Long Beach, California

The annual Pirate Festival at Shoreline Village is almost here! Mark your calendar for  Saturday, September 13, 1-7 pm, so you don’t miss out on the fun. The Pirate Festival is one of the most popular summer events in Long Beach; appearances by Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hook impersonators are the big draw, but there are plenty of other activities too. You can hang out and watch the pirate band, pirate swordfights, fire manipulation show, or you can take a pirate cruise and hope you return alive. There will also be hair wrapping, balloon art and face-painting. The most enthusiastic of pirate fans (children and adults) can don their own pirate gear to compete in the costume contest. A professional photographer will also be on hand to snap a photo of you and your favorite pirate for $10.

Soccer Buzz named Long Beach State midfielder Hayley Bolt to this season’s first National Elite Team of the Week. The Elite Team recognizes players who make “significant contributions” to their teams during the week. Bolt put her mark on Long Beach State’s season opener against Gonzaga, knocking in one goal herself and tallying two assists on top of that. The game ended with a score of 4-0. Bolt has collected various awards and accolades throughout her college soccer career, including Big West Freshman of the Year, conference Midfielder of the Year and a couple of appearances on the all-conference first team.

The Long Beach State Women’s soccer team is coming off of a 13-7-0 season, with 10 of 11 starters returning.

Shoreline Drive in Long Beach was temporarily changed from our well-known, waterfront street into a Chinese scene for car chases and explosions. From Tuesday, August 26 to Thursday, August 28, Shoreline Drive hosted filming for the movie Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. Although they were scheduled to stay for another week, the cameras and crews were packed up on Thursday—which was a positive development for those on the road and nearby residents. Signs written in Chinese, loud explosion noises, and fast-paced car chases caused a fair bit of commotion. Of course, no one will remember all that by the time the movie hits theaters—especially if downtown Long Beach locals get to see their own condos dressed up on the big screen.

The Skinny House is one of Long Beach’s better known attractions, not because it has a long parade of visitors, but because it has been designated by Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe or Not! as the narrowest freestanding home in the country. The 1932 home was designed and built by Newton Rummond on a lot measuring 10 feet wide by 50 feet long. According to Wikipedia and the official Long Beach website, Rummond built the home on a bet.

Located at 708 Gladys Avenue in Long Beach’s Rose Park District, the Skinny House stands three stories high and is designed in the English Tudor Revival style. The one-room-wide layout has 860 square feet of living space plus a deck on the third level.

The Skinny House is not open to the public because people actually live there. You can take a drive by, however, to see for yourself just how skinny the Skinny House is.

The 4th Annual Queen Mary Art Deco Festival. To be held August 29 through September 1, the Art Deco Festival will include an art deco ball, tea dance, film festival, live orchestra and art deco bazaar.  Go here for further information.

The Long Beach Crabfest. Show up at The Queen Mary on Saturday, August 30, 10am to 8pm, to have a rowdy good time with the likes of cool live bands like MWA featuring Vic The Brick, The Mai Tais, K Rock, 805 South, Rock Theatre and Hard Miles Band. Show times are available here .

Long Beach Blues Festival. The 29th Annual Long Beach Blues Festival is happening August 30 and 31 at Rainbow Lagoon Park in Downtown Long Beach. If you’re a blues fan, you’ll rearrange your best friends birthday party to be there. Scheduled performances by Chuck Berry, Taj Mahal Trio, Booker T. Jones, John Mayall, Pinetop Perkins, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Charlie Musselwhite and more. For times and ticket info, click here .

The Long Beach Greek Festival. A personal favorite, what else can I say? The Greek Festival will be held at 5761 East Colorado Street from Saturday, August 30 through Monday, September, 1, noon to 9pm. The official festival flyer is available here .

With a title like The $160,000 Long Beach Open, who wouldn’t want to take a swing at it? This past July, El Dorado Park and Skylinks Golf Course hosted the 2008 $160,000 Long Beach Open. It’s an annual event that includes food and beverages, a practice  round, and complimentary range balls. Some might say it’s more than a golf tournament, it’s an experience. The Long Beach Open people boast that their tournament is the first step for serious golfers with the slogan, “Where Winners Get Their Start.” Paul Goydos and Scott McCarron are examples of this; maybe 2008 winner Ted Oh from Torrance will follow in their footsteps.

