Close to 3,500 people live in Catalina with one barber shop, one theater, and as far as I could tell, one Vons. This population swells to around 15,000 in the summer.
Never mind all the cruise passengers that stroll around three times a week.
I realized, as many times as I had been to Catalina for a buffalo burger, I had never been downtown. It was easy to see how one would want to live in this small, but bustling town atmosphere.
You have your beach,
your boats,
your stores,
and tons of restaurants specializing in seafood; Mexican; burgers; and whatever else will fill your plate. Eric’s on the pier was one of the few that cooked buffalo burgers.
In all honesty, recalling all the “burgers” I’ve downed; tofu, beef, veggie, and even tuna,
this was the worst I’d swallowed.
And I swallowed it with difficulty. There is a sign that says “Please keep Avalon clean, don’t feed the birds”. No problem here, nary a bird would touch a crumb from my plate. Maybe because the “crumb” was half the food there. To put it in popular vernacular, it didn’t meet my expectations, it blew them up.
Dinner helped erase the memory meat, and was again excellent. The chef makes very tasty soup, and I found a lovely Chardonnay to balance my meal. It’s Australian named “Promised Land”. I hope I can find in what is left of Canyon Country. What wine pairs with falling ash?
The night burst out with the blues band of Bobby Whavers from New Orleans.
A seven piece juggernaut of jumping blues that had the intimate Romeo and Juliette room rocking. I’m sure we moved the ship, and some, not in the room, thought the sea had come up. Anytime you get the chance to see Bobby Whavers take it. I’ll be heading to Itunes when I get home.
Geoff Edwards is a veteran radio and television broadcaster. He has an Emmy for best talk show host, and an Emmy nomination for best Game Show Host. Besides hosting network game shows, he has appeared as an actor in numerous television shows and movies. In radio, he was top rated in Los Angeles on both KMPC and KFI.
With all of this, Geoff never lost his thirst for travel. He has been cruising since 1969 and has twice cruised around the world. From Morocco, to the Marshall Islands, and even to Branson, Geoff ‘s wit adds a special flavor to his travel commentary. Michael, Geoff’s wife, travels with him and records all on film.
Today, Geoff writes for several national magazines, currently broadcasts a weekly travel report to Monterey’s KION morning show, and does on “location” special travel broadcasts for CRN, the Cable Radio Network.
