Long Beach

We left early on a cloudy morning from Newport Beach. By the time we cleared the breakwater we could see blue sky opening up to the North. Long Beach is a short 20 mile run from Newport Beach, located inside of the Los Angeles Harbor breakwater. We worked our way through many anchored cargo ships, many still loaded with containers, entering through the breakwater behind a cargo ship trailed by a large tug.

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We had a reciprocal slip at the Long Beach Shoreline Marina, courtesy of the Shoreline Yacht Club. It was an end tie – super convenient getting in and out. Right across from us was Island Grissom, which is actually an oil derrick that has been disguised. It is lit up with a light and water show every night and looks pretty cool… not so much during the day. This is one of 4 “Oil Islands” in the harbor, each named for an astronaut that died in the Apollo space program.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary at a nice restaurant a few blocks from the marina. We shared a large (and pricey) dry aged porterhouse steak and a nice bottle of wine at their outdoor streetside seating (which was quite breezy). The next day, Miranda arrived from Seattle after a bit of a hassle with a cancelled flight. We are excited to have her with us, having not seen her since December of 2020.

The next day we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific, which was located adjacent to the marina. They were doing timed entry and requiring reservations in advance. Even so it was quite crowded. Masks were required even though California is fully open, and we were glad, given how much was indoors and how many people were there. On the other side of the marina is a beach, and bike/walking paths extend from lighthouse point, across from the former oceanliner Queen Mary all the way down the city beaches. We had fun riding folding bikes around, with Miranda using one or two of the many electric scooters that were spread along the waterfront.

On Saturday night we went up to the Yacht Club for dinner and met some of the members. We appreciated the nice meal and the hospitality. They were having their awards night, so we said our goodbyes and headed back to Miss Miranda to prepare for an early morning departure for Catalina Island.

We have been reading and hearing about the incredible heat wave up in the Pacific Northwest. Strangely, here in Long Beach, it has been sunny or partly cloudy with temps in mid 70s.