Posts Tagged ‘california’

Catalina is a small island off the coast of Long Beach California, and its most famous landmark is the magnificent Art Deco Casino which sits on Avalon Harbor. The casino was built by chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr, who owned much of the island in May of 1929. It was not a casino in the usual form with no gaming, it was actually a theatre designed for the first talking movies. The theatre has seating for 1154 people and there is also a ballroom which can cater for around 6000 making it the world’s largest circular ballroom, it has a whopping 55metre round dance floor. The interior of the casino was restored a few years back returning the building to its former glory with amazing fresco walls and murals, incredible plasterwork and ornate lighting. Read the rest of this entry »

The much loved Disneyland Monorail has been a part of the themepark since its opening in 1959. Over the years it has had several facelifts and model changes but it is still one of the parks biggest attractions.  The monorail is used to transport guests around the park and to the shopping and entertainment area of Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Hotel.  The monorail offers spectacular views of the Disneyland park as it follows its snake like route around Tomorrowland and the Matterhorn and across the Submarine Lagoon of the Nemo ride.

Air Force One

Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States who had 8 years in office between 1981 and 1989. Regan was in office during some huge changes in the world including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. His legacy is remembered in a magnificent library and museum in the ruggered Simi Valley about an hour of of Los Angeles in California. Here visitors can recal the life of a Hollywood movie star who became the most powerful man on Earth. As well as learning about this man you can see many of the gifts and artifacts which were part of his life, you can visit a recration of the White House’s Oval Office which has actual furniture and artifacts from his time as president. Probably the most amazing item in the museum is Airforce One, the actual 707 which was used by Regan and many other President’s as their “Flying White House”. For those after a refreshment there is also the Ronald Regan Pub which is a pub that Regan drank at on a visit to Ireland which has been shifted to California. Regan died a few years back and he is also burried at the library overlooking the valley. Read the rest of this entry »

Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara California is home to the Intel Visitors Center. The home of computer processors. This interesting centre traces the power of computer chips showing their evolution and development over the years. As you would expect there are plenty of computer based interactive gadgets to play with and there’s a great gift shop where you can pick up some real geeky gadgets and clothing. Intel was founded in 1968 and today is the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer, just about every PC has an Intel inside. The self paced tour takes a bout an hour and the best thing is its free. Intel has quiet a few other visitor center’s around the world including China, Israel, Ireland, Penang, Valencia in Spain and a few others in the USA.

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