As you might guess from the title, Gary and I have been to Santa Catalina Island in the town of Avalon. But, before I tell about our trip, I want to take you on a trip in the WayBack Machine, back to 1969 and 1970. I was just minding my own teacher business, probably doing lesson plans or correcting papers when a friend, Deb, called and asked if I wanted to work on Catalina Island for the summer. Well, that certainly wasn’t on my bucket list and the only thing I knew about it was that it was 26 miles from the mainland. Not a lot to base a decision on. But she had done her homework, had found that there was a Girl Scout Camp on the Island that was in need of some counselors, what the dates were, etc. The more she talked, the more I realized that I didn’t have any other plans and we began to look more into the opportunity.
And, thus in the summers of 1969 and 1970 we traveled out to Catalina Island (once we drove all the way and once we drove to Iowa where my parents were and flew to Catalina from there. It was a long trip and took a long time. 2986 miles and how many times can you count license places from different states?) But, we found Catalina and had 2 great summers at White’s Landing, a cove about 5 miles from Avalon, the main town on Catalina (really, the only town on Catalina). At that time the island of Catalina was owned by the Wrigley family (who knew that gum could buy you an island?) and they closely managed the growth of Avalon. There was only one road out of Avalon through the island to the other end and you had to go through the gate with a special pass to drive on this road. It was not in the best of shape and, since Catalina, is a desert island, if filled with canyons, mountains and the road dipped into the canyons and soared up to the mountains - with lots of switchbacks in between.
The camp was in an out-of-the-way place on an out-of-the way island. The only 2 ways to get to White’s Landing is via the ferry which ran from Avalon, at one end of the island, to Two Harbors, at the other end, or by the camp van which journeyed into town each day for supplies. Every now and then we’d get some time off and we’d take the trip into town either by boat or by the van. By the way, our phone # was 3F13. I told my mother that she could call me at that number and she had serious doubts about this trip. But, I’ve got fond memories of Avalon and my time spent on Catalina and have wanted to get back.
Here’s a map of the island showing where White’s Landing is in relation to Avalon. The road between the two is in red part of the way and yellow, green and red for the rest. The road from the camp at White’s Landing is not shown since it is not a public road but believe me, it was dirt, rutted and had lots of switchbacks. No wonder we didn’t make it into town too often. The road first had to wind its way from the shoreline up to the ridge line via many switchbacks. Lots of switchbacks. Then it wended its way across the cliffs towards Avalon and then begin the long descent into Avalon via many more switchbacks. A long trip if I remember correctly.
So, Gary and I planned a trip to Avalon on Wednesday which looked like the last day above 70 degrees and sunny for a while. We awoke early on Wed. morning, had breakfast, packed and drove through a dense fog to Dana Point, CA
where we boarded a ferry to Catalina Island. Glassy seas and, for these two landlubbers, who took Dramamine prior to the trip, it was lovely.
It was a bit foggy out on the ocean but we did see these dolphins jumping in the wake of the ferry.
Then Catalina came into view,
with its iconic Casino on the east,
we landed and wheeled our bags to our hotel, right on the bay with an ‘ocean view’ - not from our room, natch, but from the patio where we ate breakfast. Here I am, eating a delicious scone.
You know, Avalon hadn’t changed since I was here in 1970. It’s still a tourist town with lots of restaurants and hotels and souvenir shops. Since there was a cruise ship in port, and several ferries from the mainland had just landed, the town was bustling. Lots of people wandering around, eating, drinking and visiting the shoppes. Interestingly, one of the guys on our ferry, got off the boat and asked, ‘Now, what do we do here?’ (He’s just spent $140 for the ferry tickets for himself and his wife and he wants to know what to do?)
Our tickets came via a ‘deal’ I found online when I got to the ferry website. Room and transportation for one low fee. Actually, it was a good deal and saved us a bundle. We checked in, walked outside and searched for a quick bite to eat before our tour. When Deb and I worked on the island, we didn’t get to know the island very well. We knew White’s Landing camp and that was about that. We were plenty busy and trips into and out of town were rare. Tours of the island were nonexistent back then. Today there are several tours available and we signed up for 3-hour tour into the island though the Catalina Conservancy which is the non-profit which manages/owns 88% of the island.
The town of Avalon has around 4000 residents but the town can swell to 22,000 on a beautiful sunny day weekend in the Summer. Today, there were far fewer.
After we checked into our hotel, we strolled around looking for lunch and found food - in every direction, in every variety. Hamburgs over to the left, burritos to the left, Italian in front, ice cream on every corner and fish everywhere you look. Unfortunately, I do not like anything that swims in water to eat and we gave up on meat a long time ago. But still find ourselves drooling when we walk through campgrounds in the evening and others are grilling meat and we have only Morningstar Farms back in our RV. However, today we are on vacation, the rules can be bent and we can satisfy our powerful hankering for hamburgers. We followed the swirling aroma of grilled beef from a nearby restaurant, ordered and found a seat at the patio. Delicious. Sin today and repent tomorrow.
In the movie ‘Mozart’ Emperor Joseph told Mozart that he had too many notes in his ‘Marriage of Figaro’. Dumbfounded, Mozart told him that there were just as many notes as were required. To this the Emperor replied that there were just so many notes that the ear could hear in an evening.
I have been told that I have too many words. So, here I’ll give all of us a break off and tell the rest of our day in another blog.
And, now it’s off to our tour with the Catalina Conservancy
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