Postcards from Catalina Island…

This is how you get to Catalina.  They have regular jet-catamaran boats to and from the island, and they are comfortable and fast.  Even on a fairly rough sea you don’t feel much.   But the sea was very calm on the trip out and back.

At the entrance to Avalon harbor.  At the very top of the hill is, I’m told, the Wrigley Mansion.  That’s Wrigley as in the chewing gum.  The family owns most of the island I’m told.

One of the streets of Avalon looking west.  Most of the island is a wilderness preserve.  Avalon is the largest town on the island and it ain’t big.  Everything the people who live on the island need has to be trucked in by boat.  But there is a nice tourest zone right at the beach with good food, a few clubs, shopping, and stuff to do.  I’m told there is surfing on the western side of the island.  Avalon is on the eastern side, and doesn’t get much wave action at all.  The main activites around Avalon seem to be boating, fishing and scuba diving.  My brother and my nephew did the scuba park by the casino while I was wandering around taking pictures.

Looking from the end of the Avalon Pier, back to Avalon, as the sun sets.

Boats docked in Avalon harbor.  Some of those moorings, I’m told, sell for over a million dollars.  Yes…that’s a million bucks just to park your boat..

Avalon harbor from the Casino.  It’s not a gambling casino, it’s an old, grand movie theater.

This is the way most folks get around on the island.  They don’t like having cars over there, although you’ll see some.  Mostly people use these golf carts and small lawnmower engine powered light trucks (and I mean light).  Instead of car garages, most houses that have them, have golf cart garages or parking spots.

Many of the nice houses here are built on quite steep hillsides. 

Finally…the catamaran trip over and back takes you past the Queen Mary, which is now doing duty as a beautiful art deco hotel.  If you like anything art deco, you Have to go see the Queen Mary sometime, it is just amazingly beautiful inside (and out…it’s a lovely ship from the days of the grand trans-Atlantic ocean liners).  On the trip back one of those new cruse line ship things was parked nearby, so I snapped this shot of the two of them together.  A contrast in Ocean going eras.

More postcards later.  I’m on my way now to Portland Oregon for a software developer’s conference.  I’ll post more photos of my trip when I get settled in up there.