Long Beach Vacation Vibes

We tied up our summer with a quick trip to California.  While it was baseball driving our destination once again, we definitely try to make it worth our time.  Today I’m sharing the places to see and all the good food from the first leg of our trip to California which we spent in Long Beach.

Jet Blue flies direct from Austin to Long Beach and the only negative is the choice in flight times.  We were at the airport by 5am and landed in Long Beach before 8am California time!  We had a full day ahead and needed a good start with a hearty breakfast.  Jordan scoped out The Breakfast Bar ahead of time and it was unique and delicious.  Bonus they are in full support of day drinking.  

While they did have traditional items such as french toast and pancakes, I decided to try one of the signature items since it was vacation and all.  Eggs Noni was my pick with grilled house rosemary sourdough bread, grilled tomato, sautéed spinach, poached egg and I always grab the sauce on the side.  The potato pancake doesn’t look like much but holy yum.  Everyone was stuffed and ready for the rest of our day!

This tried and true black maxi was perfect for our travel day.  It is comfy but also kept me cool and a simple cardigan took the chill off in the airport.

We headed to our hotel just to see if an early check in option was available.  I called the day before to see if it might be a possibility to have one of our rooms early and the attendant added a note to our account but I was not super optimistic it would happen.  This Hilton Long Beach not only had one of our rooms ready, it is newly renovated, bright and inviting.

After checking into the hotel and parking the car, we walked to the Aquarium of the Pacific.  We are kind of suckers for aquariums and zoos wherever we go and it was a plus to be in the air conditioning!  Jellyfish are a favorite of mine to watch.  

Pretty much a sucker for starfish and sea horses too!  We saw some other fun characters and an especially charismatic puffin who was showing off like crazy!   You can head to the Adventures Highlight on Instagram to see videos.

We grabbed a snack at The Islander restaurant and then headed back to the hotel where all of us crashed for a few hours!  Napping is not something I’m good at but it may have been my best ever.

We were all starved and headed for dinner that evening.  Love catching this shot of these sisters!  Jordan and Carly are 15 years apart so finding common interest has not always been easy.  Now that Carly is a little older it was fun seeing them enjoy one another more. 

We chose Kings Fish House and loved the atmosphere and the food.  Of course we had to try the raw oysters but us Texans were completely perplexed when asked what kind we wanted.  I was not even remotely aware there are varieties of oysters….when we order oysters in Texas they just bring us oysters!  We tried the sampler with 6 different types.  We all tried a little something different off the menu from sushi to scallops and everything was amazing.  This was a splurge dinner as this is a little higher dollar venue but there are several locations throughout California, Nevada and Arizona so if you happen upon one I definitely recommend.

And I’m pretty sure by the time we left we were on a first name basis with the waitress at The Poholder Cafe!  This little cafe was just around the corner (a few blocks) from our hotel and the brunch was delicious.  I enjoyed the Nacker Snacker with turkey bacon, avocado, tomatoes and spinach.  On the weekends they also have bottomless mimosas! 

I can hardly believe Carly is just about to catch up with Jordan!  Love them so!

And this one, we are still just amazed at how tall he actually has ended up!  For those of you wondering, pretty sure this is coming from my dads side of the family and Dillon reminds me of him alot.  

We spent the 2nd day at the ballpark and Dillon had a little mound time in the second game.  The Area Code games pull kids from an invite only tryout to come together from all over the country.  The stands are then filled with scouts at both the college and major league level.  It’s a great opportunity to be seen and to meet other players.  We did this in 2010 and 2011 with Riley so it was fun for Dillon to also have the opportunity to be invited.  

A day of baseball makes you hungry.  We headed to another location just down the street, Rock Bottom Brewery,  for a late night dinner.  I would really like to give this one another shot as I really just think they were of their game so late.  I will say the sheet pan nachos Carly & I ordered were delicious but took forever.  The manager comped without us ever even asking, however, so that was nice.

Eek….Saturday morning was a super sweet treat as I was able to meet a blogger friend in real life!  Sarah and I have been following along with each others lives, watching our kids grow up and supporting each other on The Blended Blog for several years.  She lives about an hours drive away and was sweet enough to come meet me for breakfast.  In case you are wondering, she is as precious as she appears on her blog and even more adorable in person! 

We dined at The Attic on Broadway and it was just the cutest little restaurant inside an old house.  Lots of patio seating as well and the food was incredible.  While we didn’t try it, we did see their signature Mac & Cheese topped with flaming hot cheetos pass our table and it looked pretty darn tempting.  I love a good breakfast hash and this one did not disappoint.  

That afternoon my sweet Texas friend turned LA girl, Ginny, came to meet us for a quick visit and bite to eat.  We dined at Pier 76 Fish Grill and I had my first ever lobster roll.  The lack of picture is a sign it was too amazing to take a picture pause.

While the boys headed back to baseball the girls and I spent a little time on the beach.  Sadly we had to go with the walking option and the beach was less than desirable.  I think we were all shocked at how dirty it was but we made the most of our time and got plenty of steps in!  If you head to this area it is worth it to drive to find a beach.  In past trips we have headed to Newport, Seal Beach and even Venice beach for some people watching.

The family was all worn out and not interested in dinner so Keith and I headed out for a little date.  We ended up at Alegria Latin Cocina and had no idea there would be some live music.  The food was unique and delicious but we really enjoyed sitting and listening to the artist play the guitar and sing.  It’s amazing to be able to listen and enjoy music even when you cannot understand the language at all.  Latin music just feels romantic!  

Last day in Long Beach and we walked a short distance to Broadway Pizza & Grill to check out some pizza.  Holy yum, I mean seriously it almost looks too good to eat doesn’t it?  Well we couldn’t let that happen and cleaned up two large pizzas between the five of us!  No one will ever accuse my family of not knowing how to put away good food!

Surprisingly we still had room for ice cream and Carly Jo found The Long Beach Creamery was just one more block away.  Y’all, either I was just really jonesing for some ice cream or this place had some of the best I’ve ever eaten.  I do not even like vanilla ice cream but chose the Whiskey Vanilla and it may seriously be the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.

And I just love these sweet pictures of these 3!  I feel like their personalities are kind of shining through.

After dropping the boys off at the baseball fields, the girls and I headed into LA so we could take Carly Jo to see the Hollywood sign.  She has been once before when she was about 6 but not this close.  We actually viewed even closer the last time the bigs and I headed out but we settled on the view from Lake Hollywood Park on this trip.  Do your research if you want to get closer to the sign.  The basic searches will keep you further away because they residents closer in really don’t want so many people in their neighborhood..and I can’t blame them!  But the money shot view is so worth it.    The only other thing I will say about LA is if you really want to visit, go and stay somewhere in LA.  The traffic really is as awful as you have probably heard so it’s not always easy to get to.

We wrapped up with one family picture before heading to drop off Keith and Carly at the airport so they could head back home for dance and work.  I was sad not to have Riley with us for this leg of the trip but we take what we can get for family time!

Of course no trip to California is really complete until you grab In-n-Out burger right?  Even though we have locations in Texas now, it’s still better in Cali.  We grabbed a bite before hitting the road to Fresno!  I’ll recap the rest of our trip soon and you won’t want to miss our day trip to Sequoia National Forest!