Day 15 - Monday, Sept 17 - On Catalina Island
A huge cruise ship, the Carnival Imagination (max 2600 passengers), is anchored out in the harbor and "tenders" are running back and forth to bring people to shore so I expect it will be pretty crowded in town.
We had breakfast on the rooftop deck of our hotel looking out over the harbor - very pleasant. A seagull was sitting on a post just a few feet away hoping that we would give him something or be distracted so he could help himself.
The human history of Cataina Island goes back about 10,000 years to Native Americans who lived here and fished in the abundant waters. They discovered soapstone on the island which they quarried to make into utensils and other items for their own use and to trade for other goods from coastal tribes. Their population was decimated by the introduction of European diseases in the 16th and 17th centuries and in the late 18th century, the Spanish missions on the coast removed all the remaining Native Americans to be educated and civilized on the mainland.
In the late 1800s the island was allegedly traded by the Spanish land grant holder to an American for a "horse and a saddle". It went through a number of owners who suffered difficulties ending with the fire in 1915 that destroyed most of the main city of Avalon. It was purchased in 1919 by William Wrigley, gum and Chicago baseball magnate, who then owed 99% of the property except some pieces privately sold previously. In the 1970s, his family donated 88% to the Catalina Nature Conservancy, with 11% remaining with the Catalina Island Company (his company).
In the morning, we walked downtown and bought tickets for the Skyline bus tour which goes through the countryside to the skytop airport, an historic airport at one of the highest points. The view is quite spectacular with deep valleys plunging down to the deep blue ocean. The road is lined with Eucalyptus trees which help to hold the road in place! The Eucalyptus trees were imported from Australia because they are incredibly drought resistant, are good for lumber, hold the earth and provide shade. Almost all the other vegetation is turning brown, including the drought-resistant native Scrub Oak. We saw a number of bison - they were introduced for a movie in 1920 and were so popular as a tourist attraction that more were brought in. Unfortunately, the were too successful in reproducing and the Nature Conservancy at great expense, shipped the excess to a Lakota tribe in South Dakota. The bison are now injected with a contraceptive developed for humans but it was only 90% effective for humans, not god enough.
There are also many native foxes, although we didn't see any - there are signs asking people not to fed the foxes, so they must be fairly tame.
When we came back, we went to the Catalina Island Museum which highlighted the history of famous people and movie production on the island. Before she was famous, Marilyn Monroe lived here with her husband while he was in the Merchant Marine during the 2nd world war. Many movies have been made here and stars like Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Clark Gable and others.
Last night we went to see the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" - the main reason being that we wanted to see the inside of the Art Deco movie theater in the Avalon Casino. It is elaborately decorated with historic scenes on the inside and "stars" twinkle in the ceiling. Above is a huge dance floor that at one time was the largest open dance floor in the world. W. Wrigley had the Casino built in the 1920s, costing $2,000,000. The Casino was never used for gambling - the word "casino" means "meeting place".
Enough for one day!
We had breakfast on the rooftop deck of our hotel looking out over the harbor - very pleasant. A seagull was sitting on a post just a few feet away hoping that we would give him something or be distracted so he could help himself.
The human history of Cataina Island goes back about 10,000 years to Native Americans who lived here and fished in the abundant waters. They discovered soapstone on the island which they quarried to make into utensils and other items for their own use and to trade for other goods from coastal tribes. Their population was decimated by the introduction of European diseases in the 16th and 17th centuries and in the late 18th century, the Spanish missions on the coast removed all the remaining Native Americans to be educated and civilized on the mainland.
In the late 1800s the island was allegedly traded by the Spanish land grant holder to an American for a "horse and a saddle". It went through a number of owners who suffered difficulties ending with the fire in 1915 that destroyed most of the main city of Avalon. It was purchased in 1919 by William Wrigley, gum and Chicago baseball magnate, who then owed 99% of the property except some pieces privately sold previously. In the 1970s, his family donated 88% to the Catalina Nature Conservancy, with 11% remaining with the Catalina Island Company (his company).
In the morning, we walked downtown and bought tickets for the Skyline bus tour which goes through the countryside to the skytop airport, an historic airport at one of the highest points. The view is quite spectacular with deep valleys plunging down to the deep blue ocean. The road is lined with Eucalyptus trees which help to hold the road in place! The Eucalyptus trees were imported from Australia because they are incredibly drought resistant, are good for lumber, hold the earth and provide shade. Almost all the other vegetation is turning brown, including the drought-resistant native Scrub Oak. We saw a number of bison - they were introduced for a movie in 1920 and were so popular as a tourist attraction that more were brought in. Unfortunately, the were too successful in reproducing and the Nature Conservancy at great expense, shipped the excess to a Lakota tribe in South Dakota. The bison are now injected with a contraceptive developed for humans but it was only 90% effective for humans, not god enough.
There are also many native foxes, although we didn't see any - there are signs asking people not to fed the foxes, so they must be fairly tame.
When we came back, we went to the Catalina Island Museum which highlighted the history of famous people and movie production on the island. Before she was famous, Marilyn Monroe lived here with her husband while he was in the Merchant Marine during the 2nd world war. Many movies have been made here and stars like Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Clark Gable and others.
Last night we went to see the movie "Crazy Rich Asians" - the main reason being that we wanted to see the inside of the Art Deco movie theater in the Avalon Casino. It is elaborately decorated with historic scenes on the inside and "stars" twinkle in the ceiling. Above is a huge dance floor that at one time was the largest open dance floor in the world. W. Wrigley had the Casino built in the 1920s, costing $2,000,000. The Casino was never used for gambling - the word "casino" means "meeting place".
Enough for one day!
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| Day 15 map |
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| Avalon |
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| Avalon Harbor |
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