Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

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For the term "catalina".

Lane Victory

lane-victory.jpgAt the conclusion of our romantic excursion to Catalina Island, we passed the Lane Victory berth which is next door to the Catalina Terminal in San Pedro. We took a day cruise on the Lane, which is a National Historic Landmark; the cruise left San Pedro and steamed across the Catalina Channel and back. Unfortunately, I lost the photographic record when I had a disk crash. We’ll make it a point to take the cruise again so we can get more pictures. Damsel snapped this photo of the superstructure as we passed the Lane. Click for big.

Wikipedia has this historic account of the Lane Victory:

SS Lane Victory is a Second World War Victory ship which is preserved as a museum ship in the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, California. As a rare surviving Victory ship, it is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

She was named after Lane College, which was established as a high school for black youths in 1882 by Isaac Lane, a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Jackson, Tennessee. The school grew into a prominent liberal arts college.

The Lane Victory was built by the California Shipbuilding Corporation in Los Angeles, California and launched on May 31, 1945. On her first voyage, June 27, 1945, Lane Victory carried supplies in the Pacific. She was operated by the American President Lines.

In 1950 the Lane Victory was used to evacuate Korean civilians and U.N. personnel at Wonsan, North Korea during the Korean War. The ship also saw duty during the Vietnam War. In 1970, she was placed in the reserve fleet. Because of her excellent condition, the Maritime Administration decided to set aside the Lane Victory for preservation.

09 Oct 2008 by California Military Travel

The West Side of the Casino

I took this shot of the famous Catalina Casino from the Descanso Beach side – a side not regularly seen since this is not visible in the town of Avalon. Click for the big picture.

west-side-casino.jpg

02 Oct 2008 by Culture Travel

Avalon Chime Tower

chime-tower.jpgThe Avalon Chime Tower still chimes at fifteen minute intervals from eight o’clock in the morning until eight-thirty in the evening. While the chimes are charming, the tower facility, itself, could use a little tender loving care.

We hiked up to the tower and had an up-close look. The building is missing some roofing tiles although the decorative Catalina tiles look pretty good. The building is cracked in several places, the door on the west side needs repair and the area around the tower is a bit overgrown.

Now, I don’t know how the building gets its financial support nor do I want to take any supporters to task, but it is such a beautiful and historic instrument and it deserves better. From a distance, however, the chime tower is as charming as ever.

I took this photo with my Canon EOS and telephoto lens from the balcony of our hotel room. Click on the thumbnail above for full-size in the viewer.

22 Sep 2008 by California Travel

Looking Back

We had a wonderful three days on Catalina Island. We were married ten years ago in the city park in Avalon and we have gone back on our anniversary for the last five years. We should have started that pilgrimage sooner in that it’s just so much fun. This is a look back at the terminal as we depart Avalon Bay for the mainland.

A look back

Click for big.

14 Sep 2008 by Travel

Wrigley Memorial

We visited the Wrigley Memorial today. What a beautiful place . . .

From the Catalina Island Conservancy Website:

memorial-tower.jpgThe Wrigley Memorial honors the memory of William Wrigley Jr., who lived from 1861 to 1932. Although best known as the founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world, he also played an instrumental role in the history of Santa Catalina Island. He truly loved the island, and with undying enthusiasm and energy, he brought numerous improvements: public utilities, new steamships, a hotel, the Casino building, and extensive plantings of trees, shrubs and flowers. William Wrigley Jr.’s greatest legacy was his remarkable vision and plan for the future of Santa Catalina Island — that it remain protected for all generations to enjoy.

With its commanding view of Avalon Bay, the Wrigley Memorial is the centerpiece of the Botanical Garden. It was built in 1933-34 with the goal of using as much Catalina materials as possible. Quarried Catalina stones can be seen in the reinforced concrete construction — the facade having been sandblasted to hide the cement and highlight the native crushed stones.

The blue flagstone rock on the ramps and terraces comes from Little Harbor, on Catalina’s “back” side. And the red roof tiles and all the colorful handmade glazed tiles used for finishings came from the Catalina Pottery plant, which was in operation from 1927 to 1937. The marble inside the tower was quarried in Georgia.

Damsel liked this photo I took of the tiles in the arch at the top of the tower from inside. Click either photo for a larger view.

wrigley-arch.jpg

12 Sep 2008 by Travel

Wayfarer’s Chapel

wayfarer-catalina.jpgWe’ve blogged about this place before. The son of Frank Lloyd Wright, Lloyd Wright, designed this unique chapel. Located just west of Portuguese Bend, the Chapel has been in continuous operation for many years on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

This is a picture of Catalina Island taken from an area just behind the chapel. We couldn’t go into the chapel while we were there today since there was a wedding in progress. What a great day to get married in this beautiful setting!

Today was an extraordinary day. Temperatures were near 90° F. and the skies were clear. We drove most of the way around Palos Verdes Peninsula before finally returning home for BBQ. It was also Armed Forces Day. We will be posting on that tomorrow sometime.

Click on the image for a full-sized view.

17 May 2008 by Culture Photography

An Exceptionally Clear Day

cityMonday, we had some errands to run, but took the time to drive to Point Vicente via Del Cerro Park on the Palos Verdes peninsula. The scenic views from both places on this exceptional day were breathtaking! After enjoying nearly unlimited visibility and vistas of Santa Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands from the park, we stopped on Crest Road and looked out over the city. We could see the Hollywood Hills and the San Gabriel Mountains across the L.A. Basin. I took this image looking directly north from Crest Road.

Malibu across the bayNext, we drove to the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. From the west pathway, you can always enjoy overlooking the ocean, but seldom see the Malibu Mountains as clearly across the Santa Monica Bay. The ocean swells were in pretty good shape as well, sending foam into the air as wave after wave crashed into the rocks along the coastline. The view was beautiful and hypnotic – I could stand here for hours. But, there’s more stuff to see and more pictures to take.

Point Vicente LighthouseAs always, I took lots of pictures. Many of the shots I took yesterday were of the Point Vicente Lighthouse. This day, however, the Image of Catalina Island can be seen crisply in the background. A weak marine haze is still there, but at very low density. The lighthouse is managed by the U.S. Coast Guard. On station with the lighthouse, there is a foghorn; it was funny that they were sounding it when the visibility was over fifty miles. Every minute or so, the horn would sound a two or three second blast.

Whale WatchersStanding on the pathway near the lighthouse, you can look back toward the visitor center where whale watchers look out to see the Pacific Grey Whales as they migrate; the whales range between Baja California in Mexico all the way north to the subarctic seas near Alaska. We didn’t see any whales today, but we’ve seen them spouting a couple of times. On the pathway leading into the visitor’s center there is a plaque that reads “Gray whales have only two natural enemies: Orca (Killer Whales) and men.”

You can click on any of the images above to see full-sized in the image viewer.

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery on a nice, balmy winter day on the peninsula. However, before the viewers of these beautiful images decide to head to California, they should keep this in mind – we’re long, long overdue for our next major seismic event.

07 Feb 2008 by California Photography

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