Tag Archives: Avalon

November 7, 2012 · 5:45 am

Cruising the West Coast — Santa Catalina Island Part 3


With the sun breaking out in the later afternoon, photographic opportunities returned to Avalon.  The bright colors opened up, and examples of Avalon tile adorning various buildings truly came into their own.

Pictured below you will see lines of golf cart “autoettes” awaiting their owners.  Boldly painted buildings made the landscape pop in color.

And all this occurred just before it was time to tender back onto the Sapphire Princess.

Timing is everything.

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November 5, 2012 · 5:45 am

Cruising the West Coast — Santa Catalina Island Part 2


Today we present more photographs of that picturesque gem off the California Coast known as Catalina Island.

In the early morning we were greeted by almost perfect photographic conditions.  Bright sunlight fell upon the buildings, but dark and ominous clouds filled the background beautifully.  It was a blast taking pictures under these conditions.  Alas, that didn’t hold, and for most of the day the city of Avalon sit beneath a cloud that blocked the sun — a cloud that remained stationary for many, many hours.  Things only improved later in the afternoon, when the sun dipped below the offending solitary cloud and once again lighted the landscape.

The camera used on this excursion was a Canon G1 X.  Post processing was minimal and done in Google’s Picasa from copies of the original JPEGs.

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November 2, 2012 · 12:00 am

Cruising the West Coast — Santa Catalina Island Part 1


This destination has so much to see and do that I’m going to dedicate a three-part series of photographs to it.  This is the town of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

Ursula and I had visited this enchanting little community many years ago with our (then) little ones — Cherry and Tracy.  We arrived on that excursion aboard a ferry from Long Beach, California.  This time we arrived via the Sapphire Princess.

As Avalon Harbor is far too shallow for a cruise ship, we had to tender into this port.  From the pier we then scampered off to the Catalina Casino (which isn’t now and never has been a “casino” in the traditional gambling sense), for we had to meet up with our tour group.  This was to be a rather unique tour, one more suited for nighttime but which we would be taking during the day instead.  It was the Avalon Ghost Tour.  If you can get past all the silly hokum about “ghosts,” “hauntings,” and recent “sightings,” this tour can actually be rather informative in a historic sense, and I recommend it on that basis.

Cars and car ownership are very restricted on Catalina.  Thus, most people (including the locals) get around on mopeds or “autoettes.”  An “autoette” is defined by local ordinance as a gas or electric vehicle less than 55 inches wide, up to 120 inches in length, and weighing under 1,800 pounds.  That pretty much cuts out anything larger than a golf cart or the original British Mini that was in production from 1959 to 2000.  Indeed, those requirements look as if the Mini was what the authors of that ordinance had in mind when they wrote it.  The original Mini was 55 inches wide, 120.2 inches long, and weighed in at between 1,360 and 1,512 pounds.  Coincidental?  Perhaps, but I’m not buying it.

Avalon is also famous for the tiles that were once produced there from local clay from 1927 to 1937.  Finding that original tile is an expensive proposition, but there are stores that carry examples.

You’ll see an example of an Avalon-based Mini below:

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