Day 1: Long Beach

Long Beach Airport is rather small. I’ve flown into a few small airports in the United States, but for some reason I thought that this being a (mini-)hub for JetBlue, there would be more planes than just a few gates. I now understand why there was no kickoff party held here. The runway is the only large place in the airport that could hold a group of us.

They don’t lie when they say the Queen Mary is huge. It’s quite an amazing sight to see up close, even if just from the outside. It reminds me of the Titanic with the big smoke stacks reaching toward the sky.

Nearby you can see the Queen Mary Seawalk. There were few people around this afternoon, and most were more confused as to where to get tickets for the ship. I myself didn’t pay much attention to what the fancy buildings were all about.

Parkers’ lighthouse, accessible from the Aquarium, is a neat bonus. It doesn’t look like it’s open to the public to go inside. Anyone who is serious about lighthouses may want to consider the East coast, from what I hear.

The Long Beach Navy Memorial has an interesting globe. In the 1930s, according to the nearby sign, “Long Beach was known as the Navy capital of the United States. More Navy families lived here than in any other American city.” A large number of U.S. military personnel were sent to Pearl Harbor in 1941.

If you go

The Long Beach Transit bus 111 picks you up a block away from the airport (behind the parking garage) and takes you downtown for $1.25. It takes about 45 minutes, and much of the neighborhoods you pass through are average. At Pine and Ocean, hop on the free Passport bus that will take you where the real stuff is. There are three if not four different shuttles, taking you different places around downtown. I took the C bus and was able to accomplish a few things in the 6 hour layover. The Passport shuttle comes very frequently which makes sightseeing easy. You can choose to ride or walk, though with luggage in hand, riding is a better option. The LBT has a day pass for $4. If you ask for a transfer, you can stretch your $1.25 for two rides.

What it took

• 2 bus rides x $1.25
• 45 minutes each way