BEST USE OF STUDENT LOANS: THE ACADEMY The Academy is an eclectic unisex boutique sandwiched between a specialty bike shop and an upscale sneaker dealer on the recently renovated portion of First St. Started in October of 2005 using leftover art-school funds, the Academy is like a handpicked, Long Beach-centric Urban Outfitters, selling whatever silk-soft screened tees, ‘90s-inspired dresses and unique accessories its owners deem worthy of placement in the forest-themed depot. The store also showcases its healthy music obsession, with a corner full of WeSC headphones, DIY USB-stick “mixtapes” and limited vinyl pressings from local label White Noise; and gives back to the community with exclusive Long Beach merchandise (such as the “Long Beach is Us” Bob the Greeter shirt and this fall’s Bagatelle Records tee) and a sometimes-monthly dance night held that the nearby Basement Lounge called Party Weirdo. 433 E. First St., Long Beach 90802. 562.901.3936; theacademylb.com. SARAH BENNETT

BEST USE OF ALL THAT EXTRA CASH YOU DON’T HAVE LYING AROUND: AIRSHIP VENTURES You may have seen it in the skies above—the Zeppelin airship Eureka, which looks like a blimp, only twice as large and with strange ad copy written on its side. And for the low, low price of around half of what you pay in rent every month, a ride on the Eureka can be yours the next time it comes to town (it’s based in San Francisco). “In a zep over the skies of Long Beach. So great,” Tweeted District aviation correspondent Dave Gooch earlier this year. We couldn’t afford to put it better ourselves. airshipventures.com. ELLEN GRILEY

BEST WAY TO SAVE THE STATE: APIANA NATIVE LANDSCAPING Some folks over at the BBC predicted just last week that California is going to be plumb out of water in around, oh, something like 2015 or so. Don’t you think it’s time you killed your lawn and did something a little, oh, useful with it? (Native landscaping can transform your yard into a habitat unto its own.) If so, Brady Redman is your man for the job. “I have an intense hatred of lawns,” Redman says. “We are so reliant upon lawns, but we don’t even use them. How rare is it to see someone sitting on a lawn?” 562.225.7398; apiananative.com. EG

BEST KNOW-HOW: B&B HARDWARE Hardware stores are really only as good as the man or woman behind the counter; and so both B & Bs live up to their name for enviable stock of parts for vintage houses. Not only, for example, do they stock all the parts to repair your double-hung wood windows (sash weights, sash cord, pulleys, parting bead, window stops), but owner Tom Barnes can tell you how to take out the old and put in the new (Channellocks)—even what kind of knot to tie around those hefty 12-pound weights. (He says a granny knot will work; we recommend two or three half-hitches.) 387 Redondo Ave., Long Beach 90814. 562.438.2669; 929 E. Wardlow Rd., Long Beach 90807. 562.490.2669. bnbhardware.com. THEO DOUGLAS

BEST BAUBLES: BABCOCK & COOKE Best. Father’s. Day. Destination. Ever. (Also great for birthdays, Valentine’s and that extra-special wind-up duck you never knew you needed. 3409 E. Broadway, Long Beach 90803. 562.438.6388; babcockandcooke.com. EG

BEST WAX MUSEUM: BAGATELLE RECORDS Bagatelle has no need for an organizational scheme; its boxes and boxes of used vinyl merely make unearthing a find that much more rewarding. And there are a lot of finds to be had here: original Folkways pressings, scratch-free bebop basics, that Bowie bootleg you’ve been coveting. Bagatelle has the stoutest selection of records in town and the curatorial knowledge to support it. 260 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach 90802. 562.432.7534. MILES CLEMENTS

BEST BOX TO FIND ON YOUR DOORSTEP: BEACHGREENS You could sign up with Beachgreens for any number of reasons: you’re lazy (owner Aliye Aydin delivers farmers market produce to your doorstep); you’re adventurous (ever cooked with celeraic?); or you’re into that whole “local” thing (Aliye purchases some of her produce from Long Beach’s own Growing Experience); or none of the above (you just know a good thing when you taste it). beachgreens.com. EG

BEST BURGEONING BUSINESS: BEATROCK Inside their art gallery/clothing boutique/record-label headquarters, the owners of Beatrock have carved out their own community center, hosting underground hip-hop shows and, when we’re lucky, Echo-Park-based food-truck Park’s Finest. And they’re a fun follow on Twitter, to boot! 4158 Norse Way, Long Beach 90808. beatrock.com. EG

BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUM: BJ UNIFORM You purchased the yoga mat, the sports bra, even the neato Earth-friendly water bottle. All that’s left are the pants. Bypass Target for BJ’s, where you can get at least three pair of sweat pants for what you’d expect to normally pay for one elsewhere. They may not be pretty, but neither is your face when you plank. 400 E. Willow St., Long Beach 90806. 562.989.9411. EG

BEST GIFT-WRAPPING GALS: BLUE WINDOWS The older I get, the less I spend—except here, which gets me every time with its alarmingly affordable (at least compared to the rest of the store) handbags, matchboxes, picture frames, bird-shaped bottle-openers and other assorted doohickeys. Need a gift on the go? These are your gals. Would I like it wrapped? Why, yes, please. 5276 E. Second St., Long Beach 90803. 562.434.7195. EG

BEST BREAKDOWN: EVERYDAY ZEN Those knots in your back? Sure, they’re from stress. Come into Everyday Zen for a tarot reading followed by a Swedish massage from owner Keicher Payne, however, and you’re in for some healing that goes a lot deeper than your muscle tissue. 3740 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach 90807. 562.424.2444. EG

BEST GREEN THUMB: H AND H NURSERY Even if your backyard is but a patch of townhouse patio, H and H Nursery has the plants, equipment and know-how to get your garden sprouting. The nursery can walk you through the intricacies of pruning a rosebush or help you pick out fruit trees and low-maintenance herbs. Whatever green scene you choose, H and H will get you growing. 6220 Lakewood Blvd., Lakewood 90712. 562.804.2513. MC

BEST BLOCK PARTY: LAST SATURDAYS ON FOURTH Long our own little slice of Silver Lake or Eagle Rock—but, you know, better—Retro Row transforms itself on every last Saturday of the month into a blocks-long bonanza of extended hours, live bands, discounts, wine-by-donation and more. 4thstreetlongbeach.com. EG

BEST HOUSE OF HISTORY: LONG BEACH ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE MALL The Long Beach Antique and Collectible Mall takes hours to fully scour, but you need only minutes to find true treasures. The store is stocked to the ceiling by independent vendors, each of which has a different specialty: some trade in vintage kitchenware, others in used books, records, furniture and signage. There’s enough history here to last lifetimes. 3100 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach 90804. 562.494.2526. MC

BEST PLACE TO STARE AT YOUR FEET: LOS ALTOS SHOPPING CENTER You’ve often visited the Los Altos Shopping Center, browsing the books at Borders, buying pants at Target. But one day you’re driving that part of Stearns bisecting the center and you notice the 2D sculptures facing each other, a giant blue cat and yellow dog. They’ve always been there, but somehow you never really saw them. You park and start walking, and you soon discover there are cryptic messages in the sidewalk, poetry guiding your footsteps. And what’s that thing in the CVS courtyard? What else did you miss when you were busy shopping for pants? Bellflower Blvd. and Stearns St., Long Beach 90815. GREG STACY

BEST DREAM REALIZED: MOXI SKATES One year ago, we just had Moxi. Now Long Beach has a roller-derby team. Thank you, Michelle Steilen, for making your dreams come true. (And thank you for your sweet collection of custom-designed-to-order roller skates.) Inside (the equally awesome!) Lil’ Devils, 2218 E. Fourth St., Long Beach 90814. 267.374.9674. EG

BEST INDELIBLE INK: OUTER LIMITS Heirlooms are passed down from generation to generation. Historic businesses—especially, perhaps, in Long Beach—don’t seem to be. Acres of Books and Signal Hill’s late honky-tonk the Foothill Club are just two examples of local businesses begun by one generation of a family and ended, for a variety of reasons, by another. That’s the American way. But sometimes having a business stick around is nice. It makes a city familiar, like home; and, more often than not, a business that stays with us has something special to offer (like Joe Jost’s now selling Marmion’s peanuts). So it is with Kari Barba’s Outer Limits—once Bert Grimm’s World Famous Tattoo, and still the oldest continuously-operated tattoo parlor in the continental United States. It’s not just old, it’s also unique. 22 S. Chestnut Pl, Long Beach 90802. 562.437.9121; outerlimitstattoo.com. TD

