged our ideas for honeymoon destinations. Then, we had to rate each other's ideas.

Much to our surprise, we actually had one idea in common - Los Angeles. We had to explain why we wanted to go to each place. My wife said she had always wanted to visit California since she was a teenager. Before she could drive, her lifelong dream was to drive from gray Ohio to sunny Cali. I had wanted to go because I was in my brother's wedding out there and loved it. We didn't have much time for sightseeing during his wedding festivities, and I really wanted to go back.

So off we went. Where should we go? What should we do? My bride found a great rate on at the Best Western the Anaheim suburb of Buena Park. Then, since we don't like to spend all our time at the beach, we came up with activities for each day of the trip. Join us on our journey as to why you should visit Anaheim, California.

Hollywood Day
Who could visit Los Angeles and not see Hollywood? One good reason to visit Anaheim is its relative proximity to Hollywood. Of course, our first stop was the Walk of Fame. It featured the star plaques on the sidewalk, as well as Mann's Chinese Theater with the stars' footprints in the cement. On this particular day, the Star Wars fans were camping out one week early for The Phantom Menace.

My new wife was sick, so I let her sleep in the car as I cruised around Beverly Hills. Then we headed to the NBC studio for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Although we had tickets, we still had to wait in line for an hour to make sure we got in. The studio was freezing, but we had a great time. We sat right next to the band, and we got to shake Jay's hand at the start of the show. We even got our 2 seconds of fame for the camera had panned to a lady who sat in our row. She got panned because this grandma had given Jay a kiss.

Play Day
Typically, Disneyland isn't the top-ranked reason for growns-ups to visit Anaheim, but it was one of our top contenders. We believe that a honeymoon is more then just sitting around on the beach sipping mai ties for 7 days. Our honeymoon reflected the life we were going to have as a couple and family.

Beach Day
While we didn't want to spend the entire week at the beach, we definitely couldn't do without it completely. Leading up to the honeymoon, we surveyed anyone who had visited or lived in LA for ideas. That's how we learned about Catalina Island - the paradise of California! We took a ferry from Long Island to Catalina and stayed from sunup to sundown. That was just enough.

Catalina Island is definitely a romantic place. Everyone working there is so friendly, yet not too friendly. You can rent bikes, golf carts or our personal favorite - pedal boats. On Catalina Island, all of our brain cells went out the door. We were having so much fun pedaling the boat that we went way too far out to sea. The water cop had to warn us of the waves and current being too strong for the boat.

We also took a ride on the glass bottom boat, which is exactly as it sounds. You can see all of the fish in the crystal-blue waters beneath your feet. We also had a fabulous meal at Armstrong's Seafood House, which was right next to the water. My favorite seafood is crab legs, and this place had the best crab legs ever. We "broke the rules" again by feeding our crab shells to the birds. Soon, dozens of squawking birds came to join our feast. The waiters had to tell us to stop! This was the best day of our honeymoon.

Hotel Day
Everyone needs a vacation from a vacation. That's why we chose to have a day to sit around and enjoy the hotel. We hit the pool and the hot tub. We were fortunate because our hotel was just across the street from a wax museum and a pair of dinner theaters - one with a Wild West theme and another with a Medieval Times motif.

That's not to mention all of the sports in Anaheim (Angels baseball, Ducks hockey) and the Knotts Berry Farm amusement park. If you decide to take your honeymoon in Anaheim, you can have a blast doing just about anything or nothing at all.