Tower Trek

I've made mention of the Catalina Chimes Tower a few times here, from it's origin story to it's prevalence over the town of Avalon. But for all the years of seeing and hearing it, I've never seen it up close.

I started checking into going up there and checking it out up close. Several people had posted about taking rented golf carts up there, and several about hiking up to it. There are a few ways up, from taking the road around the back, to taking the stairs that parallel some of the houses along the front of town.

The stairs is the way my son and I opted to go. They look like they go straight up to it, but they only go about halfway, then the foot path takes a left, then there's more stairs. After that, you are out on the streets.

None of the streets from that point are especially steep, so it's a fairly easy walk.

And there it is!!! Actually not much to it, once you get there. It has a nicely tiled roof, nice classic lines, and matching terraces around the front side.

It's closed off for renovations and preservation, but I honestly didn't see much that should really be accessable anyway!!!

You can see the chimes from the front gate. It's pretty impressive looking. We were there as it struck 6:00 PM, and it wasn't nearly as loud as you might think it would be up close.

As I told in the Chime Tower Story post, it's right across from the Zane Grey compound. Finally got a chance to see that up close, too!!! It's been converted into a hotel, and I actually looked into getting our room there, but... it's way up a hill!!!

The forward portion looks fairly original, and the back portion looks like all new construction.

The best part, though, is the views!!! Naturally, it's over it all, and what a panorama!!!

There's looking towards Descanso Beach...

And overlooking the harbor...

The sunlight fading over the hills beyond the town...

And, finally, an overhead shot of the Casino!!!