Catching up with 2018: Catalina (Funicular!) ~ Wednesday, May 01, 2019

A somewhat delayed post. I've been busy!

Last November, Sue and I took a trip to Catalina Island.

About 100 years ago, Catalina had a funicular called the Island Mountain Railway. (Actually, a double funicular with one line up from Avalon, and another down to an otherwise-inaccessible beach).

From Wikipedia

Making a golf-cart tour of Avalon and its surrounds, we found the location of the top station and some remains of the railway.

View from the road.

The inclined right-of-way.

Rails.

Funicular car!

We stayed at a B&B called The Old Turner Inn. The owner is a multi-generational local who told us her grandmother had ridden the funicular up to have tea at the top station.

Another point of archaeological interest is the remains of Bird Park, a former aviary, now apparently a daycare center.

The botanical gardens and Wrigley memorial are also worth a visit:

A few items of interest from a local historical museum:

The old phone exchange.

An earlier generation of island ferry.

And I'll round out this post with a picture of a house I'm pretty sure is built out of the cabins of one or more old ships: