Long Beach, California - Fav 5 {Travel Guide}

Fav 5 Travel Guides are a short list of the best things I've found to do, see, eat, or drink in a particular location. This guide is for Long Beach, California. 

For more within Cali check out Travel Guides for Palm Springs, Disneyland, and Disney's California Adventure. 

​See more Travel Guides for Travel in the USA and Traveling the World.

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We snuck out of the wintery gloom in Seattle for a long weekend in Long Beach, California earlier this month. Myself, my husband Bryce, and our great friend Lauren walked, scootered, and explored all over the city! 

This Travel Guide highlights the best parts of our trip and where you should stop if you make a visit to Long Beach. And no, we didn't see Snoop Dogg but we did sing "with so much drama in the LBC" often! 

Long Beach, California

1. In-N-Out Burger

My husband, Bryce, is from Southern California. He is a true Cali boy with a life long love for In-N-Out Burger. 

In-N-Out burger is a fast food chain that began in California in the late 1940's. There are locations throughout CA and only in 5 other states! They've got burgers, fries, milkshakes, and a very well known "secret" menu. 

Bryce always goes to In-N-Out as soon as he lands in his home state. As much as I don't want to admit it I've grown to love it over the years, too! The brand's neon sign logo and repetitive palm trees just get me. Once I learned about the "secret" menu and ordering everything animal style I was in love. After I mastered the meat-less option my devotion to In-N-Out was forever!

In our four days in CA we went to In-N-Out twice. Bryce eats meat, I don't, and our travel pal Lauren is gluten-free. We could all order and eat happily at In-N-Out which seems really rare for fast food.

Love you, In-N-Out, even if my husband prefers you for his "death row meal" over my cooking!

Check out the Figs and Flights post on How to Order In-N-Out. 

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2. Breakfast at The Harbor

We went to Long Beach for a three day concert so most of our time was spent at the venue. We'd sneak in meals before the shows began and we had an exceptional breakfast one morning at The Harbor. 

I enjoyed a killer avocado toast topped with cheese and arugula. Bryce had a breakfast sandwich and a Bloody Mary loaded with a crispy strip of bacon. Lauren found a delicious gluten-free breakfast bowl of some sort. 

We all had a great meal and enjoyed people watching in downtown Long Beach in a trendy restaurant on a Saturday morning! The Harbor would be a great spot for happy hour, they've got tons of games.

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3. Dinner and Drinks at the Rooftop at Bo-beau Kitchen

While we went to California to escape the gloomy Seattle weather the temperatures in Long Beach weren't as high as we'd hoped. The rooftop bar at BO-beau Kitchen provided just enough fresh air and sun while also providing cozy comfort with heaters. 

The three of us sat belly-up at the rooftop bar, enjoying drinks and sharing so many appetizers. We had calamari with shishito peppers, a gluten free flatbread, chicken wings, and a few more things. 

The food was excellent and I'd love to go back and day-drink on that rooftop!

The Harbor and BO-beau are on the same block in downtown Long Beach. We ate and drank at both of those spots plus the nearby Carvery - which was also great.

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4. The Battleship Iowa

I love Battleships! "My ship" is the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I used to work  at the Battleship Missouri and our wedding reception was there, too. 

When we headed to Long Beach I knew I MUST visit the USS Iowa. The Missouri is one of 4 Iowa class ships, they're the biggest and last batch of battleships that were ever made. 

Touring the Iowa was amazing! The ship seems to be identical to the Missouri but, to the careful eye, there are plenty of differences.

You'll climb aboard and be in awe of the ship's size and her huge guns. (Boats and ships are always ladies, did you know?) Spend an hour or so climbing up and down the decks, learning and exploring how hundreds of men lived, worked, and fought a war from aboard a ship. My favorite parts are always the day to day life: where they slept, ate, and relaxed. You'll see the different levels of comfort for the sailors and Marines on board, based on rank. There's an event tent on the back of the ship, of course, and a great store for your souvenir shipping. 

Keep an eye out for hints of the tragedy that took place in one of the big gun turrets. In 1989 there was an explosion in gun turret #2 that killed 47 people. 

The Pacific Battleship Center - USS Iowa Museum kindly treated us to our visit to the ship! Thank you, sister ship mates. 

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5. The One Love Reggae Festival

The One Love Reggae Festival was the reason we chose to visit Long Beach! We didn't know what to expect from a three-day concert and now we do.

We saw so, so many of our favorite reggae artists. Lauren and Bryce both love Rebelution, Bryce and I have been following J Boog since our early days together in Hawaii, Common Kings are my absolute favorite and Mike Love is Bryce's! We jammed to so many bands and knew even more songs than we expected to. 

The venue was Queen Mary park which overlooked another huge and historic ship! We didn't get to visit the ship, she was closed all weekend. We think the many reggae bands were all staying aboard the Queen Mary for the weekend. 

There were TONS of food vendors and we grabbed snacks and drinks while running to and fro between the three stages. We shared waffle fries, enjoyed churros, ice cream, and mate hot chocolate among many others! 

Overall a reggae fest is just as fun and laid back as you'd expect it to be. The interesting thing is that we stood the whole time, there weren't any comfy grassy spots to sit and lounge while enjoying the shows. All of the stages were in parking lots where we stood and danced all weekend long. We did sit at some of the picnic tables from time to time but they were far from the action.

Despite the sore feet and less than sunny weather we all had a great time! I'm still jamming to the Spotify playlist from the concert a few weeks later.

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Thanks for exploring Long Beach with me! 

Let me know if you enjoyed this guide and if you hit any of my Fav 5 spots via Instagram, Facebook, or email. ​

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