My Experience:

No two trips are ever alike. In this case, my trip to Long Beach, California took me back to my childhood as I was raised on the outskirts of Long Beach. I remember the shoreline, beaches and the Pike…..what fun my brother and I had at the Pike, I even lost a tooth while banging into everyone on the bumper cars.

Then years later as an adult, I kept my sailboat at Shoreline Marina, across from the Queen Mary. Such great times at Parkers Lighthouse, Shoreline Village, and watching down town Long Beach grow and change to an amazing international destination offering something for visitors and locals.

Long Beach is made up of several communities, but for travelers taking a cruise on the Carnival line, or those going to Catalina, perhaps fishing, visiting the Queen Mary, or maybe looking for stunning skyline views, Long Beach has it all. I stayed at the Hotel Maya, down the harbor from the Queen Mary and across the bay from downtown. The rooms are spacious, comfortable, and with big sliders to open and enjoy the stunning views, perfect weather or people watch from your balcony. Very family friendly, there must have been four weddings the weekend I was there…..a wonderful place to stay.

Getting around Long Beach is easy, from the Hotel Maya I could either take the water taxi across the harbor, the free Passport bus that stopped out in front at the Hotel Maya, or a taxi cab. I tried them all, and never used my car while there. Once down town everything near the marina is in walking distance, or again take the free bus to all of the points of interest.

Beautiful murals are everywhere, hundreds of restaurants, trendy shopping areas, the convention center and the Aquarium of the Pacific. For golfers, its only minutes away to several historic golf courses. Long Beach also offers an International Airport, an RV campground along the harbor shores, beautiful buildings, a trendy East Village area, and a lot of friendly people. What makes Long Beach so friendly is that the locals do all of the things the tourists do, so instead of t-shirt shops galore, visitors will find boutiques, coffee shops, breweries, hotels, bungalows and apartments.

And Long Beach is pet friendly; they love their pets and have many awards to prove it. I could go on for pages about why you should visit Long Beach on your next adventure, but I won’t. Instead I’ll say listen the shows and you’ll be booking your Long Beach stay within minutes.
See you in Long Beach!!