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This dog is just having a stressful afternoon waiting for patrons on
Catalina’s mini-golf course. Sometimes he has a pal lying up there
with him, and they get loads of attention. Just another day in paradise!

People seem to have a penchant for the whimsical here on Catalina
Island. I spotted this a few blocks from the ocean in front of
someone’s house. I love the cat’s matching fishtail!

The mermaid mystique is alive and represented here, as you can see by
this lady, though her lower half looks more feather-like than scaly.
Or perhaps this is not it at all. Perhaps she is meant for the prow
of a ship. What strikes me about this place is the hand-painted
nature of things everywhere. I will continue to document this and post.

Well, it’s actually Hotel St. Lauren, as you can see on the entry, but it’s the most striking hotel here. I thought the architecture would look lovely in Monrovia. Perhaps some developer will see this and get inspired. I know that Monrovia has some plans for hotels in its future!

One of the reasons I love Monrovia is that it has a small town
ambiance about it. The only thing it is really lacking is the ocean.
Today I am blogging from Avalon, the by-the-sea small town on
Catalina Island. Of course, on my first day, I had to have ice cream.
Thankfully, they didn’t make my serving this large.

This beauty stopped me in my tracks. I love the detailing around the
twin window sets, the striping on the posts, the reds accented here
and there. Someone did it right!!

I spotted this gutted home just north of Foothill. I wish I could
remember what the original house looked like. You can see that there
is brick just underneath the flagsone. Which looks better? I just
hope that they don’t build something with vinyl windows. There is a
house up the street from me that was a cute (but small) wooden
affair, and they took it down to studs and put up a quite large and
somewhat generic home in its place. The siding is not wood, and the
window frames aren’t either. I call these toxic houses. I suppose
that p.o.v. might bother some builders, but I’m a plastic-phobe. I’m
keeping my fingers crossed on this one.

I spotted this beauty whilst exploring the neighborhood; I was
surprised to learn that the lovely front porch is an add-on. It looks
small from the front but is quite large inside. I know because it’s
for sale!

In my travels around the neighborhood I’ve noticed that certain
Monrovians have a thing for lawn jockeys. This one has an especially
exalted position right in front of the house. Notice too, that he is
freshly painted and with his lantern can guide visitors in the dark.
Woo hoo!

Kudos to Monrovia coffee company for offering a wireless hotspot to
patrons….

It’s nice to see Monrovia’s independent coffeehouses taking up the
call to free internet access (see yellow signs)! It’s certainly a
nice thing to offer people. Bravo.

I don’t know why, but I have a thing for barber shops. They make me
happy. One time I tried to go in and talk the barber into cutting my
hair, but he just smiled a little ruefully and shook his head. “I’m
sorry, but we only have male customers here.” So old-fashioned, but I
didn’t mind that much. It feels very quaint and reassuring to me
somehow. This is one of two barbershops I know of in the Old Town
area of Monrovia. Looks as if this one allows women!

How inviting is this little driveway with the purple “carpet”?

I don’t have the official word on this building transformation yet,
but rumor has it that this former empty shell of a building on
Foothill will soon become some sort of market–perhaps like a cross
between a Trader Joe’s and an ethnic foods store. The photo doesn’t
show it clearly, but on the smaller gabled roofs there is a rooster
(on the right), a sun, and on the left garden implements, which makes
me wonder if there won’t be some gardening stuff sold as well. Love
the brick!