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Old 27 Sep 17, 09:18 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Our West Coast Adventure - May 2017 - Day 16: Long Beach, Yard House, Queen Mary and Flying Home

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Friday 26th May 2017

Steps: 13,013
Miles: 5.28

So here it is… our very last morning waking up on the West Coast! The alarm went off bright and early at 7am and as we wanted to make the most of our last hours we were out of bed by 7:30am and out of the room by 8:15am. We didn’t have to check out of the hotel until 12pm so the plan was to get up and out to see some sights of Long Beach before heading back to pack up.

On the way out of the hotel I couldn’t resist a stop at the Starbucks in the lobby to pick up a caramel frappuccino ($5.50).



Leaving the hotel at the exit on the first floor we crossed over the bridge that took us towards the harbour. It gave a beautiful view of the Hyatt too, such a lovely hotel and somewhere that I would definitely recommend if you ever plan a stop in Long Beach!





It was a beautiful crisp morning and being so early it was very quiet around the harbour so we had a wonderful peaceful stroll taking in all the sights. Such a beautiful area that we both feel in love with instantly (whilst also wishing we had longer there to explore properly!)











On making it to the other side of the harbour we made a stop at one of the benches and spent some time just looking out to the boats and having a little reflection on what an amazing trip it had been. I felt quite emotional thinking about how lucky we had been to experience so much over the past couple of weeks and truly thankful that we were able to tick so many things off our list.







After that little stop we continued our walk, it is quite a large harbour it has to be said and we found ourselves strolling past various gift shops (all that weren’t open at this early time of the morning!)







We eventually found ourselves with a view of the Queen Mary, quite a sight to be seen and very beautiful in the morning sunshine.









From there we decided to start making a slow walk back towards the hotel, stopping for countless photos along the way. Such a beautiful place! Paul couldn’t resist a little go on the gym equipment either!























We made it back to the hotel at 10am, stopping in the gift shop for a little browse as we entered the lobby. I couldn’t resist picking up this super cute California mug ($14.99)… you can never have enough mugs right?!



We made it back up to the room at 10:20am and set about packing up our cases for one final time. By 11:45 we were ready to go so Paul called down to bell services who swiftly arrived to collect our bags. Before leaving the room I couldn’t resist one last photo of that beautiful harbour view…



On getting down to reception we checked out, settling the balance of $29 which covered the valet parking. As we had some time to kill before we had to head to the airport we made our way out of the hotel and back in the direction of harbour… by now it was 12:15pm and we were both in need of some food!

After reading Abi’s recent trippy I had one destination in mind… Yard House! The harbour was much busier now being that little bit later in the day but luckily we were able to be seated straight away out on the terrace with a lovely view of the boats.





Paul ordered a coke and the BBQ bacon cheddar burger and I opted for a strawberry lemonade and the Nashville hot chicken sandwich. It was all very tasty and a perfect stop for lunch!







By 1:10pm the bill was settled so we made our way back out and found ourselves in the arcade where Paul of course couldn’t resist a go on the basketball game! He came away with a handful of prize tickets which we gave to a lady who had two young girls with her, good deed for the day done!







As the gift shops were now open we popped in a few to have a browse and in ‘Just Got 2 Have It’ we picked up two coasters (2 for $10) and yet another magnet for Paul’s Mum ($3.99)… they matched the ones we had bought in Santa Monica yesterday so were impossible to resist!



Whilst in there I also spotted this glass which given my current status I couldn’t help but chuckle at!



By 2pm we were back at the hotel where we collected the car from the valet and had our cases brought back from bell services. With everything loaded into the car we were away by 2:10pm.

Before leaving Long Beach we wanted to drive over to the Queen Mary to have a closer look so this was our next stop. Parking up the car we wandered over, it sure is one big boat!















We had originally planned on going inside and having a look around the Queen Mary whilst in Long Beach but time was quickly running away from us and as the cheapest entry was $29.95 each it seemed a big expense when we only had about half an hour to play with (bad time management on our parts there!). So instead we had to settle on admiring her from the outside!

By 2:45pm we were good to leave, and as we had been there less than 30mins we were still inside the free parking window.

As we still had a little bit of time at our disposal before we needed to make our way to the airport we decided on one final stop at the beach (you can’t come to Long Beach and not stop at the actual beach!). It was so beautiful, and once again made us wish we had more time to explore this gorgeous area!















