Long Beach Travel Guide, California

  Long Beach is a southern California city that lies the on the Pacific coast, 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. It was a shipbuilding port during WWII that now famously docks the R.M.S. Queen Mary. The Aquarium of the Pacific is located here and is a tourist destination as well as a fully functioning world-class marine research facility. The Long Beach marina is amoung the largest in the US and abounds with restaurants and cafes.

  Long Beach has an ethnic and culturally diverse population of just under one half million residents. The city is also home to a large gay and lesbian population. Long Beach has a large oil industry both underground and, controversially, offshore, and a huge aircraft industry that stems from Howard Hughes’ original factory.

  Long Beach is famous for many events such as music festivals, sport competitions, and cultural offerings including the Long Beach Grand Prix, and the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival.

  Film buffs will enjoy a pilgrimage to Long Beach, where an early producer of silent films, the Balboa Studios, was located. Here, at the beginning fo the century comic actors like  Fatty Arbuckle and the dramatic actress Theda Bara starred in the popular movies of the day. Long Beach continues to be used as a set for filming movies and television shows.

  Long Beach is also a beach town with a relaxed and nautical flair. There is a unique area, Naples, that comes complete with Venetian canals and gondolas, and the historic Spanish and Mexican adobes add a cultural blend that, together with the quirky shops and world class restaurants, make Long Beach a prime tourist destination.  

  Art, music and the theater flourish is Long Beach; the Shoreline Concert Band and the Blue Pacific Swing Band, give regular concerts in the Long Beach area and several night clubs along Pine Avenue are venues for rock, blues and jazz artists. The Musical Theatre West and the International City Theatre offer regular performances and the stalwart Long Beach Playhouse produces shows 50 weeks yearly.

  Long Beach represents the sporting world with many golf courses, and events in football, basketball and even rugby union. Long Beach hosts many popular parades including the Christmas Boat Parade, the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival, the Cambodian New Years Parade, the Brazilian Street Carnaval, and the ever popular Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade, which shows that Long Beach is a lively California city that approaches life with a tolerant air and a touch of whimsy.