Things I love about Long Beach

Today my friend Jamie is sharing all she loves about Long Beach, she is the awesome writer at Minnesota Girl in LA. I love reading her blog and looking at her great pictures, she is creative and is always up for a new adventure. 

When Maribel asked me to share about a place I love, I automatically said “Long Beach.”  But, at the time, I had no idea what direction I wanted to go with the story.

You see, I fell in love with Long Beach instantly, from the minute I moved out to LA (btw: 2 years ago this week, I packed up my vehicle from Minnesota, and took that cross country journey!) Long Beach is a city in all of its own, and has a lot of things happening all the time, so I’m just going to name this post: Things I love about Long Beach.

TheirFestivals

Long Beach has a ton of festivals throughout the year.  Some of my favorites happen during the summer that includes: their annual Crawfish Festival, and their annual Lobster Festival.  During the summer and the end of September they also have a Pirate Festival,  I love seeing Pirates in action (who else automatically thinks of Johnny Depp when they hear the word pirate now?)

Belmont Shore

The Belmont Shore area is a fun little area off of 2^nd street that is filled with fun shops to browse through, restaurants and bars.  Some of my favorites include: Panama Joe's, George’s Greek Café, and catching dessert at Babette’s Feast,Yogurtland, Paradise or the Frosted Cupcakery. 

During the summer they have a fun “Stroll N’ Savor” event where you go to Belmont Shore, spend $10 dollars on a book of tickets (12 altogether!) and you walk around, all the restaurants have samples of their food for you to try out.  Every time I do this event I go home stuffed from all the food,  the best part was that I only paid 10 dollars!

Museums

Like Maribel, I love running around Los Angeles looking for the best museums.  Long Beach does have a couple including their Long Beach Museum of Art.  I Love stopping in there on Thursdays any time after 5pm for free admission. 

Long Beach also is known for their Aquarium of the Pacific where you can get your fish on.  Known for their sea lions, fish, and amazing jelly fish, they have a lot to look at.  I often like to go in there during their evening hours where admission is half off. 

Long Beach also has the Museum of Latin American Art.  I still have not been to this museum, but have heard great things about it, and it is on my list to visit in the future. 

Sunday Brunches

With a group of Ladies I have frequented the Long Beach Sunday Brunch circuit, and there are some really great ones out there, and some really cheap ones.  Whether you’re stopping by Panama Joe’s for their cheap Sunday Brunch, or swinging by Hamburger Mary’s for their Drag Queen brunch show, there’s something for everyone there.  

And did I mention, they often have bottomless mimosa’s tied into their Sunday brunch specials so make it a morning with a group of friends, family, and then explore the rest of the day.

The Toyota Grand Prix

Some people love this annual event, some people get out of town for it, but every year in April, the Toyota Grand Prix comes to the streets of Long Beach, and it becomes quite the show.  It is on my list of “to do’s” for next year.

Retro Row

And if you’rea fan of vintage and antiques, Retro Row is the place for you.  They have some great thrift stores to browse through, and it’s just a fun day of shopping and exploration as you walked around 4^th Street.

This is just a small snippet of things you can do in Long Beach.  Every weekend there seems to be something going on here, and that’s a huge reason why I love this small big town so much. 

Maribel here just to say that I hope you enjoyed reading all about Long Beach as much as I did, I have family there and have yet to enjoy these wonderful festivals and walk around Retro Row. What would you visit if you were to go to Long Beach?