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PanaSpace.com - Panama online community |
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Long Beach California Navigation: Main page The Travel Secrets Guide Author: ideasforsummervacation.com Long Beach CaliforniaLong Beach, California will hold beautiful memories for many of us, my friends and myself included. A couple of years back, three of us from San Francisco rented a sporty car, packed some art and writing supplies, and headed south along the coast toward Long Beach, California. We intentionally went without a map so we could serendipitously discover new areas and people and things to write about and photograph, but had as a destination the place one of us had been to many times. Despite all the remarkable and stunning history, scenery, and activity we enjoyed along the way (the missions, the Orange County Fair, and more), our arrival in and visit at Long Beach was brilliantly satisfying.Once we arrived at a mutual friend's house in town and reminisced, refreshed, rested, we hit the town. (One piece of advice I have always listened to and passed on is to hang out with locals when you are touring, for you will get to experience the underbelly of the vacation spot…not just the touristy areas.) We visited a magic shop first, a small enclave on an out-of-the-way street. We had lunch at a classic diner. We shopped along Pine Avenue, where curiosities and collectibles meet with contemporary and other arts and souvenirs. After a stint back at our friend's air-conditioned apartment, where we did henna tattoos and tarot readings, we went for Italian food in a crowded but friendly (popular) local place called Ciravello's Restaurant and Sports Bar. We ate outside, not only so we could smoke but so we could pick up more of the outer ambience than the drinking din of Friday night revelers. The most remarkable of Long Beach California experiences, though, happened at midnight. Fate in our favor, there was a full moon…beaming seductively over the ocean and city beach just a few blocks down from the bar. We stripped down and went swimming in the Pacific, no one but the four of us frolicking and slip-sliding about in soft, smooth, sleek calm waters. I might also tell you that as fanatic about Nic Cage, the knowledge that he grew up in a house in Long Beach, California made the trip even more magical, even more romantic. In fact, Nic went back to visit that home, humbly and politely asking the new home owners if he could look around to reminisce. They were of course delighted, and as they begged him to sign one of their WALLS, he resisted, but finally relented and signed a wall in their living room. (I bet they never wash THAT wall again!) So for you who visit the playful town (or city, really, with a population of almost a half a million), the parks and playhouses and plazas might turn your crank. Or, the realization that major celebrities live or lived there might be the crowning moment in your Long Beach, California vacation. You might be thrilled to know, then, that Bobby Burgess and Bo Derek; the Doggs, Snoop and Nate; Spike Jones; Billie Jean King; and many, many other superstars have lived or do live there. And I am sure some even visit now and again. Maybe you will rub elbows with someone! |
All Inclusive Family Beach Vacations Summer Vacation Destinations with a Focus on Families Long Beach California Current news: Energy department expects $3 a gallon gasoline this summer (The Gleaner) Millenials seek work's benefits: leisure, money (AP via Yahoo! News) Summer Time Is Around The Corner: 8 Ways To Save Money For A Last Minute Vacation (Bossip) St. Pat's Day will benefit Belfast relief (The Buffalo News) Roethlisberger 'under 24-7 spotlight' while out and about (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette) |
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