Twenty-six miles across the sea
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me,
Santa Catalina, the island of romance…
("26 Miles" – The 4 Preps – 1957, Songwriter(s): Bruce Belland, Glen Larson)

I exist because of a romance on Santa Catalina. My parents met on a water taxi in route to the island. My mother was with her teaching chums. Dad was with pals from his high school days. Most of them were military veterans anticipating a weekend of fun after the island reopened to the public. The two groups spent their time together, dancing and watching movies.

During World War II, Catalina had been transformed into a strategic coastal military fort and training camp within weeks of the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the war ended, the island regained its popularity for hunting and Boy Scout camping as well as its draw for tourists who wanted to swim, fish and party.

Santa Catalina rises from the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, as one of California's Channel Islands, and peaks at 2,000 feet on Mount Orizaba. It measures 75 square miles and has two main settlements: Two Harbors in the north, founded by pleasure boaters, and Avalon in the south.

People lived and gathered shellfish on Catalina Island for thousands of years, from Native Americans to Spanish explorers. Mexican Governor Pio Pico granted the island to a rancher. Goats were imported in the early 1800s and wild pigs in the 1930s. Both enticed many hunters to visit but interfered greatly with the local flora and fauna. Later owners appreciated its tourist potential. One entrepreneur's wife changed their city's name to "Avalon" after a mythical place in Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" about King Arthur and his sword Excalibur.

William Wrigley, Jr., the chewing gum magnate, was captivated by Catalina's charms. In 1919, he bought most of the island property and spent his life expanding Avalon into a tourist mecca. A former meeting hall was razed to build the Catalina Casino, Italian for "gathering place." The circular art deco extravaganza opened in 1929, not as a gambling palace, but with the world's largest ballroom on the upper floor, and a huge movie theater downstairs, the first designed for "talking pictures."

Avalon is unique in other ways. Golf carts have been the main mode of transportation in town. Lovers Cove, aptly named for the isle of romance, is the gateway to an underwater kelp forest teeming with dozens of species of fish and sea creatures. Glass-bottom boats float over this fantasy garden from the Avalon harbor into the ocean waters surrounding the island.

My brothers and I have teenage memories of diving there. Snorkeling is popular today, but scuba allows continuous uninterrupted viewing since there is no need to come up for air. The tangled kelp is home to sea stars, cucumbers, urchins, octopuses and small sharks. Most striking are the Garibaldi, formerly known as Catalina Goldfish, which are a vivid traffic cone red/orange. The males aggressively defend their nests, and the fish were named after the Italian revolutionary leader Giuseppe Garibaldi whose followers wore bright red shirts rather than military uniforms.

Celebrities once flew to the island on seaplanes. Following their example, I jumped at the chance to fly in a World War II Goose with the propellers and wings above the fuselage to visit the University of Southern California marine study center. My traveling companion was a former Army pilot who pointed out various safety hazards during the flight. The truly scary part for me was when the pilot cut the engines to land in the water. The plane began to sink, and the water level rose outside the windows. Finally, after some sputtering, the engines started, and the plane rolled up a ramp onto dry land.

The romance of Hollywood also lives on in a small herd of American bison that roams Catalina, descendants of animals brought to provide ambience for a 1924 movie.

My last Santa Catalina remembrance is of a honeymoon somewhat lacking in romantic touches. In the days before "farm to fork" everything on the island was shipped in from Los Angeles in non-perishable containers. The island's premier Mexican restaurant served tamales, corn and beans fresh from the can. This memorable meal was followed by a hotel stay in a room furnished with classic 1950s sitcom furniture—twin beds.

~ Marcia Ehinger