Guest Travel Blog - Catalina Island, The Ultimate Beach Town, USA - by Shinazy

Today I am welcoming Guest Blogger Shinazy from the blog www.BOBBblog.com.

She has kindly agreed to share with you her travels to Catalina Island, off the West Coast of America.

Welcome Shinazy

Catalina Island - Ultimate Beach Town Ó

On Catalina Island with Shinazy of BOBBblog.com

There’s a feel to Beach Towns.  I live on the San Francisco peninsula, where I try to live as if I were in a beach town - this takes effort.  Living in a beach town you just connect with other people – that’s simply how you live life.

I’m on Catalina Island, the 26 miles across the sea Santa Catalina Island.  I’m here with my sister and brother; we’re on our Third Annual Sibling Reunion.  We arrived yesterday afternoon from Long Beach, after staying on the Queen Mary.  Once you leave the Catalina ferry dock, you can sense you are in a Beach Town. 

We asked the cab driver where he eats when going out and he recommended the Buffalo Nickel.  Our GPS showed it was near to our condo, when actually it was a 20-plus-minute-up-the-hill-no-sidewalk trek.  And, of course, we go lost.  We stopped a man named Campos and asked for directions.  He told us the Buffalo Nickel has a shuttle, he then called them; and told us to wait by the two palm trees.  A few minutes later, a van arrived.  This pick-up service is offered to everyone and when your meal is over; someone in the kitchen will drive you home.  Would this happen in your downtown?  Not mine, but remember this is a Beach Town.

The next morning, while walking to the Zip Line, I stopped a man driving a golf cart, carts are the major mode of transportation on the island, and I asked the man if we could pay him to drive us to the Zip Line.  “No problem, hop in.” and off we went.  It was his day off, he was driving to the store, and although the zip line was out of his way . . . well, this is what folks do in a Beach Town, they do favors for each other and for strangers.  Folks do this without thinking about pay back.

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Wherever you are, you can make that place a Beach Town.  But How?  Well, talk to the person behind you while you stand in line.  Chat with the store clerk about something other than what you intend to buy.  Hold open the door for the person entering or exiting.  Offer to take the vacationing couple's picture.  Try talking to folks you just met  . . . You will be surprised how open people are and how much joy you will get from the conversations.  You, too, can live life in a Beach Town.

Thanks Shinazy for a great blog feature. I love your thoughts on how to make a place a Beach Town. Thanks for sharing.

Books based on Catalina Island

Title - Terminal Island
Author - Walter Greatshell
Available from Amazon - Click here and many other leading booksellers.

Blurb from Amazon -
As a child, Henry Cadmus lived on Catalina Island, a scenic vacationland off the Southern California coast. But Henry's experiences were far from idyllic. Today, even though Henry has seen firsthand the horrors of war, the ghastly images that haunt his dreams are ones he associates with his childhood... and the island: a snarling pig-man holding a cleaver; a jackal-headed woman on a high balcony, dripping blood; strange occult rituals... and worse. If it was up to Henry, he would avoid the island entirely.

But Henry is returning to Catalina Island. At his wife Ruby's insistence, Henry, Ruby, and their infant daughter are coming to Avalon, so that Henry can face his fears, exorcise his demons, and reconcile with the one he dreads most... his mother.

From Walter Greatshell, author of Xombies comes Terminal Island, a novel of cosmic horror.

Title - Wild Catalina Island
Author - Frank J Hein & Carlos de La Rossa
Available from Amazon - Click here and other leading booksellers
Published - 22nd March 2013

Blurb from Amazon -

A year-round escape for one million annual tourists, Catalina Island is gaining popularity as a world-class eco-destination. Eighty-eight percent of the island is under the watch of the Catalina Island Conservancy, which preserves, manages and restores the island's unique wild lands. Bison, foxes and bald eagles are its best-known inhabitants, but Catalina is home to more than sixty other animal and plant species that exist nowhere else on earth. And they are all within the boundaries of one of the world's most populous regions: Los Angeles County. Biologists Frank Hein and Carlos de la Rosa present a highly enjoyable tour through the fascinating origins, mysterious quirks and ecological victories of one of the West Coast's most remarkable places.

 

Title - Hollywood Isle Catalina Island Picture book
Author - Greg Reitman
To view or purchase - click here




For more information on this island, please visit the tourist information site for Catalina Island. Please click here

 

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