If you love to play golf, but big tournaments like this are not for you, check out these other Long Beach golf courses:

Heartwell Golf Course
Recreation Park Golf Course
Bixby Village Golf Course
Virginia Country Club

Or try these golf courses, just outside of Long Beach:

Old Ranch Country Club (Seal Beach)
Iron-Wood Nine Golf Course (Cerritos)
Meadowlark Golf Course (Huntington Beach)
Lakewood Country Club (Lakewood)
Victoria Golf Course (Carson)
Dominguez Golf Course (Carson)

The Sinjin Volleyball End of Summer Beach Bash is just a few days away. On August 30, 2008, head over to Marina Green Park to either watch or take part in the Collegiate Open Volleyball Tournament. Anyone who is enrolled in any college can participate—including NCAA players not representing a school, incoming freshmen, grad students and recently graduated students. If your college days are long-gone, feel free to drop by and watch the fun. The deadline to sign up is the Friday before the event (that’s August 29 if you don’t have a calendar handy), but it’s recommended that you sign up earlier. There are two divisions (Open Division and A Division) and each Division is separated into Men’s and Women’s doubles. The tournament lasts all day, from 8am to 9pm, so don’t forget to put on a healthy layer of sunscreen. More information is available at SinjinVolleyball.com .

Here’s yet another tip on cheap/free things to do in Long Beach. Don’t miss out on the last two Moonlight Movies on the Beach, hosted by Alfredo’s Beach Club! On Tuesday, August 26, bring a picnic blanket over to Granada Beach (Granada and Ocean) to catch a viewing of Bruce Almighty. Then on Wednesday, August 27, you can enjoy a classic, The Wizard of Oz, at Cherry Beach (Ocean and Junipero). Both shows are scheduled to start at dusk, which should be about 8pm. In lieu of movie previews, you get cartoons as your pre-movie entertainment. That means you could probably show up a few minutes late if you don’t need the best seat in the house or, in this case, the best seat on the beach. Parking and popcorn are free! Hooray! You could also show up super-hungry, and then buy a BBQ dinner and/or snacks. These two movies finish out an amazing fifth year of Moonlight Movies on the Beach.

The first Long Beach Ho’olaulea is fast-approaching. You are wondering what a Ho’olaulea is, right? It’s a Polynesian-themed festival that will keep you occupied and entertained, South Pacific style, for hours. There is a full slate of activities scheduled, including lots of free entertainment, fun arts and crafts for people of all ages (who doesn’t love tiki carving?), an Island cultural center and marketplace, jaw-dropping fire and knife shows, a kids’ play area, “Crazy Al Evans’ Tiki Museum,” canoe rides plus some South Pacific culinary delights, “Keikis” dancing and more. If you’re interested, show up at Granada Beach between 10am and 9pm on August 23 or 24. Granada Beach is located at 5105 East Ocean Boulevard. Admission is free. For more information, visit Alfredosbeachclub.com.

Every Thursday evening, from 6 to 8pm, you can enjoy a Thursday Night Twilight Concert in the Park—live, free music in parks all around Long Beach. On Thursday August 21, head on over to Houghton Park (6301 Myrtle Avenue) for music from Scoop DeVille. If that date doesn’t work for you, you can check out Lucky Lloyd Blues Band at Silverado Park (1545 W. 31st Street) on the following Thursday.

Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site (4600 Virginia Road) is hosting the last of its concerts tonight, August 21, with Ross Altman. Gates open at 5pm and the concert is scheduled for 6 to 7:30pm. If you haven’t visited the rancho, this is a great excuse to check it out; you’re free to wander around during the concert.

Finally, the El Dorado Nature Center (7550 East Spring Street) is hosting a “Cultural Rhythms” Concert in honor of Mexican Independence Day on September 17; music begins 6:30pm.