Beautiful beach city. Lots to do here. Exotic eats, fun shopping, fresh air. In this city II've…read moreenjoyed Haute Dawgz (a sausage boutique), the Harper (a banquet venue), and trail running Fairview Park. Due to the good climate and bustling commerce, the streets can get pretty crowded. Beware drivers who stop at green light and cause you to miss it too. Took this one 10sec of green light to finally go. Too slow, we got stopped by the next red. Ignored my honk too. (9 Purportedly Parked Vehicle 616)

The city of Costa Mesa is awesome, one of the best places to live in the world if you ask me…read more I believe the city of Costa Mesa has had better days and they struggle with some of the same BS that the rest of California is forced to deal with but the economy is absolutely amazing, the home values are very rewarding for those that can afford to purchase a home. The local freeway system is brilliant, access to the 55, 73, 405 plus PCH, Bristol and Harbor Blvd will get you in and out of town quickly. The different restaurant opportunities is 2nd to none. Local surfing, mountain biking, hiking and other outdoor activities is literally right in our back yard. The cost of living in this area is not cheap but if you want to live in one of the best areas in the world some times you got step up!

San Pedro has a wonderful Arts District. Me and my girlfriend love coming down here to window shop…read moreand people watch. I like the little shops and places to eat here. I have only been coming here for a little while. Its like a small knit community with Theaters and Tattoo shops here too. We like to have coffee here too. The vibe is fun here. Not too bad with finding parking. You should check out the Arts District San Pedro.

The Arts District of San Pedro is a strange little conglomeration of galleries, shops, restaurants,…read morea pawnshop or two, a couple of bars, a thrift store, a coffee house, a tattoo shop, the old Warner Theater, and various places that people claim are galleries but they are simply living inside of these business/industrial spaces perhaps creating their art inside. Or, maybe not? This area is basically defined by 6th and 7th Street, South of Pacific Avenue. Though one could argue it stretches a little bit farther in the various directions. There are certain art complexes in L.A., (say Bergamont station is a great example), where when you visit you will be confronted by numerous galleries that are open and exhibiting their various styles of art. This, however, is not the case with the Arts District of San Pedro. What you do find here, in terms of art galleries, are store fronts that are closed and are open by appointment only. Thus, the question has to be raised, is this an Art's District at all? For me, I look at it as an overall expensive area of San Pedro that was once a functioning downtown but has lost that definition long ago. Thus, the storefronts are simply a place where you know art exists but the chances are you will never truly see it. Therefore, You must see this area as art onto itself. So, when you go here, do not necessarily expect to see any personal creations of art. Simply understand that you have to believe that there is art in the structures, the businesses, the restaurants, and the people that are hiding behind the closed and locked doors that they claim are galleries.

Oh hey, American Pie, Weird Science, and Donnie Darko houses are also along Country Club Drive in…read moreLong Beach too?! Sweet!!! After you've finished checking out the houses from Ferris Bueller (which was also featured in Red Dragon and Not Another Teen Movie) and Painters' House from American Pie 2, swing on over to the other streets surrounding Country Club Drive in Long Beach to check out these film location houses. Originally, I was planning on just visiting Ferris Bueller's House. Thanks to my trusty Yelp, it also pulled up this feed and other Yelpers reviewed the surrounding houses. Furthermore, a huge shout-out to Yelper Alana M., for posting the addresses on her picture captions. Definitely saved me the huge headache of trying to find them, lol! With that, I continued on my mini house tour before heading over to my first ever Long Beach Elite Perk from Alex, the newly appointed Long Beach Community Manager, yay! Admissions and Parking: All free and residential parking all around. Yes, residents actually live in these homes and so please be respectful and quiet when visiting the neighborhood. Locations: +2001 Donnie Darko House: 4225 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Drew Barrymore: A demonic-looking rabbit tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days when Donnie sleepwalks outside his house during the 1988 presidential election. I had never seen this movie but decided to check out house since it's here in Long Beach. +1985 Weird Science House: 4252 Country Club Drive, Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Kelly LeBrock, Anthony Michael Hall and IIan Mitchell-Smith. Two high school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman. Loved this movie! Always rooting for the geeks and Lisa (their creation) was sassy, loving, protective and brilliant! Then again, John Hughes' movies are always dope! (Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, etc). +Jim's House from 1999 American Pie: 3925 Cedar Avenue (and Stewart Way), Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott: Jim and his group of high school virgin friends decide to take action and vow to lose their virginity by prom. Lol, the apple pie sex scene! Can't live that imagine down...ever, lol! +Michele's House from 1999 American Pie: 3925 Cedar Avenue (and Roosevelt Road), Long Beach, CA 90807 Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott. Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thomas Nicholas, Shannon Elizabeth: Jim and his group of high school virgin friends decide to take action and vow to lose their virginities by prom. Michele's infamous quote: "And this one time at band camp...I stuck a flute in my...." LOL! Not so innocent, geeky, little band camp girl after all. She definitely taught Jim a thing or two.... If you're a fan of Donnie Darko, Weird Science, and/or the American Pie Franchise movies, come on over and check it out on these streets!

