Long Beach

We were here decades ago with our young children and toured the Queen Mary.  This time we found a lovely new adventure.  But first the inn, Beachrunners’ Inn is a hundred years old and simply charming.  We were welcomed into the inn by Pat and Courtney, mother and daughter co-owners.  They treated us more like family than paying guests.  They are warm and friendly and full of excellent recommendations of places to visit and, especially, restaurants.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is a wonderful surprise.  Visitors are greeted by Big Trash Animal who seems to shout “don’t litter.”

The museum is small but with an excellent and unusual collection.  The sketches by Matisse were interesting but it was Vitality and Verve III, Transforming the Urban Landscape that challenged us with its view of our society.

 Several of the works fill walls but all are impermanent and will be painted over when the exhibit closes.

Amy Sol is a Korean American whose work evokes peaceful reflection.  The color strips are torn from wrapping paper.

Two Tales of Separation depicts two societal separations, 1943 segregated schools and 2018 separation of children from their parents.

Someone at the museum has a charming sense of humor as depicted by the creature hiding in the air vent.  

The museum has an excellent restaurant, Claire, which Pat recommended.  The forty-five minute wait was worth every second.

The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific has a special discount price for Sunday evenings.  We and many, many families took advantage of the price.  The aquarium emphasizes the Pacific Ocean with the northern and southern areas each have their own halls.

Of course, there were penguins.

The neighborhood of Naples is on water.  We wandered around by car and again on foot enjoying the fabulous architecture.  Homes designed in modern, craftsman and other forms stand next to each other and provide a competing view with the boats in the canal.

This house, built by someone in Hollywood, is near the inn.  Note the wavy roof tiles.
Long Beach both pleased at surprised us as a destination.