Saturday, May 31, 2008

Dreams of Avalon




Amy and I have been talking about spending a three-day weekend in Catalina for longer than we've been married. This past Memorial Day Weekend, we finally went.

Avalon reminded me somewhat of my youthful days in Seaside, Oregon. It had that saltwater tang in the air, without the admixture of pollution common to the California coastline. It's definitely touristy, with the downtown area crowded with tchotchke shops and bars, the latter serving folks who come over to spend a weekend drinking in a town where everything is so close there's no need to drive.

It was grey and rainy for large portions of Saturday and Sunday, with the sun coming out only in the afternoon. But Memorial Day itself was bright and sunny, showing off the town and bay to its best advantage.

Highlights included dinner at Armstrong Seafood, right on the edge of the water, with the fish in the bay swimming up to watch us feast on their broiled brethren; watching the latest "Chronicles of Narnia" movie (which was essentially mounted as a "Guns of Navarrone" war movie -- the Pevensie kids essentially left war-torn Britain for war-torn Narnia) in the gorgeous art-deco theater in the Casino building; a submarine ride in the bay, during which fish blackened the portholes with their numbers (they know the submarine means food); and some relaxation by the bay.

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