Went for a walk hoping to find all the famous houses. I found a few. Not a lot of color in the area…read moreby way of flowers but there was a lot of grass and trees both i loved. I enjoyed looking at the different styles of homes. I also liked the wide streets. I must dispute this as the nicest neighborhood in long beach. Belmont heights, Belmont shores, Naples and South long beach all have beautifully maintained homes and landscaping. And sidewalks. As someone pushilng a stroller bixy didnt have many sidewalks so i had to walk on the edge of the street. Bixy has a lot of trees and Grass. Grass is not something i see a lot of so i really appreciated that. Worth coming back but not with any sense of urgency.

I'm giving this event 5 stars because it is my favorite dragon boat race out of all the races the…read moreUC Davis dragon boat team participates in :) I've only been here once and that was the Summer of 2012. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go an participate in this race. Not only is this a race, but it is also a festival with lots of booths that sell food, clothes, gears, and many other things that have to do with dragon boating. This is one of the biggest races/festivals of the West Coast and teams from all over California (middle schools, high schools, colleges, cancer survivors, masters (40+ yo), and companies like Kaiser) come to Long Beach to compete. Even international teams like Germany, Netherlands, and China come all the way to SoCal to compete as well. This is a 2 day event in the summer and it usually goes from around 7:00am - 5:00pm for both days. The first day is usually races for seating/semifinals while the second(last) day is for the final races. All the volunteers here at the event are very helpful and friendly and they make sure that the site is very clean and organized for all paddlers. I love how this event is located in SoCal because the weather here in the summer is amazing especially for a sport like dragon boating. Great memories were made and friendships were built while having a great time racing with other teams. I can't wait to race again/for my last time this coming Summer of 2013. If you are in the area, come out and watch and support UC Davis' Davis Racing Dragons!! (DRD) :D

Aww yes, my favorite dragon boat festival! :D…read more The Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival is one of the biggest festivals held in California that I know of. It's held annually around the end of July at Marine Stadium Park in Long Beach, CA. It's a two day event that starts early Saturday and ends mid-day Sunday. This is a great event to go to for everyone! If you don't know what dragon boating is, you'll have many, many opportunities to watch great teams from all over the world compete. There are teams who come from all over California, and then there are teams from Taiwan and China as well. There are many vendors selling food, drinks, clothing, paddles, pfds, etc. There's also a stage where many shows take place during heats. I highly suggest everyone to come check this festival out next year if you're in the area. You might get sucked into the world of dragon boating! :P

Inspired by her gold medal win at the 2026 Olympics, LA artist Gustavo Zermeño Jr created this…read moremural in Gardena on the side of Coe's Glass & Mirror. For a lot people in the world - from professionals to casual viewers of the sport - the talented young woman captivated our hearts being unapologetically herself and winning the first gold medal for the US in 24 years in women's individual figure skating. For me personally, it was such a point of pride that she really repped the Asian community and Oakland. I didn't grow up in Oakland myself, per se, but I grew up in the East Bay about 20 minutes east of Oakland. She's also the second Asian woman to win gold from East Bay. The other one being Kristi Yamaguchi Who has a temp skating rink in my hometown each year during the holidays. Since I have a lot of family in the South Bay, I knew at some point I was going to visit this mural and admire it. I wanted to do it before it started getting drawn over by disrespectful taggers. Anyway, just a great place to visit to check out this mirror really quick. I had a coffee in hand while doing it and there are a lot of great eateries nearby. Also, as with most public works of art, this is free!

I went to see this mural in Gardena a couple months ago. It was completed around March 1, 2026…read more It is located at the corner of 156th St. & Crenshaw Blvd. Look for Coe's Glass & Mirror building, it is on the side wall of the building facing 156th Street. Celebrating Ice Skater Alysa Liu's Olympic Gold Medals is what this mural is all about! She is the first American woman to win an individual Gold medal in Olympic figure skating since 2002, when Sarah Hughes won. Alysa also helped the women's team secure a Gold Medal. This achievement earned her a spot in history as the first time a women's singles skater won two golds in one Olympic Games. This mural highlights Alysa testing the gold medal along with showing her skating during the individual Gold Medal performance. What is the relevance of featuring her here in LA when she grew up in the Bay Area (San Francisco)? She's a student at UCLA, which isn't very far from Gardena. Gustavo Zermeño Jr, @gz.jr , is the muralist who created & painted this golden mural. If you want to see another mural he did, go to Kin Sushi House in Torrance. It celebrates 3 Asian Dodgers player surrounded with Sanrio characters (Japanese theme). Super kawaii!! Glad I was able to come appreciate the mural of Alysa Liu's bright shining moments!

