Twenty- two miles as the gull flies from Long Beach sits Catalina Island, you arrive in the very small town of Avalon. In some ways it feels as if you are half a globe away and lets say Crete. That sun just has the Med lighting and ferry hustle; the donkey-fueled dung smell is missing and replaced with fumes from golf carts. Avalon has the same bay curved sitting found in Greek Islands.
Some may say I’m making a big push but pictures don’t lie and I held one of Avalon next to a Greek photo, bingo! Okay fantasy stops when you pay for your first beer and the price is about the same as gassing up, but the way shops are laid out have a similar feel. Here is the big one, when you ferry out of Athens there is a certain uplift that you get ferrying out of LA, relief.
While the island can get super cruise shipped out, when the tenders remove the bands of cruise ship bodies all goes well. You can hear the island breathe. The pace slows and laughter becomes a relaxed one. If you want to continue with that Med feel get a room at Villa Portofino, the dinner I had fit the program. After dinner stroll the town and listen to the water lap the beach. You’ll be ready for the battle for your own star on an LA sidewalk after. Two nights and an Oscar could follow.
