Los Angeles & Southern California - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [88]
Two blocks south, the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum (Map; 310-548-7509; www.drumbarracks.org; 1052 N Banning Blvd; suggested donation $5; tours hourly 10am-1pm Tue-Thu, 11:30am-2:30pm Sat & Sun; ) is the only surviving Civil War–era US Army structure in Southern California. It’s filled with artifacts from the years 1861–6 when this was a training center and supply depot for battlegrounds in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico.
Long Beach
If the glut of new lofts is any indication, Long Beach has come a long way since its working-class oil and navy days. Over the past decade or so, LA’s southernmost seaside town has quietly reinvented its gritty downtown and made it an attractive place to live and party. On any Saturday night, the restaurants, clubs and bars along lower Pine Ave are abuzz with everyone from buttoned-down conventioneers to the testosterone-fuelled frat pack. Additional eateries line a new waterfront boardwalk linking the Aquarium of the Pacific with Shoreline Village, the departure point for boat cruises. The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, near the aquarium, is another new fun zone, complete with a small Ferris wheel.
Despite the name, the beach isn’t such a big draw here. In fact, the water tends to be rather polluted thanks to the proximity of the giant Worldport LA. And those palm-studded mini-islands you see offshore? They’re actually well-disguised oil-drilling rigs. If you want to hit the water locally, do it in Belmont Shore, about 2 miles east of downtown, right next to canal-laced Naples.
The stress-free way to get to Long Beach is by riding the air-conditioned Metro Rail Blue Line. Once downtown you can walk or catch the red Passport buses, which swing by all the museums and other points of interest, including Belmont Shore (free within downtown; 90¢ otherwise, exact change required). From June to mid-September, the AquaBus links the aquarium and the Queen Mary, as does the high-speed AquaLink, which also goes out to Alamitos Bay (Naples). Bike rentals are available from Bikestation (Map; 562-436-2453; 221 E 1st St; 7am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun) for $8 per hour or $32 for 24 hours.
AQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC
Long Beach’s most mesmerizing experience, the Aquarium of the Pacific (Map; 562-590-3100; www.aquariumofpacific.org; 100 Aquarium Way; adult/child/senior $21/12/17; 9am-6pm; ) is a vast, high-tech indoor ocean where sharks dart, jellyfish dance and sea lions frolic. More than 12,000 creatures inhabit four recreated habitats: the bays and lagoons of Baja California, the frigid northern Pacific, the coral reefs of the tropics and local kelp forests. Parking costs $6.
Among the many not-to-be-missed exhibits is the Shark Lagoon where you can pet young sharks in a touch pool and go nose-to-nose – through a window – with their adult-sized cousins patrolling a larger tank. The teeth on the bull shark are the stuff that’ll give you Jaws-style nightmares. The best time to be here is during the daily feeding sessions (check the schedule online or in the lobby).
Elsewhere, you’ll be entertained by the antics of sea otters, spooked by football-sized crabs with spiny 3ft-long arms, and charmed by Seussian-looking sea dragons. It’s a wondrous world that’ll easily keep you enthralled for a couple of hours. On weekdays, avoid the field-trip frenzy by arriving around 2pm; on weekends beat the crowd by getting here as early as possible.
For an extra fee, the aquarium offers behind-the-scenes tours and, from late May to early September, ocean boat trips.
QUEEN MARY
Long Beach’s ‘flagship’ attraction is the grand and supposedly haunted British luxury liner Queen Mary (Map; 562-435-3511; www.queenmary.com; 1126 Queens Hwy; from adult/child/senior $23/12/20; 10am-6pm; ). Larger and more luxurious than even the Titanic, she transported royals, dignitaries, immigrants,