This is a super fun thing to do during the holidays! It's free, family (and dog) friendly, and…read morejust really pretty. The whole harbor is decorated with holiday lights, sea creatures, some have bubbles. There's holiday music being piped in through the lighted tunnels. We didn't know what to expect so we just drove up, looked at lights, and then came home. Next year, we'll make more of an evening out of it. Plenty of restaurants around! Worth checking it out. :)

First of all, this place was hard to find! The address they used on the site lead is to a Dana…read morePoint campground and it was almost pitch black... We drove back out to the Main Street and followed what appeared to be an increasing amount of Christmas lights to find the actual place. The pictures I've seen of this place had me thinking it was a huge event, but upon attending, it was just Dana Point harbor decked out in aquatic-themed lights. It's definitely a nice 10-minute walk, I just expected more. It's a place with some cool photo ops and worth checking out if you're in the area!

We commissioned Carolee to do a baby safari mural in our nursery…read more She far surpassed any expectations we had. The mural is stunning!! She did everything we asked plus some! On top of doing an incredibly beautiful and detailed mural, she was an absolute pleasure to have in our home. We have four little doxie's that fell head over heels for Carolee. I will be hiring her again in the future for a mural at my business. If you're considering Carolee, look no further!

Awesome Mural by an excellent Artist. Carolee has a great personality and is very easy to work…read morewith.

Valmonte is my favorite neighborhood in Palos Verdes Estates (with Malaga Cove in second place &…read moreLunada Bay third). Valmonte borders the Hollywood Riviera neighborhood of Torrance on the north & Palos Verdes Golf Club on the southwest. Valmonte homes are on both sides of Palos Verdes Drive North, a picturesque road with a wide, tree-filled median. (PV Dr N takes you into Rolling Hills Estates as you leave Valmonte heading south.) That PV Drive median is so generous because it was intended to accommodate a train during the development of the City of Palos Verdes Estates in the early 1900s. For various reasons the train didn't happen....but today the lengthy median boasts a lovely, curving, gravel walking path & an adjacent wood chip trail for horse riders from nearby Palos Verdes Stables. Yes, horses, meandering right down the middle of the divided road. The residential area called Valmonte Grove is my choice walking territory on the planet. It's downright enchanting, especially just before sunset when golden glowing rays beam thru tall eucalyptus trees, casting shadows of intricate patterns. The green hills of Malaga Cove are the background. The ocean is a few blocks away. I took an out-of-towner, someone who has travelled the world for decades, on a walk though Valmonte Grove. He remarked, "This is the prettiest little neighborhood I've ever seen, anywhere. All the trees!" Yeah, all those trees. To preserve the character of the area, the city won't allow for them to be removed unless diseased. It's not unusual to count 15-20 eucalyptus trees on a single property. Gutters & lawns fill up with endless tree debris and, although eucalyptus seem to have shallow roots, not so great for underground plumbing pipes, I'm told. And the trees have been known to topple over occasionally. Worth the hassle for such unique beauty? I say yes. I see Valmonte Grove as a collection of vintage homes, of many different architectural designs, built into a eucalyptus grove. I've heard, but can't confirm, that the eucalyptus were originally planted there more than 100 years ago to be cut down & used for firewood. That would explain their density. Valmonte has no streetlights, sidewalks or traffic signals....only stop signs. There is an Art Jury, in place since the City of Palos Verdes Estates was created, that oversees any new residential building projects, including size & style of homes, as well as modification to existing houses. Changes to exterior doors & windows, roofs, even landscaping....must be approved. Exterior paint colors are restricted. If your new porch railing does not conform to your 1940s Colonial style house, you'll be replacing it. Strict, yes. But stroll through Valmonte & you'll understand why such rules endure. Photos cannot capture the intoxicating scent of eucalyptus, the sound of song birds or the charming peacefulness of Valmonte. The prettiest little neighborhood anywhere, where sunlight filters thru tall trees, where kids can safely play on narrow quiet streets, where meticulously manicured flower gardens abound, where neighbors all know each other.....this is where I've wandered on foot for years, allowing the magic to envelop me. It never gets old or boring - it only gets better as time passes.