It was soon time to hit the road though as we had a plane to catch… my face says it all!



By now it was 3:05pm and on getting in the car we put in the zip code of the Alamo garage and were pleased to find it was only estimating a half hour journey. On joining the freeway we initially hit some traffic (no surprises there!) but luckily it got moving again pretty quickly! On approaching Alamo we pulled into Denny’s that was just around the corner as we wanted to park up and take a quick video of the car (nothing like leaving it to the very last minute!). With that done we found ourselves arriving at Alamo at 3:45pm, a full 15 minutes before the car was due to be returned… excellent time keeping there I would say! (Much more successful than when returning the supercar back in Vegas anyway!)

On getting out of the car we noted our final mileage… a total of 1,115 miles clocked up for the trip! (Have edited this figure, I originally wrote the car mileage rather than what we actually covered!). We then headed into the terminal to hand back the keys and settle up our outstanding balance ($177 which covered the full tank of gas and the extra insurance).

As the Alamo garage is off-site we had to hop on a shuttle bus that took us over to the terminal… even on this short journey we hit traffic though, it is unavoidable anywhere in LA it seems!

On making it over to the terminal we checked in our cases (all 4 of them!) and then made our way through security. LAX is a pretty small airport so there wasn’t too much to keep us entertained whilst we waited for our flight. There was of course a Starbucks though so I seized the opportunity to have one last caramel frappuccino ($5.60) on US soil and also picked up a blueberry muffin ($2.85) for good measure. I had to chuckle at them spelling my name with a ‘Z’, not often my simple name gets spelt wrong!



Paul was also feeling a little peckish so he headed over to the Ciabatta Bar and grabbed a turkey sandwich and a fountain Coke.





At this point I was still wearing jeans and as we all know, this is not suitable long-haul flying attire! I had planned ahead though and packed a pair of jogging bottoms and my new Nike trainers in my hand luggage case so I made a quick stop at the restrooms to change.



Paul also did the same to change into some jogging bottoms… it’s all about the loungewear when flying! On his way back he stopped and picked up some sweets for the journey… some essential Twizzlers and a bag of Jolly Ranchers ($4.49 each… damn airport prices!)



Our flight started boarding at 6:10pm and of course Paul made us hold back until the very last possible minute so we ended up being the last people onto the plane! The plane for our journey home was Birthday Girl and we were informed there were 218 passengers on board (no idea why I felt it necessary to make not of this but there you go!). After stowing away our hand luggage and getting ourselves comfy in our seats we both wrestled on our flight socks and took a complimentary drink from the air stewardess (sparkling wine for Paul and an orange juice for me)



The sad face going home selfie was of course necessary at this point!



By 6:50pm we were leaving the runway, slightly behind the scheduled time of 6:30pm. I was most excited to spot Long Beach as we were taking off, the Queen Mary is a good landmark to make it stand out!





Within 4 minutes into the flight the guy sitting in front of Paul fully reclined his seat… despite being in PE it was still pretty encroaching into Paul’s space and that early on in the journey it seemed a bit unfair! We had quite a loud bitch about how inconsiderate it was and he shortly put his seat back up… not sure if he heard us but if it worked then all good!

To kill some time I put on Moana, my first viewing of this and I have to say I loved it! When the drinks came round I went for an apple juice and Paul had his standard Coke!

At 8:25pm they served dinner, apologies for the poor photos here… the lighting was very dim on the plane! But in case you can’t work it out Paul had the miso chicken and I chose the vegetable pasta bake. I was most disappointed to see they were offering up cheesecake as the dessert again! Despite that, the food was pretty good, much better than our outbound offering anyway!







Not long after dinner I finished up Moana and I have to say it reduced me to tears! I’m not sure if it was the film, the pregnancy hormones or the emotion of the holiday coming to an end but I was in floods (possibly a mixture of three to be fair!). Luckily Paul had a tissue to hand so I could mop up the streams of tears!

It wasn’t long before I was starting to feel peckish (those in-flight meals are pretty small to be fair and I hadn’t eaten the dessert remember!) so Paul kindly took a stroll down to the Wander Wall and picked me up a stash of goodies… he is such a keeper!



