There was more hiking on day two; captured this little panorama as we circled around to the other side of the Island for some great ocean views. No bison were spotted on this trip; just this sign.
This particular hiking trail spilled out into the Wrigley Botanical Gardens. How the heck did I miss this on my first trip?
The Wrigley Memorial honors William Wrigley Jr., best known as the founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world. He also loved Catalina, bringing numerous improvements to it including public utilities, new steamships, a hotel, the Casino building, and extensive plantings of trees, shrubs and flowers. Wrigley was interred for a short time here but is now buried in Glendale. The original dedication plaque remains:
The memorial structure itself was incredible with its design and tile from the Catalina Pottery plant. It was built in 1933-34 by the Chicago architecture firm Bennett, Parsons and Frost. The firm also designed Chicago's Buckingham Fountain.
Later in the afternoon, the fog rolled in for a bit. Needless to say that didn’t hamper my picture taking.
Stay tuned for Part 3 as venture to the Casino.
See more Catalina photos at my main website.
3 comments:
It doesn't take much imagination to picture mainland SoCal once looked like the first shot. Then again, a lot of Orange County was this way when we arrived in 1963. KS
I spent many happy Summer Vacation days on this island as a child in the 1950's. My Dad loved it and so our family would go over on "the big white steamer" just about every Summer. Sometimes just for a day but also we would stay for several days. It had a very Hawaiian Island feel to it back then with hula girls welcoming us with flower lies (no wonder my Dad liked it!!!). Also boys (and perhaps girls too) scuba diving next to the ship as it came in because people threw coins into the water. At night there was a bonfire downtown and sing a-longs.
I remember seeing the 1978 Superman there back in the day. Good memories from recent trips too. Glad you got to see the botanical gardens, they're definitely hidden and once you get there, it's easy to see why. Reminiscent of Joshua Tree more than a traditional botanical garden. I would have loved to see what it looked like with the fountains working but the giant pipes leading up to it seem to have dried up long ago. The last set of steps to the top reminded me a lot of Gozer's temple. It's not hard to see where Aykroyd and Reitman got their influences.
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