Yesterday, I posted a view of the LA Basin looking north. Here is a view of Catalina Island taken a little earlier in the same day, looking south. All the smoke and haze normally seen to the north was now seen obscuring the Catalina Channel at lower elevations. Click for a larger view and notice the subtle but pleasant colors in the sky just above the island.
I got a little wanderlust when I saw this photo I took of the two of us on Saturday. We were just on Catalina Island last month and already we want to go back. The overnight windstorm blew most of the marine haze out of the area and left us with this clear view of the island. Click for bigger.
I used the zoom feature on my little Canon A710 IS camera to capture this image of Holly Hill House, about a mile from our balcony at the Hotel Metropole. Read what some other websites are saying about this house below the image.
From Island Life:
The charming Queen Anne style cottage on the bluff over looking Avalon Bay has been a local landmark since 1890. The third oldest house in Avalon, its history mirrors that of the town. The house has always been a private residence, and Vlctor Kreis, the current owner, has restored it and furnished it with turn-of-the-century antiques.
From Silvery.net
The picturesque Holly Hill House is one of the top three or four icons on Santa Catalina Island. It’s perched on one side of the little valley that forms the edges of the City of Avalon. The vintage home is representative of the Queen Anne variant style of classic Victorian architecture. Supposedly, the little turret caught fire and burned, but this was fully restored by the home’s present owner.
From Catalina Images
Built in the late 1800’s almost single handedly by Peter Gano using his horse, “Mercury”, to haul large timbers and lumber. It was to become home for him and his betrothed who lived on the mainland. Her fear of isolation on the island ended their wedding plans and made Peter an embittered man. Legend has it that he posted a sign on his property saying, ” No women allowed”, and lived in the house alone for several years until he sold it and moved back to the mainland. The Queen Anne style of the Holly House is just one very fine example of many of the diverse architectural sights of Avalon.
The next in my series of Hawaiian shirts is this colorful print commemorating Catalina Island. We were married in Avalon and this is one of Bob’s favorites. There are other in Reyn Spooner’s Catalina collection and we plan to get one there when we make our annual pilgrimage to the island for our anniversary this year.
On Catalina Island in Avalon, we rented a little golf cart putt-putt to take a tour up into the hills. After all the trips to Avalon, this is our first time onto the roads behind the city. The roads were narrow and too small for one of the tour vehicles to go, so this was a first for us.
We drove up to the nature center and looked around and then went up past the country club. We saw some of the areas that burned earlier this year when fires raged over much of the island. We also saw parts of the valley where the city of Avalon has expanded.
On one hilltop we stopped to take some pictures of the scenery below. I took this nice panorama from that hilltop. Click the image below for the full-sized scene.
It’s our anniversary week and later today, in our tradition, we’re off on a pilgrimage to the place we got married – the city of Avalon on Catalina Island. We will be crossing the Catalina Channel on the Island Express helicopter, which takes about fifteen minutes. I shot this video last year on the helicopter trip over to the Avalon Heliport.
Our plans are to visit some of our favorite places like the shops on Crescent Avenue and the botanic gardens in the hills behind the town. We plan to do a bit more hiking this time, and will probably climb the hill up to the Chime Tower. We’re looking forward to this trip. We will try and update the blog from the island with some photos and posts about the island.
