Skip to main content

California: Long Beach

No more California after this, I promise!  We'll be back to normal life again.  This is just a scattershot tour of the highlights from Long Beach. in no particular order.  If nothing else, you get a few more cute photos of Toby to look at.

Long Beach is part of the greater Los Angeles sprawl, and while it might not be your first choice for a holiday destination, it has a pretty harbour area and a few good attractions (the Queen Mary of course being one).  We spent several days just pottering around and enjoying time in the sunshine.

Outside the Convention Center
Strolling along the boardwalk
The harbour and downtown.
An inoperative lighthouse had a pleasant little park around it...
...perfect for fun and games!
Shhh, don't tell him you can put money in it!
We drove to Huntingdon Beach one evening, where we were appalled to find that most of the car parks wanted $15 from us!  Finally we found a meter to put a few quarters in, and were rewarded with a nice sunset.
Sun setting over the palm trees at Huntingdon Beach
The beach baby look: sunglasses and dummy!
On Sunday we met up with some friends who live close by in San Pedro.  We joined them at their very friendly church, where we were greeted warmly and Toby, to our surprise, made a beeline for the nursery (probably thinking, "Finally!  Some different toys!")  After church we headed for a local park, where the adults enjoyed a cookout and the kids enjoyed the playground.  Their little girl is almost exactly the same age as Toby, and they seemed to get on well in that strange toddler fashion of mostly ignoring each other.


Being locals, they were able to give us a few recommendations, one of which was for the Frosted Cupcakery in the Belmont Shore area.  Graham and I went citrussy with lemon and key lime cupcakes, and we treated Toby to a chocolate "hi-hat" - kind of a mini cake and frosting sandwich.

Yummy!
Belmont Shore has some pretty streets, too, and so many of the homes had flowering bushes outside.
 Another recommendation was the Aquarium of the Pacific.  It's a great place, but let me further recommend that you don't try and drag your very cranky toddler around it.  Having said that, the penguins and rays were interesting enough to pull him out of cranky mode for a while, and we managed a pretty good tour before we hit complete meltdown.  We were even honoured with a great view of the octopus, who normally hides in her cave all day.  It was obvious something special was happening when all the employees were calling each other to come have a look!

Graham and Toby by the ray tank
You can even touch them if you want!
Look at those suckers!
One of the tanks was floor to ceiling and had some great big fish.
Anything with a steering wheel is always a hit.
Fast asleep on the bus back to the Queen Mary.
 On our final evening in Long Beach we were out looking for a place to eat, and stumbled across Kavikas.  The first attraction was a patio overlooking the marina, which we inexplicably had completely to ourselves.  The second was the sign saying, "Free kids meals".  This, we thought, has got to be worth a try.  We were not wrong.  Toby's food came on a plate almost as big as he is!  He thought he was in chip heaven, and tucked in with gusto.  Meanwhile we were wondering how big the adult portions were, if that was a child-size one!  Fortunately they were quite manageable and just as delicious.  Isn't it great when your lack of planning works out that well?

Is it bad that Toby is a pro at dipping things into ketchup?
Yummy!
Our trip home was mostly uneventful, at least until we picked up our car from the remote parking and somehow managed to set off down the wrong road.  What was worse was that it took us a good ten minutes to realise it!  Suffice to say that Hwy 183 - I820 - I35W is not the direct route home from DFW airport, and our Texas friends can laugh as much as they want, but I bet they've done something similar at least once!

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hiya Martha, so cool to see your photo's, it looks like your having a wonderful time & Toby looks full of fun. Many Blessings, love Su, (old cafe staff member.)
25 August 2012 at 12:39
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Limestone Way - the end! (for now...)

Bonsall is a pretty little village just up the road from Cromford. It was the centre point for my final Limestone Way walk. First I walked one way, back towards Ible, then I walked the other way to Matlock. I started at the fountain and climbed up to a tree in which a mistle thrush was singing loudly (helpfully identified by the Merlin app). A few fields took me across to the hamlet of Slaley. Then there was a pleasant walk through the woods, which dropped steeply to my left down to the Via Gellia. At Dunsley Springs the stream went right over the edge.  I made my way down more gradually, and then was faced with the long climb up again to the point near Leys Farm where I was rejoining the Limestone Way. Tree down! Rejoining the Limestone Way Once I'd reached the top, it was a very pleasant walk across dry grassy fields. There were signs of old mining activity, which suddenly made the ground feel less solid under my feet - how many holes were hiding under the turf? Back at Bonsall, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...
Post a Comment
Read more

Limestone Way: Grangemill and Ible

It was getting mistier and mistier. As I drove past Carsington Water, the world around grew dimmer, and when I parked near Brassington, the nearby trees were hazy shadows in the murk. I was glad I was wearing a red coat as I started off along Manystones Lane. At least I had some chance of being visible. Fortunately it was a short road section. I navigated my way across a series of small fields, from one dry stone wall to the next, and crossed the old railway line which is now the High Peak Trail. I could just imagine a steam train emerging out of the fog. The next fields were larger. It was as if the landscape was being sketched around me as I walked across it. A tree or an electricity pylon would appear as a few faint lines, increasing in detail when I got closer, and fading away behind. Up ahead, the land dropped into a huge hole - Longcliffe Quarries. I couldn't see much, but the noise from the machinery dominated the next section of the walk.  I skirted the edge of the quarry a...
Post a Comment
Read more