I created this site to relive the year we spent in Long Beach, California. Long Beach is located in Orange County in the greater Los Angeles area. Long Beach is a very unique place as the whole beach is within the harbor walls.
We first moved to Los Angeles to the greater Glendale area. We lived in the coolest apartment complex in the area. After Glendale, we move to Hermosa Beach and lived there for a year. Hermosa Beach was a lot of fun, however we lived in a two bedroom one bathroom very small place. We did have a slight view of the ocean from our deck. Our garage was a one car garage that was very narrow and the place was pretty expensive.
So we decided to check out Long Beach. We found an apartment at Gallery 421. This area of Long Beach is walking distance to the harbor where there are shops and restaurants. The apartment complex we picked was brand new. The area was considered to be a redevelopment area. Sitting between Broadway and Third Street. We were told by management that if we were to venture out, it would be better to walk along Broadway versus Third. We found out quickly that that was good advise. My husband ran into a couple of guys in the elevator the first week we were there who were all beat up. They said they had gotten mugged a couple evenings ago walking up third street. So from then on we would only walk up Broadway.
The apartment complex was beautiful! It had a theatre room, large pool with a hot tub, workout room, game room and a doggy wash room. Our apartment faced the inside of the complex which was very fortunate because we did not realize that across Broadway Street was the police department and fire department. We did hear sirens a lot but it was not as bad for those who did live on the outside units. We had two master bedrooms with their own bathrooms, a large deck and spacious kitchen.
We would walk daily down to the harbor sometimes to have lunch or dinner but mostly to walk around the harbor and look at the boats. There was a small harbor where there were shops and restaurants. It was so nice to dine outside and look at the boats. All of the restaurants had outdoor seating. They all had these great outdoor heaters when it was cold. There was a Mexican Restaurant, of course a Seafood Restaurant and a few others. This area is called Shoreline Village. Along with the specialty shops and restaurants there is a gaming area with a carousel.
There is a beautiful walking area that goes along the water. You can walk to a light tower and around it. At the bottom of the hill is the Aquarium of the Pacific where you can see the most beautiful fishes from the Pacific. In the Aquarium, there is a seal exhibit. One day we were there and found that if you ran back and forth in front of the window to their exhibit one of the seals will swim back and forth with you.
