I live in Phoenix most of the time, but my home away from home is the town of Avalon on Catalina Island. I visit there whenever I need relief from the stress of 21st century life, as well as for the annual Catalina Jazz Festival. No hustle and bustle here. Everyone and everything operates on island time.
My apologies up front for the poor quality pics compared to most in this thread, but here's a little pictorial tour ...
The bay and bell tower as seen from Mount Ada:
The iconic Casino as seen from the harbor, built by William Wrigley for his wife in 1929, where most of the jazz festival performances are presented:
A cruise ship, as seen from our balcony:
Weather vane atop the yacht club:
The yacht club, as seen from Casino Point:
Seating setup for an evening unplugged jazz performance on Descanso Beach:
Deer on the lawn at Descanso Beach - they roam the area freely:
The Casino, as seen from Descanso Beach - most festival music performances are presented in the Casino ballroom, which is on the floor behind the balcony that rings the building:
Warren Hill performing onstage in the ballroom:
Avalon is one square mile of pure enjoyment, and my go-to haven from the insanity of modern life.