Salutations and assorted pleasantries from the West Coast playground of the rich and famous! Yes, here the beans pay a visit to Santa Catalina Island, best known simply as Catalina. Located in the Gulf of Santa Catalina, 22 miles out in the ocean, Catalina has been a long-time retreat for Hollywood's elite & powerful, as well as those who wish to "get away from it all", without having to go all that far. While the beans were tempted to go hiking or rent a bike for the afternoon, they decided to take the highbrow route, and enjoy the view from the bow of the boat.

The island, part of the Channel Islands, was first spotted by Portuguese explorers in the 1500's, but in 1919 was bought by William Wrigley Jr. (as in "Wrigley's Spearmint Gum", Chicago's Wrigley Field, the Wrigley Building, etc...). Today, the island's main industry is -- what else, tourism --, and the family that first brought us Juicy Fruit still owns much of the land. Actually, the Wrigley family and the conservatory they founded has worked pretty hard to keep the island's natural habitat safe, and the beans salute them for it - 5 sticks of "Doublemint" up.

Catalina has one town - Avalon, which not-so-coincidentally overlooks Avalon Bay. Here, you can moor your yacht, stay in a cozy bed & breakfast, walk the rocky shoreline, and maybe stumble across some buried treasure. Yes, smuggling was big business here on Catalina many years ago, and the term "Smuggler's Cove" originated right here. So it is with sincerest hopes that the beans had to be smuggled onto this boat, out of a sense of respect to the land and an overwhelming urge to do something radical. Hey - they're a canned vegetable, for heaven's sake. They can't help it if they're adrenaline junkies...