The La Brea Tar Pits, just outside the downtown area, is one of the world's most important paleontological sites. Santa Catalina is one of the largest of the Channel Islands.
March 18, 2006 (Press Release) --
La Brea Tar Pits
The La Brea Tar Pits, just outside the downtown area, is one of the world's most important paleontological sites. These bubbling pits have trapped thousands of plants and animals over the last 40,000 years, and fossils of all sorts of prehistoric beasts are still being uncovered. You can see excavations in action at an observation pit, and the Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries displays many of the fossils pulled from the pits, including saber-tooth cats and an enormous dire wolf.
Santa Catalina Island
Discovered by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, Santa Catalina (known simply as Catalina) is one of the largest of the Channel Islands, a chain of semi-submerged mountains between Santa Barbara and San Diego. Most of the island has been privately owned since 1811, when the Native American population was shipped off to the mainland. Tourists have been sailing in since the 1930s, but the privately owned areas remained largely untouched until 1975, when they were bought out by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy. The island is now preserved against development, and its unique ecosystem, with 400 plant species (eight of which are endemic), 100 species of birds and numerous animals (including wild American bison), is protected by law.
Avalon is the only town on Santa Catalina. It's dominated by the white Spanish-Moderne Casino, built by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley Jr in 1929, when he owned the island. The casino is no longer open for gambling, but it does have a grand ballroom (Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller both played here), a huge theater, the Catalina Island Museum and an art gallery. Other highlights of the town include the Chimes Tower, which is covered in inlaid tiles; the old Wrigley Mansion, now a hotel; and the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens.
Most visitors to Santa Catalina come for the fantastic watersports, including diving, snorkeling, sea kayaking, ocean rafting and sailing. There's also some great hiking, horseback riding and bicycling trails. Catalina has plenty of hotels and resorts, as well as four campgrounds, but most are fairly expensive. You can get to Catalina on one of the regular cruises from Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo Beach or Newport Beach, or you can take a (very pricey) helicopter from Queen Mary Seaport.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
The La Brea Tar Pits, just outside the downtown area, is one of the world's most important paleontological sites. These bubbling pits have trapped thousands of plants and animals over the last 40,000 years, and fossils of all sorts of prehistoric beasts are still being uncovered. You can see excavations in action at an observation pit, and the Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries displays many of the fossils pulled from the pits, including saber-tooth cats and an enormous dire wolf.
Santa Catalina Island
Discovered by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, Santa Catalina (known simply as Catalina) is one of the largest of the Channel Islands, a chain of semi-submerged mountains between Santa Barbara and San Diego. Most of the island has been privately owned since 1811, when the Native American population was shipped off to the mainland. Tourists have been sailing in since the 1930s, but the privately owned areas remained largely untouched until 1975, when they were bought out by the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy. The island is now preserved against development, and its unique ecosystem, with 400 plant species (eight of which are endemic), 100 species of birds and numerous animals (including wild American bison), is protected by law.
Avalon is the only town on Santa Catalina. It's dominated by the white Spanish-Moderne Casino, built by chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley Jr in 1929, when he owned the island. The casino is no longer open for gambling, but it does have a grand ballroom (Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller both played here), a huge theater, the Catalina Island Museum and an art gallery. Other highlights of the town include the Chimes Tower, which is covered in inlaid tiles; the old Wrigley Mansion, now a hotel; and the Wrigley Memorial & Botanical Gardens.
Most visitors to Santa Catalina come for the fantastic watersports, including diving, snorkeling, sea kayaking, ocean rafting and sailing. There's also some great hiking, horseback riding and bicycling trails. Catalina has plenty of hotels and resorts, as well as four campgrounds, but most are fairly expensive. You can get to Catalina on one of the regular cruises from Long Beach, San Pedro, Redondo Beach or Newport Beach, or you can take a (very pricey) helicopter from Queen Mary Seaport.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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