Long Beach
By Anna Lynn Sibal
If you are planning a vacation to California and you are thinking of hitting the beach while you are at it, make sure that Long Beach is included in your itinerary. Really, Long Beach, the fifth largest city in California and one of the busiest ports in the United States, deserves to be a part of your California experience.
Of course you may ask why you should go to Long Beach when you take a trip to California. The simple answer to that question is this: 81 miles of sand along the Pacific Ocean. There is no reason why you should pass that up. Long Beach is really a long beach and the waves there are perfect. Make sure you have your surfboard with you when you go to Long Beach.
If you do not know how to ride the waves, it is just fine. You can swim or sunbathe, or play beach volleyball or build sandcastles. You can even go jet skiing or windsurfing if you want.
But while the beach should be reason enough to draw you into visiting Long Beach, there are other attractions in the city that are worth visiting. Foremost of these is The Queen Mary.
The Queen Mary was once the most luxurious way to cross the Atlantic Ocean. On her decks lie the shadows of a world of glamour that is now part of the past. Now, she is a floating hotel and commercial center, with shops and restaurants calling her home. For the older set, it can be nostalgic to sit and spend the day aboard the Queen Mary. For the younger people, The Queen Mary is a favorite place for thrill seekers who want to know if she is really haunted.
The idea of going ghost-hunting on The Queen Mary may prove to be too scary for the weak-kneed, but a few hours on Pine Avenue’s bars, bistros and clubs would surely cure that. Pine Avenue is the center of the nightlife in Long Beach. If you are lucky, you will get to hobnob with a celeb or two when you go for a night of partying at Pine Avenue.
Another place you should visit in Long Beach is the Aquarium of the Pacific. There are 12,000 sea creatures representing many different species living in this aquarium. This is a great place to see some sharks up close without being in danger of getting mangled.
If you are in the mood for something artsy, the places to go would be the Museum of Latin American Art (MoLAA) and the Long Beach Museum of Art. The MoLAA showcases exclusively examples of contemporary Latin American Art, including paintings, sculptures, lithographs and many others. The Long Beach Museum of Art, on the other hand, has a great collection of Californian and European art, as well as beautiful gardens. The Long Beach Museum of Art is actually located on a cliff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
If you are traveling with your spouse or partner, it would be great to cap a holiday in Long Beach by going on a gondola ride to Naples Island. The gondola is genuine and while the gondolier may be American, he will sing to the two of you if you ask.
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