I am always on the look out for a great dessert and vacations are an excellent time to really enjoy them. In Long Beach we found an excellent Smores pie at the Made in Long Beach store. Another great stop is the Creamistry. Sure Ice cream can be found just about anywhere, but at the Creamistry, they actually make the ice cream right before your eyes with liquid nitrogen. It is an absolute must to check out when you are in Long Beach…
There is no shortage of great restaurants on Long Beach. We stumbled on a few that are an absolute must to visit. If you are a fan of Greek food, you will want to stop by George’s Greek Café on Pine Ave., here are a few other places worth mentioning…
Long Beach boasts a busy cruise ship port, with a wide variety of shopping and restaurants close by. Make sure you visit The RMS Queen Mary where it is moored as a fully functional Hotel. It’s a fun place to stay or just to go take a tour. If you visit around Halloween you can also go Ghost hunting. The Pacific Aquarium is another noteworthy place to visit, go see Sharks, Penguins and other sea creatures, check out the Jellyfish exhibit and then go eat a cooked one at the cafe. Use the Aqualink where they will shuttle you around the shoreline. Catch the Catalina Express for a great Day trip to Catalina Island.
Downtown Disney also becomes very festive at Christmas time, with Christmas trees, lights, decorations and holiday treats. This year you can even go ice skating on Olaf’s Frozen ice rink, set up for you to enjoy right beside the ESPN zone. You will also find a winter village set up where you can browse gifts, souvenirs and treats.
California adventure also has a great Christmas Overlay with decorations around every corner. Although the spectacular Christmas tree on Main Street USA in Disneyland is pretty hard to beat, The World of Color Winter Dreams show alone is worth dragging yourself out of Disneyland and into California Adventure for even more Christmas fun.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was only 8 years old and would have been as excited back then, as I am now to hear about the new Disneyland and Disney World expansions.
If you like Candy Canes you will love the handmade ones available at the Candy Palace on Main Street USA. Make sure you stop by first thing in the morning as they sell out quickly for the day. You will also love the peppermint ice cream or peppermint mocha, which will surely put you in the Christmas spirit, here are a few more treats worth trying…
One of the greatest times of the year to enjoy Disneyland is at Christmas. The park transforms into a Christmas wonderland with so many amazing decorations, from the 60 foot Christmas tree on Main Street USA to the snow covered Sleeping Beauty Castle glowing with blue lights and icicles…
If you are looking for the bizarre then this is the beach for you. The Venice Beach Boardwalk will provide you with ample opportunity to people watch…
A great California beach is just 45 minutes from the LAX airport. Enjoy miles of beautiful, clean sandy beaches. The Santa Monica Pier offers an amusement park right on the Pier with a great Roller Coaster and Ferris Wheel as well as a few other fun rides. Although the rides are no match to a large theme park, the uniqueness of the pier make it worth a visit. You will find a few great dining selections right on the Pier. The most notable being the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. The Third Street Promenade is just a few blocks up from the Pier with a lot of great shopping and all of the usual comforts.
Enjoy some of the seasonal treats available during the Halloween season at Disneyland. Especially all the various pumpkin flavored treats like the cheesecake or beignets. Here are just a few of the delicious additions you will want to sink your fangs into…
If you love dressing up for Halloween, you will find no better place to visit than Disneyland during Mickey’s not so scary Halloween party! This is one of the coolest special events to enjoy in the park. Halloween is the only time of the year where you will see all of the Disney Villains come out and roam the park. You will love all of the seasonal Halloween treats as well as the Halloween overlays…
If you can only stop one place for a treat in San Francisco, make sure you stop by the Ghiradelli chocolate factory. Ghiradelli chocolate is truly amazing and you will not be disappointed, here are a few more…
If you can only do one thing in San Francisco, make sure you stop by Brenda’s on Polk Ave for Breakfast. The butter pecan french toast is absolutely amazing . And since it will be pretty hard to only do one thing in San Francisco, you won’t want to miss the Beuna Vista Cafe for a truly amazing Irish Coffee. Here are a few more restaurant’s worth stopping by to enjoy…
If you are going to San Francisco… You will enjoy a beautiful city with so many wonderful things to see and do. And eat of course, with no shortage of great restaurants to enjoy and the fresh sourdough bread available everywhere is amazing. Enjoy an easy train ride from the Airport on the BART system, just 20 minutes and you are right downtown San Francisco. Enjoy the ease of getting around by Trolley or public transportation. Or for a little fun, rent a GoCar these little 3 wheel motorcycles are a blast to drive while visiting some of these great sights: The Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, Lombard Street, Fisherman’s wharf and Alcatraz just to name a few. Make sure you listen for the fog horn and watch the Golden Gate bridge disappear as the fog rolls in. After a single visit you will want to go back again and again. Here is a short list of a few things you might want to fit in while you are there.
If you can only do one thing at Huntington Beach, go to Duke’s Restaurant and order the Hula Pie, everything else you do will be just a bonus. This dessert alone is worth the drive!
Many great restaurants can be found right on the beach as well as within walking distance of the Huntington Pier. If you can only dine at one restaurant at Huntington beach make sure you stop at Duke’s Restaurant…
You will find many great beaches within an hour drive of Disneyland, we will be reviewing many of them here in subsequent posts. This trip we spent the day at Huntingdon Beach. Here is what you will find along with the enjoyment of a beautiful sandy beach to build castles or go surfing.
Within walking distance of the Disneyland resort you will find a wide variety of excellent restaurants. We have been enjoying Disneyland for years and have found a few restaurants outside the park that we would never miss. If you only have time for one great breakfast in Anaheim make sure you stop by Mimi’s Café on Harbor Boulevard.
The Anaheim area offers some other great things to enjoy, if you have an extra day or two before or after you begin using your Disneyland park hopper ticket. Here you will find a few other things you can enjoy doing on your visit:
Always Stir 