The Island Chewing Gum Built

Last weekend, my trusty travel buddy, Beck, and I kicked off our shoes and hung our hat on the beautiful Santa Catalina Island. I have visited the island before but this trip, I learned much and saw areas that I hadn't before. We took a scenic 10 mile bike ride from the top of the mountain down into Avalon. Here are some fun facts that I learned about Catalina:

🚵 The first people who lived on the island were American Indians named "Tongva".

🚵 In 1919, William Wrigley, Jr. bought the island. Yes, that Wrigley. As in Wrigley gum. Wrigley field. He also owned the Chicago Cubs and the team used the island for spring training. We spent some time in the local shops and you know what? They sell Wrigley gum, Juicy Fruit and Spearmint.

🚵 Buffalo inhabit the island. They were brought over in order to realize their true calling as movie extras in the 1924 film, "The Vanishing American" and the crew left them there to live out their days and procreate at will.

🚵 In fact, the island is often used for filming. Other films that shot on and around the island are, "Jaws", "The Hunt For Red October", and "The Amistad"

🚵 During WWII tourism came to a halt and threatened the economy. To save it, the island was used for military purposes where they trained special forces soldiers and Frogmen.

🚵 Marilyn Monroe lived on the island twice. First as a 15 year old and then again after she was married.

And now, enjoy some great shots I got along the bike tour ride.

 They are hard to see, but there is a whole herd of buffalo on this hill.

 Standing in front off and far away from the buffalo.

 The island had incredible scenery. It was such a great day out. Our tour guide, Randy drove us up the mountain and dropped us off at the airport.

 Super old plane at the airport that we started our bike ride at.

 Randy was full of great information and anecdotes about the island. The above picture I took at a location that the locals refer to as The Wall. Like The Wall of China. Personally, I think the green rolling hills are reminiscent of Scotland.

 There were some challenging areas on our ride but we made it look so easy.

Beck told me to point, so I did.

 Ugh! How beautiful is this little river. It was one of my favorite points.

 There were wild flowers all over the mountain. Supposedly, there are foxes. Foxes that are the smallest in the world. Randy said your average house cat is bigger than the local foxes. I looked and looked but never saw one. I'm starting to think it was a Snipe hunt.

 The harbor from above.

 The building through the trees is the casino.

 This is the Holly Hill House. According to Randy, the builder of the home, Peter Gano, originally called it "Look Out Cottage". He built the home for his fiancé but then she decided that she didn't want to live on the island so she left him and it broke poor Peter's heart leading him to post a "No Women Allowed" sign on the property. 

 I never get sick of Palm Trees.

I haven't properly given Randy his due. He was such a great driver. He is the kind of person you want showing you around. He grew up on the island and when he talks about it's history he has that passion that locals can't help but exude when they talk about their home. 

He was a little rough around the edges and said things like, "My wife is a deer hunter" and "My granddaughter cussed when she was 8 years old and I was so impressed that she had the infliction of the words right!" She successfully pronounced Mother F------r and filled her grandfather with pride.

Another quick fact, Catalina is where the Girl Scouts first camped and still have a ground that is visited throughout the year but troops. The Boy Scouts also take advantage of the grounds.

Other fun things Beck and I did were shopping, eating yummy local food, getting ice cream and discussing the possibility of us owning a boat.

Susan "Land Ho!" B.