With about 5 hours of the flight left I tried to get some sleep. Despite being exhausted I never felt like I actually went off but I must have been dosing as before I knew it the time had fast-forwarded to 2:25pm and they were bringing around breakfast!



At this point there was still two hours of the journey left so I went back to the in-flight entertainment to pass the last of the time, getting through an episode of Modern Family and two episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Soon enough the time has passed and at 12:35pm UK time we were landing (20 minutes ahead of the scheduled arrival time of 12:55pm).



We were slightly delayed getting off the plane as there was a wait to park (or whatever the official term is for a plane!) but luckily we had a super speedy process getting through security and baggage reclaim so all was soon forgotten!

With all our bags loaded onto two trolleys we started to make our way through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel at customs… only for Paul to then be stopped! As you can probably imagine my heart was in my mouth! The woman asked where he was returning from but she completely caught him off guard so he got a little flustered so I quickly stepped in and explained we had been on a road trip around the West Coast. She then asked if we had returned with any electricals that we had bought whilst out there (which we of course hadn’t) and then sent us on our way. I was having visions of us having to have everything inspected… which with four cases could have taken a while!

In fairness looking at our trolleys I am not surprised we were stopped… that’s a lot of luggage for two people!



By the time we emerged from our brush with customs it was 1:30pm. Paul’s Dad was picking us up but had gotten stuck in traffic getting to Heathrow and was currently 10 miles away. We took the time to pop in WH Smiths and pick up some crisps and drinks to keep us going until we got home.

By 2:20pm Alan had located us in the short stay car park and we had all the cases loaded into the car and we were ready to start the drive home. As Alan had collected us in our car we made a stop on route to drop him off at his home in Chelmsford and from there it was straight home for us, walking through the door at 5:10pm… completely exhausted and desperate for some chill time on the sofa!

And there it is… that brings us to the end of our West Coast adventure! An epic 16 night trip, staying in 6 hotels (7 if you count the first night at Heathrow Premier Inn!) and visiting Anaheim, Calico, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Hollywood, Santa Monica and Long Beach. It was a trip we had been dreaming of for years and finally it became a reality and I truly can say it smashed all expectations! When booking this trip we were unaware it would be our last big holiday as a duo and it turned out to be the perfect pre-baby vacation that gave us the most wonderful quality time together whilst also ticking off some amazing bucket list items!

I guess before signing off I should give you a quick update on what we have been up to since returning from this trip back in May… yep you guessed it, lots of baby preparations! On returning home I was 17 weeks pregnant and as I write this I am now 35 weeks along… madness how quickly the time has gone! We have been busy getting the house ready for baby’s arrival including decorating our bedroom and turning our spare room into a nursery and also doing a lot of shopping getting all those baby ‘essentials’ (who knew something so small needed so much stuff!)

This weekend we headed off to Center Parcs just the two of us for a little babymoon which was just wonderful (we were so lucky with the weather!). It’s very exciting to think that the next trip we take will be with a baby in tow!











With such a life-changing arrival so soon upon us any future visits to WDW are currently on hold but we do have a family villa holiday to Menorca booked in for May next year and we are due to be going to DLP in August to celebrate Paul’s sister’s 40th birthday… so baby won’t have to wait too long before getting their first Disney experience!

And with that I will sign off for now, but not without saying a huge thank you to all of you who have read along with this report and left so many lovely comments. It has been a pleasure to share our amazing trip with you, I have loved re-living it all!

Stay tuned for a baby update coming soon!

Edited at 08:46 AM.
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Old 27 Sep 17, 09:31 PM  
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emmabanana
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Such an amazing trip Lisa, thanks for posting and Congratulations, not too long til the baby arrives now. X
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Old 27 Sep 17, 09:40 PM  
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Melbatb
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Thanks for taking the time to write up your report! It has been lovely to read about your trip.

Enjoy the last few weeks before your life changes (in a very good way!)
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Index of my trip reports
2016 Quebec - Kuala Lumpar - New York City 2017 Dubai - Eurocamps France - Ontario and Quebec - So-Cal 2018 Montreal - Bangkok - New England 2019 Argentina - Quebec City - Hong Kong - 2020 Switzerland 2022 Arizona - Costa Med Cruise - Oslo 2023 Hong Kong - Gothenburg
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Old 27 Sep 17, 09:53 PM  
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Redrach1903
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Ahhhhh I'm so sad this is over, what an EPIC holiday! Bless you getting all emotional about it, but you are right, what a lucky pair!

