California's Golden Girl

Who knew that just 26 miles offshore from Los Angeles, this jewel box of an island was a silent-movie set, a playground for stars during the Golden Age of Hollywood, a spring training camp for the Chicago Cubs, and an insider getaway for more than a century? Meet the sweet surprise of Santa Catalina Island

- Trisha Cole,Karyn Millet

Santa Catalina Island's Avalon Bay

“It’s here!” one of us kids would shout, abandoning our sandcastles and running to greet the Catalina Express boats coming into Avalon from either Long Beach, San Pedro, or Dana Point. Every summer our family and two others would descend on the fourth-generation Brown family’s house for “Girls’ Week.” Moms and kids would come over Monday morning, and the dads would join us all on Friday.

The author's favorite painted bench

Each day our Little Rascals–like posse would race with our red wagon from the beach to the boat dock to meet arriving passengers. This was long before there were golf carts used for transportation on the island; we’d ferry as much luggage as we could to hotels and rental houses until we had enough tip money to cover that night’s arcade games and ice cream.

Pedestrian walkways

There was an innocence to those 1970s summer days and nights, and somehow Santa Catalina Island feels as magical now when I visit as it did then. From the brightly colored locally made Catalina tiles on storefronts and fountains to the original Spanish arches and pedestrian thoroughfares, little has changed since the island began a journey toward development begun in the late 19th century that blossomed with its third visionary: William Wrigley Jr. The chewing gum magnate took ownership of the already established Santa Catalina Island Company in 1919 and with his desire to create “a playground for all,” he began building hotels and attractions immediately.