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Brightly colored flowering flowing
bougainvillea drape over the sides of homes while pungent honeysuckle and
inviting hibiscus line their walkways. Freshly cut lawns evoke memories of
childhood, playing soccer on the grass some Sunday afternoon or running
through sprinklers on a hot summer’s day. It is a veritable paradise.
The main street running along the
harbor (Crescent Ave), is an excellent place to people watch, enjoy a
smoothie, read a good book, or shop along many of the waterfront facing
shops.
If you get the chance be sure to
walk along Crescent Ave out to the Casino. This is about a 1/4 mile walk
from the pier to the Casino. There are some excellent sunset or sunrise
shots along this walk in the early morning or early evening.
Expect to pay much higher prices
on the island versus mainland. Food, lodging, and other supplies are much
higher priced than the main land. Dave found that the highest priced items
compared to the main land were gear rentals, such as dive, snorkeling,
kayaks and other water sports related gear.
A great memento from your stay on
Catalina is a Von’s Club card. There are two Von’s on the island to
serve your shopping needs. There is a Von’s Express (a small Vons) on
lower Catalina Ave and a larger Vons one street over. These two locations
are the best places to stock up on groceries. The Von’s sandwich, while
small, yet still filling, is a cost of only $4 or $5 dollars! Several lunches on Von’s sandwiches will allow you to save those extra few dollars for that
tequila later in the evening.
Sunbathing seems to be a popular
pastime on the area’s beaches. Often during the busy times, people will
get up very early and lay their days sunning gear on a towel on the beach.
The idea behind this is that during the day the beaches fill up with
people, so they are saving a space to come back to later in the day.
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Sometimes you may see people
sweeping the beach with brooms. This was the first time I had ever seen
anyone sweep a beach with a broom, so I had to find out what was going on.
Apparently the garbage collectors think that a broom is the best way to
collect dried seaweed and other debris from the beaches of Avalon.
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