In between being on the Queen Mary and the gondola ride, we had lunch at Buster's Beach House and dinner at Gladstone's.
Barb and I found Buster's Beach House at a small shopping center located at 168 Marina Drive. My palate was interesting in doing a day of seafood. The hype of the restaurant is the view, which is great as long as the food is as good. It was. We started with a coconut crusted fried shrimp appetizer. Barb had the ahi tuna while I had halibut with plum sauce over coconut jasmine rice. Hmmmm...is that Eunice trying to take a bite? For dessert we shared this outrageous Fruit Fantasia: sweet flatbread (in the shape of a surfboard)smothered with a tropical mango glaze topped with exotic fresh fruits and berries, toasted coconut and almond streusel.
Gladstone's locale was at the Pine Avenue Pier, an area of food and entertainment, where you can view the Queen Mary across the way. Gladstone's has both indoor and outdoor dining. A sushi bar and entertainment are indoors. The outside area was especially set up for the cooler evening. There was one center table that had burning rocks in the middle. Heat lamps were fixed near each table around it, which accounts for why my photos came out with a red tone.
When it comes to sake, there's nothing I like more than a carafe of Gekkeikan Black and Gold. If you remember from my trip to Folsom, I visited the company and did a tasting. It was paired with a 3 Amigos Roll of salmon, tuna, yellowtail wrapped and covered in tempura flakes, topped with spicy mayo and papaya mango salsa.
We then got sample their ahi tuna, mahi mahi, and a dungenese crab. You can't get more local on crab. I love it because it's the least salty while having the most meat
Make room for dessert as we had the Mile High Chocolate Cake. Now that was decadent! Couldn't take the leftovers to go so we shared it with people from another table.
Having taped the interviews of La Traviata Restaurant, Barbara and I were off to visit the Queen Mary, now a hotel. It's a fabulous idea for people who want to experience sleeping on a cruise ship and not worrying about becoming sea sick or getting stuck in the ocean for four days.
We went to the check in desk on the lobby level and got what would be considered a family suite. There was a bedroom with a king bed, television and work area with port holes facing the land for a view of downtown Long Beach. The other room had two twin beds, a sink and the bathroom.
The one main activity on the Queen Mary is Ghost Tours. The ship has restaurants, shops, evening entertainment, and lots of the ship's history to explore. We later taped an interview with one of the shop managers as you can purchase some historic items such as dishes and napkin holders.
Gondolas in Long Beach? Yes, there is an area known as Naples Island where a company called Gondola Getaway has set up a romantic walkway (ala Italian style) to several gondolas. These gondolas, imported from Italy, can be made for dining or just relaxing while the gondolier takes you on a tour.
Kyle, our gondolier, told us about the houses along the waterways. There was the most expensive, the oldest and one that was "green" with large windows that drew in the sunlight to use as energy. Dean Martin music was playing in the background and voices echoed as we passed under bridges.
There were several boats as it looked as if each homeowner had some sort of sea vehicle such as one run by battery looking more like a golf cart just made from cruising the waterways.
Then there were those that created their own "gondola" by standing on what looked like a large surfboard.
I recently returned from visiting Long Beach, California after having board the Catalina Island Express on the last trip. I wanted to see just what Long Beach had to offer for me as well as Esther and Eunice. I was fortunate to have my talented tech friend Barbara Coletta to assist on some photos and pre-recorded interviews for my internet radio show. We also had a fun time as well.
I appreciate a non-stop flight from New York to California, especially on Jet Blue. It seems that they have added snack boxes to their service. For six dollars you can choose one of the varieties, none of which are actual sandwiches but one up on their free cookies, chips, etc. Although I choose to pay the fifty buck fee to sit in the front with extra leg room, it's not that much of a difference when you're short.
I also love that the seats are comfy and have much more leg room than most of the other airlines. The Long Beach terminal is quite small and with tourism being the way it is there and Los Angeles not being that far away, ground had to be broken by Jet Blue CEO Dave Barger for a larger terminal.
While waiting at the gate, we met Capt. Ron Horetski of the Los Angeles Fire Department with his dog, Pearl. We noticed that he was a rescue dog. As it turns out, they were just on television that morning because the ASPCA Search and Rescue dog, Pearl, was honored the day before (November 11th) as the ASPCA's 2010 Dog of the Year at The Annual Humane Awards Luncheon in York City. Pearl, herself was rescued from an animal shelter and Ron adopted her. That makes Pearl a rescue dog that's been rescued.
On board Esther, Eunice and I were invited into the cockpit for photos before takeoff.
Upon landing I took a taxi to Hotel AVIA. Now, originally, Nancy Kozicki was to be joining Barbara. However, their doggie was having a problem and Nancy chose to stay home with her. I bring this up because the hotel was clear that there would be three adults in the room. I checked in before Barbara showed. The room was quite large. There was a king bed and sort of separation between the bed and living room, of which the couch had a pull out bed. There was a robe placed out on the king bed and a second robe in the closet. It wasn't until sleep time that we realized that the other two people were not acknowledged as there were no bed linens or pillows for the sofa bed. Their answer was that we were expected to call down for turn down service. Why would I have to? Did they think that we would not need it and all three of us would sleep in the king bed with one of us not having a robe?
I was supposed to meet with the General Manager Bob Haury for an interview. He left a note saying that he had to leave the premises and would be back at 9 a.m. the next day. Didn't happen. Called at a later date and call not returned.
That evening, Barbara and I went to a La Traviata Restaurant located in the downtown area of Long Beach.
Aside from obviously being an Italian restaurant, they had an opera singer Sheryl Smith and the cuisine was Nouveau Italian. Owner Mario Asab had us do a tasting. Keep in mind that these were not necessarily full portions.
We started with a salad if mixed greens tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette, topped with sun dried cranberries, pear tomatoes and feta cheese followed by lobster ravioli that had mascarpone cheese in it. The ravioli was thin the way I prefer.
The next tasting was that of Chilean Sea Bass baked with a miso glaze, topped with tobiko caviar, scallions and a splash of ponzu-soy sauce on a bed of jasmine rice.
