Leave your worries behind in Long Beach
A family-friendly Southern California City
By Phyllis Steinberg
 Long Beach is Southern California’s fifth largest city but
it has the ambience of a cozy, visitor-friendly town. It is a perfect place for
a family vacation. Most of the restaurants have children’s menus and there is
easy access to most of the city’s attractions. The downtown area is bustling
with a myriad of exciting family-orientated attractions, all within a few square
miles. I climbed aboard the Passport shuttle and enjoyed complimentary
transportation to all of downtown Long Beach’s most popular attractions. And
for just 90 cents, the shuttle took me to the nearby area of Belmont Shores. You
can also explore the Belmont Shores area by renting a bicycle at a shop along
the avenue.
Situated along five and a half miles of sandy coastline,
Long Beach is located just 20 miles south of Los Angeles. A 45-minute train ride
will take visitors to Los Angeles, but there’s so much to see and do in Long
Beach, that I never left the city on my recent visit there.
 Staying at the downtown Hilton Long Beach on Ocean
Boulevard, I was close to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach Convention
Center, The Pike with its multitude of shops and restaurants, the Queen Mary
ocean liner and dozens of retail stores and restaurants.
Visiting the Queen Mary was one of the highlights of my
visit to Long Beach. A native of Fort Lauderdale, I have been on dozens of
cruise ships but none as majestic as the legendary Queen Mary. Today, there are
massive cruise ships, which are patterned after the amenities of the Queen, but
the craftsmanship and the splendid wood carvings and numerous examples of art
deco design are breathtaking to behold.
 The Queen Mary made her maiden voyage in 1936 with 2,000
passengers aboard. After 31 years of ocean travel, the city of Long Beach
purchased the Queen and in 1971, the ocean liner was tugged to her permanent
berth at Pier J in Long Beach. The ship has been converted is a historic hotel
and is a major tourist attraction in Long Beach.
It is part of an entertainment complex that includes daily
ship tours, a 365-stateroom hotel, a number of elegant restaurants and cafes,
unique shops, a three-level exhibit hall and 15 banquet salons.
 I had a gourmet dining experience at Sir Winton’s on the
Queen Mary. Sir Winton’s is the crown jewel of the ship and features superb
international cuisine and a breathtaking view of Queensway Bay. A dress code is
enforced and reservations are required. There is also a fabulous champagne
Sunday brunch served on the ship which is a popular venue among the local
residents.
Ship tours are offered daily by experienced guides who give
an in-depth history of the Queen and offer a peak at some of the staterooms and
suites inhabited by the rich and famous.
Kids and their parents were enjoying the hundreds of
species of fish, shows and attractions at the Aquarium of the Pacific on my
recent visit to Long Beach. The Aquarium takes visitors on a journey through the
three main regions of the vast Pacific Ocean including the temperate waters of
South California and Baja, the icy Northern Pacific and the warm tropical
Pacific.
 There is a shark lagoon, animal encounters with numerous opportunities
to touch the Aquarium’s animals and behind the scenes tours.
It’s just a short walk to The Pike from the Aquarium. This
is a nice spot to enjoy dining at informal restaurants like Bubba Gump’s or a
drink at a local nightspot in the area. There is also a GameWorks, with dozens
of video games for adults and children.
Long Beach also has a waterfront shopping center called
Shoreline Village with many restaurants and shops including The Village Hat Shop
where you can purchase just about any kind of cap from a Disney character to a
sailor or a pirate fedora.
 Parker’s Lighthouse serves up sushi and great seafood
at Shoreline Village.
Take a stroll on Pine Avenue, the city’s downtown business
district. Here, I enjoyed many fine meals at fabulous restaurants. There’s
King’s which offers delicious seafood and dining inside and out. Or L-Opera
Ristorante which serves up classic and modern Italian cuisine in a stunning
setting.
Sevilla Restaurant on Pine Street has a flamenco show and
tango dinner show and Smooth’s Sports Grille has some of the best drinks and
fries in town with outside tables and friendly waiters.
 If you desire to get away from the downtown area, just
minutes from downtown is Alamitos Bay, a waterfront dining and entertainment
area. The Aqualink is a high-speed catamaran water taxi that will take you from
downtown to Alamitos Bay. I had an entertaining evening at Buster’s Beach House,
a laid-back eatery on the Bay with an extraordinary band playing spirited dance
music. You can rent a boat that is simple to navigate and Buster’s will provide
tasty appetizers and wine for the trip around the bay. The dinner package
includes the boat ride, appetizers, wine, dinner at Busters and dessert. It’s a
great deal and reasonably priced.
 Another interesting area was Belmont Shore’s with it’s
trendy restaurants and shops. Here, I enjoyed a tasty lobster salad at Bono’s,
the restaurant of Christy Bono, daughter of entertainer Sonny Bono. The Belmont
area offers easy access to the beach with plenty of parking spots available if
you choose to drive to a picturesque beach for a dive in the Pacific.
Art buffs will enjoy visiting the Long Beach Museum of Art
and the Museum of Latin American Art which contains exclusively contemporary
Latin American fine art.
 I never made it to Los Angeles, but I did manage to break
away from Long Beach for a day trip to beautiful Santa Catalina Island. I hopped
aboard the Catalina Express, a high-speed catamaran that makes an approximately
one hour ride to Catalina. The Casino is located on Catalina Island. Be sure to
visit this world-famous landmark. No, it is not a gambling casino but an
entertainment structure that housed the famous bands of yesteryear in the 1930’s
and 40’s from Jimmy Dorsey to Woody Herman and Harry James. The 12-story
structure also contains an art gallery and museum.
Photos by Phyllis Steinberg
Long Beach Visitor Information,
www.visitlongbeach.com
Hilton Long Beach, 701 W. Ocean Blvd.,
www.hilton-longbeach.com
The Queen Mary, 1126 Queen’s Highway,
www.queenmary.com
Museum of Latin American Fine Art, 628 Alamitos Ave.,
www.molaa.org
Bono’s, 4901 E. 2nd st.,
www.bonoslongbeach.com
Long Beach Museum of Art, 2300 East Ocean Blvd.,
www.lbma.org/store.html
Catalina Express,
www.CatalinaExpress.com
Catalina Island,
www.CatalinaChamber.com
L’Opera Ristorante, 101 Pine Ave.,
www.lopera.com
Aquarium of the Pacific, 320 Golden Shore, Suite 150,
www.aquariumofpacific.org
Buster’s Beach House, 168 Marina Drive,
www.bustersbeachhouse.com
Smooth’s, 144 Pine Ave.,
mumsjm@aol.com
Parker’s Lighthouse, 435 Shoreline Village Drive,
www.parkerslighthouse.com |
