Day Trippin' in Long Beach, CA

I live about 20 minutes from Long Beach. In fact, I can see the Long Beach coastline from the beach where I run. But, I don't really go and do all the fun touristy things there very often. A few weeks ago the niece and I had a super fun half-day in Long Beach so I thought I'd share some pics with you.

I have to tell you about the red Passport Bus. It takes you (for free) to pretty much all the touristy things in LB like the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, Ocean Boulevard, etc. The niece had never been in a non-school bus so this was a big deal for her.

9 year-olds are still pretty easy to entertain.

We took the bus from the Queen Mary to the Aquarium drop off. We stopped for a quick picture.

Then we rode the Ferris wheel.

There are some pretty cool views from the top of the ferris wheel. We can see the Queen Mary and Seaside Village.

 After a quick trip to the closing Borders Books where we bought some cheap reads including some inappropriate humored doggy desk calendars (whoops!), we got back on the red bus and headed to the Queen Mary.

I love the Queen Mary. When I was a kid, we used to take school field trips to visit the old ship. Built in 1936 as a luxury cruise liner, it took its last voyage in 1967 and was re-purposed as a hotel with all its 1930's era charm. I've also attended conferences on board. The views from the deck are spectacular.

In the first picture, the niece tries to see our town from a telescope. Again, 25 cent entertainment rocks!

 

This is a view of the harbor, the LB Convention Center, and a lot of the skyline.

We can't forget to do a smash-a-penny.

We ended our day trip with some hot chocolates and pastries on the way home. We love Long Beach!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.