Twenty-Four Hours in Long Beach

Usually I peruse through my weekly Travelzoo deals like I'm window shopping - it's interesting to see what's out there, but not planning on buying. As exciting as roundtrip flights to Ireland, all inclusive resorts in Jamaica, and half off Vegas shows are, I know it's not in the cards. The other day however, I found a deal for a nights stay at the Westin in Long Beach with two Aquarium of the Pacific tickets for $130. I thought it would be a good excuse to whisk my hard working hubby away for a mandatory two-day weekend, not to mention I'd always wanted to visit that aquarium - so I ended up buying a Travelzoo deal for first time ever! Travelzoo is very upfront and easy to use, and I had absolutely no hitches booking through them. We checked into the Westin on Sunday afternoon, completely ready for some R&R. While I had originally asked for a "workout room" that came with in-room exercise equipment, the concierge apologized one was not available, but upgraded us to an king bed/ocean view room, which was really nice. The only not-so-great aspects were that self parking was $17 (valet was$20), there are no windows you can open or balconies in the rooms at the Westin, and the pool was absolutely disgusting - you couldn't see them bottom, and I refused to get in. Other than that, the views were awesome, the room was nice and it was great to be away from home hanging out in Long Beach for a day.
My sister and her family lived in Long Beach for over seven years, so I feel pretty familiar with the small city. Enclaves of ethnic culture (the most Cambodians outside of South East Asia live in LB) and inner city life jive with the upper class Belmont Shores and 2nd street promenade. Add tourists strolling through Seaport Village and the harbor, conventioneers walking up and down Ocean Street and around the massive Convention Center, and there's never a dull people-watching moment.
Sunday afternoon we checked out a new grill a colleague recommended we try out. Beachwood BBQ excels in two things - smoking and brewing. With two smoking machines in the kitchen, most of their menu consists of smoked chicken or smoked pulled pork sandwiches, BBQ, and burgers, as well has homemade sauces, condiments and fries. Sitting on stools at the bar eating our smokey fare, we could see directly through a window into the brewing room, where all the massive shiny equipment serves as the starting point for the solid list of home brews, mostly Ale's, (along with an extensive list of local California breweries) that they serve on tap.
Later in the evening we went for a jog over to the Queen Mary across the harbor, exactly two miles away. I had never been to the Queen Mary and was hoping we'd be able to get on and at least get a glimpse. The ship is impressive, and next to it is a huge Russian submarine, which would also be cool to tour. However all tours were closed for the day, and there is absolutely no way onto the ship - unless you are staying at the hotel on board, in which case you have to show approximately five guards your room key or reservation number to pass through. Although I would love to see it one day, I'm not sure it's worth the $35 adult ticket or high security hotel stay.
Monday morning we jogged down to the harbor, along the main beach, and back into town where we stopped in at one of Long Beach's MANY awesome coffee shops. Every time I have been to Long Beach I think I've gone to different yet perfect little local coffee shop - I love that the locals seem to be keeping Starbucks at bay. After paying in cash for our homemade panini's and iced coffee's we sat for hours in the cozy shop reading newspapers and relishing the relaxing atmosphere steps away from the busy town.
After enjoying our hotel for a while longer  (TV! Water pressure in the shower! Free coffee!) we packed up and headed over to the aquarium. While the animals and sea creatures were AWESOME the amount of crying kids and YMCA groups were daunting, to say the least. We spent half our time really intrigued with the cute puffins, glow in the dark jellyfish, playful seals and massive stingrays. We spent the other half of our time running away from herds of 8-year-old kids in blue shirts or tantrum-throwing two-year-olds bumping into my knees. It's so crazy to realize what an adult world we live in, where just a couple of hours in a kid-centric location is foreign and exhausting.
After that, we were definitely ready for a late lunch! We stopped at 2nd Street so Jordi could finally try an old family favorite - Open Sesame Lebanese Food. Sipping Moroccan mint iced tea and eating our stuffed grape leaves and pita, with thick tapestries in the background made us really wish we could be in Lebanon. But the food is amazing and the ambiance is fun, which counts for something!
All in all, it was fun to get out and do something different from the normal course of a weekend. And now we know just a little bit more about Long Beach.