Adventure in LB

Sunday, March 1 - Wedneday, March 4

Rarely do I fly out of my home airport (San Jose).  Love the Southwest terminal.  Some turbulence prompting flight attendant to say, "Now's a good time to make sure your seat is fastened."  I felt reassured.... but my colleagues and I landed safely in Los Angeles.   Thought we were flying over San Diego but apparently it was the lovely harbor of Long Beach.  Clearly, I could do with a geography lesson or two.

Lobby of overpriced hotel in Long Beach.  No free Internet access either.  First stop of the evening -- the bar before discovering the Promenade, a street of fantastic restaurants. 

After each long day of my business trip, I had some free time to explore.  No, not the London Eye, people.  Long Beach was quite lovely to my surprise. 

No people, we're not in Venice, like it has palm trees.  No time though to explore the waterways, unfortunately.

No people, we are not in Sausalito.  Look at the skyline.  We're in Long Beach. 

Must say, this is quite a walkable and bicycle friendly city.  Plus the city provides a free bus called The Passport.   I was pleasantly surprised staying in Long Beach.

Found some time to visit The Queen Mary with colleagues, hello my friends from Sonoma.  It's now a hotel.  Below it is a russian submarine. 

a view.

Inside the Queen Mary.  Can we say, redrum redrum, The Shining....  Loved that they re-purposed this historic vessel.  Charming.  I'm glad that I had some time to be a tourist.

Back at LAX, ready to go home.  And the Oscar goes to .... yes, The Boyfriend, while on his own business trip in another state, still found time to make me feel special and put up with my babbling.