Category Archives: travel

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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October 29, 2012 · 12:00 am

Cruising the West Coast — Santa Barbara by the Sea


Well, we’ve looked at Mission Santa Barbara.  We’ve seen Santa Barbara from atop the exquisite Santa Barbara Courthouse.  But, how does Santa Barbara look along the shore?

There are some fun things to see along this stretch of beach: piers loaded with restaurants, yachts plying the waters, volleyball players enjoying the sun, and many more examples of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture.

But one of the neatest sights (if you’re old enough to remember them) is both the first and the last remaining Sambo’s family restuarant in the nation — still at its original location at 216 W. Cabrillo Blvd. right across from the beach.  At their peak, Sambo’s had restaurants in 47 states across the U.S.  Today, they’re down to the original one from 1957.  We were going to drop in after our tour of Santa Barbara and before reboarding the Sapphire Princess but, alas, they had closed for the day at a ridiculously early 2:00 P.M.  So, unfortunately, there will be no pictures of the kitschy interior, the bejeweled and turban-clad Indian boy Sambo, and that cutesy tiger.

On Wednesday we’re going to postpone the remainder of our West Coast cruise for something special — a Halloween Tale of Terror from yours truly.  We’ll pick up again on the West Coast with Catalina Island on Friday.

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