BEST WAY TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE: PLANET BOOKS The departure of Acres of Books left nerds who wear the scent of musky paperbacks like Pine Ave. weekend warriors wear CK One in a tizzy. Luckily for these bibliophiles, there’s Planet Books. Nestled on that part of Anaheim St. where the real world meets collegiate life, the few hundred square feet of books offers everything from old yearbooks to National Geographics to every book ever written about the Atkins diet. You can spend an entire day combing through piles of novels you’ve never heard of, and somehow what you were looking for has been there all along near the front door, where racks of classic paperbacks such as John Steinbeck’s The Pearl sit and wait to change another person’s life. 3917 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach 90804. 562.985.3154. JIM HALL

BEST PLACE TO MAKE YOUR AFTERNOON DISAPPEAR: PRESTO MAGIC It’s not the easiest place to find—appropriately enough—but look for Presto Magic beneath the sign reading “Riot Magic.” And be prepared to dedicate yourself and at least an afternoon to the Magic Nickels, the Squared Circle, the Sipper Slipper or . . . the amazing Sponge Balls. Those are just the tricks. Some of them. The novelties are a story in and of themselves: stink bombs, itching powder, black soap, whoopee cushions, joy buzzers—a parent’s lifetime of “No”s in a single standing. Fear not: the venerable Presto the Digitator and his assistant John Altpeter are here to make you one with the magic (not literally). 4195 N. Viking Way, Unit F, Long Beach 90808. 562.425.4318. TD

BEST REALIZATION OF THRIFT-STORE KARMA: SALVATION ARMY The general rule for thrift stores is that the more upscale the neighborhood, the better the selection of tossed goods, but the organized mess one lot up from Anaheim Blvd. defies all that with more name-brand wearables and portable 8mm projectors than a Bluff Park yard sale. Recently rearranged to accommodate its large selection of boutique items, the Long Beach Salvation Army is a treasure trove of hand-me-down necessities from WTF art pieces to vintage grandma sweaters; and its furniture selection is so expansive that the sectional sofas, record racks and bedroom armoires overflow into the parking lot during the store’s not-to-be-missed, last-Saturday-of-every-month half-off-everything sale. 1370 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach 90813. 562.218.2355. SB

BEST PLACE FOR AFTER-HOURS NODE-PROBING: SEAL BEACH FAMILY MEDICAL It’s 7 p.m., stuff that smells like death is coming out of your left foot and you don’t have insurance. Are you gonna spend 12 hours (and way too much money) at the ER, making friends with people who have drug-resistant tuberculosis? Nope, because you know about Seal Beach Family Medical, a wondrous place with nice doctors, evening and weekend walk-ins and surprisingly affordable prices. If you’re lucky, you’ll be out by 8 with enough cash left to afford some antibiotics (and new socks). 1198 Pacific Coast Hwy., Ste. I, Seal Beach 90740. 562.799.7071; sealbeachfamilymedicalgroup.com. GS

SOUTH BAY FIT CAMP You know what sucks about gym passes? The whole bit about going to the gym. That’s why South Bay Fit Camp’s owners/trainers Emily Duval Ledger and Dr. Mandy Rhodes one-hour outdoor, as-close-as-you-can-get-to-personal-training-without-the-price-tag sessions for all fitness levels. Meet a new friend, make a new body. southbayfitcamp.com. EG

BEST ONE STEP AHEAD: WHITE NOISE It was only a matter of time before those sonic scribes over at L.A. RECORD put their money where their pen is. Having documented ill-attended minor miracles of the stage since 2005, L.A. RECORD has been scooping larger rags by what is turning out to be years. So why not scoop the record companies too, right? From longboard troubadour the Blank Tapes to lo-fi strummers Gangi, White Noise (co-founded by Reid Sheldon, featured in this issue) has released a bounty of dirt-rock anthems hammered out in rotting garages both local and abroad. A little something for everybody. playwhitenoise.com. SEAN O’CONNELL

BEST WORDS OF WISDOM: WILLIAMS’ BOOKSTORE A 100-year-old San Pedro staple, Williams’ Bookstore survives while the rest of the literary world wilts. A lot of that is owed to Anne and Jerry Gusha, the store’s mother-son duo who have kept Williams’ securely in the family. But the store’s endurance is also owed to its selection, which supports more homegrown authors than maybe any other local bookseller. 443 W. Sixth St., San Pedro 90731. 310.832.3631, williamsbookstore.com. MC

Tags: bagatelle records, beachgreens, beatrock, best of, blue windows, Commerce, everyday zen, Long Beach, planet books, presto magic, white noise, williams bookstore