Long Beach looks just beautiful, but I have to confess - I am not sure of the significance of the Queen Mary. Is it a permanently docked ship?

You didn't give us the final magnet and mug count Please do so at your earliest convenience

Can I just say again how bloomin' gorgeous you look with that beautiful bump! All the feels <3

EDIT - signed off too quick, oops! Thanks for sharing your awesome holiday! Roll on the DLP TR

xxxx

Edited at 06:14 AM.
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Old 28 Sep 17, 03:42 AM  
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Nesbits
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Thank you, great trip report, loved reading it.

Congratulations on baby, what a lovely neat bump!

Menorca is a lovely family holiday destination, I love it there (my father in law says more pushchairs than cars on that island).

Don't forget to post when baby arrives. Look after yourself x
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Old 28 Sep 17, 12:35 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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Originally Posted by emmabanana View Post
Such an amazing trip Lisa, thanks for posting and Congratulations, not too long til the baby arrives now. X
Thank you so much for reading! Glad you enjoyed reading along 

Originally Posted by Melbatb View Post
Thanks for taking the time to write up your report! It has been lovely to read about your trip.

Enjoy the last few weeks before your life changes (in a very good way!)
Thank you for taking the time to read along, it makes it all worthwhile!

We are certainly enjoying the sleep whilst we can get it!

Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
Ahhhhh I'm so sad this is over, what an EPIC holiday! Bless you getting all emotional about it, but you are right, what a lucky pair!

Long Beach looks just beautiful, but I have to confess - I am not sure of the significance of the Queen Mary. Is it a permanently docked ship?

You didn't give us the final magnet and mug count Please do so at your earliest convenience

Can I just say again how bloomin' gorgeous you look with that beautiful bump! All the feels <3

EDIT - signed off too quick, oops! Thanks for sharing your awesome holiday! Roll on the DLP TR

xxxx
The Queen Mary is permanently moored there… we did actually look at staying there for our last night but the reviews were pretty bad so we decided against it! Interestingly it was built in Scotland! (Good old Wikipedia!)

So final novelty glass count was 10 and magnet count was 8 (all for Paul’s Mum!)… we only came back with 2 mugs which I thought was pretty restrained!

Thank you so much for reading along and making such lovely comments throughout (ok you didn’t have much choice but I appreciate it nonetheless!) xxx

Originally Posted by Nesbits View Post
Thank you, great trip report, loved reading it.

Congratulations on baby, what a lovely neat bump!

Menorca is a lovely family holiday destination, I love it there (my father in law says more pushchairs than cars on that island).

Don't forget to post when baby arrives. Look after yourself x
Thank you so much for reading, great to know you enjoyed my rambling!

That’s fab to hear such a positive review of Menorca, I haven’t been since a child but have heard good things so our thinking it would be a good first holiday destination (with a nice short flight!)
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Old 28 Sep 17, 01:24 PM  
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Seeley
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Have really enjoyed your trip report what an absolutely fab time you had. Shame you didn't have time to explore the Queen Mary or the Spruce Goose next door!
time is getting near for your baby so just want to wish you all the best
Thanks for sharing your adventure
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Old 28 Sep 17, 02:37 PM  
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Aw I’m sad your report is over! Thank you for taking the time to right such a brilliant report.
I wasn’t fussed by Moana on first watch but tried it again on the plane coming home in May and loved it!
You and your bump look fabulous. I’m looking forward to baby update!
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Old 28 Sep 17, 06:07 PM  
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i love jack
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A fantastic trip, thanks for sharing. You packed some amazing things in.
Good luck with baby
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Old 28 Sep 17, 07:26 PM  
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I've spent the past few hours reading all of your trip report and wow! Sounded like a dream holiday! Loved all the pictures of bubba gulp restaurants, we've never been! And congrats on the bump, loved all the souvenirs you bought for the baby and I also loved all the photopass photos from Disney! We went there in 2016 for three years and it was not nearly enough time and for some reason we didn't do any photopass! I hope we get to go again and make the most of them, the ones by grizzly river run look adorable
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