A Visit to Catalina Island is an Experience in Nostalgia

Nothing characterizes that nostalgia more than the Casino in Avalon Harbor

The Catalina Yacht Club is another attractive photo op on the Avalon waterfront.

There are many images that come to mind when thinking of Catalina Island. One is the image of the Wrigley House on the south side of the Avalon harbor overlooking the beach where many weekend visitors enjoy the sun.

Coming into Avalon by sea your first landing is probably on the turquoise landing dock.

Walking around town is an experience in nostalgia.

These tiles are characteristic Catalina artwork. Depictions of buffalo are appropriate subjects. A herd of buffalo was brought over to be part of a movie production. They were left on the Island and the herd has grown and prospered throughout the years. We got some photos of the herd when we toured the interior.

The entry area of the Casino (left) is beautifully decorated with murals.

This mural outside the Casino depicts a sensuous mermaid! Imagine coming to Catalina in the era of the big bands to dance and gamble under the stars. The Casino is still used for big band entertainment today.

The buffalo no longer roam freely on the island.  That's probably better for both the buffalo and human visitors. However, it means that visitors must make a much greater effort to see the buffalo herd.

It's probably not a good idea to get too close to these mamas! Of course, this is the time our car would break down. I didn't really think they would bother us - or would they???

With these youngsters around we were happy when our car finally decided to start! We were pretty happy too!

You couldn't go to Catalina with a better crew than this! Seated: Libby, Jean and Ginnie.
Behind: Suzanne and Liz.
In fact, Libby ended up going to the Cook Islands and sailing to New Zealand with us. How's that for adventure?

What is Gail doing?

What is Jean doing?

Pretty neat, don't you think?

We hiked up to the B&B near the Isthmus and enjoyed the cooling shade!

Is this any way to treat a friend? When we set out on this hike little did we know that we'd be trekking through uncharted land. Fortunately we didn't fall down on this steep hill as it was covered with many large patches of cactus. Look for Gail and her husband, Bob, later during the Polynesian Rendezvous.

Up close these cactus have a beauty of their own.

I'm a sucker for flowers!

This environment doesn't nurture much beauty. So, when you see it, it stands out like a candle in the dark!

This anchorage on the north side of the Twin Harbors is often called the Isthmus

The south side of the isthmus is called Catalina Harbor or "Cat" Harbor.

Square riggers often come and anchor in Cat Harbor. These ships are part of an educational program for inner city kids. In fact, our friend Lindsey (who went to Mexico with us) is second mate on one of these ships - which is why we had such a good sailing strategy sailing down wind on the Quest.