Dicks, Discs and Dozing


PHOTO by RUSS ROCA

Long Beach is home to the nation’s best parks and recreation system—says so on the sign. It’s also one of the most expansive, with more than 80 parks. These grassy patches form the spine of the city, offering free concerts, free movies and, above all, free open space. As summer rolls around, there’s no better time to go to the park, and since there are so many within biking distance, you won’t need to spend a penny on gas. With more green on the Long Beach map than in Snoop’s suitcase, you could easily spend a whole week bumming around the parks. Here’s how to spend one semi-perfect day.

Best Place Cafe
Located just across the street from a much bigger international competitor (the house that pancakes built), Best Place maintains its own charm. It also appears to be undervalued by its proprietors, who charge a mere four one-dollar bills and a quarter for the No. 3—toast, eggs, home fries or hash browns, sausage or bacon. 2099 BELLFLOWER BLVD | LONG BEACH 90815 | 562.985.3053

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA

El Dorado Nature Center
Nothing clears your mind like an early morning walk in the El Dorado Nature Center. Here, in the middle of a busy, dirty city, you can sit next to a stream or lake and pause a moment among foxes and hawks. With more than 100 acres of woodland to explore, including three miles of trails, you’re sure to find your own secret spot. A bare patch towards the back of the Center reveals a glimpse of electrical towers, reminding you that you’re still in the city and how special this place really is. 7550 SPRING ST | LONG BEACH 90815 | 562.570.1745

El Dorado Park (West)
It’s hard to think of a better place in Long Beach to fritter away a few hours—yes, fritter!—than here in the public face of El Dorado Park. There’s a golf course, paddle boats and hills aplenty to snooze on until it’s warm enough to wake up. You should also try El Dorado’s disc golf course, where you may be welcomed by a mysterious old man known to some as Logan. With a map and a gruff hello, he’ll welcome you to a stoner’s paradise. Barefoot, spend a half hour chasing your errantly-thrown disc among trees and middle-aged men and women doing yoga. There are no clocks on the disc golf course: you’ll know it’s time to leave when you get hungry. 2800 STUDEBAKER RD | LONG BEACH 90815 | 562.570.3225

Dick’s Palm Tree
Ride your bike just across the street to Dick’s Palm Tree. Dick’s not only has snacks—“More mocha-chip jerky please!”—but plenty of picnic supplies. Grab yourself a roast beef and cheese sandwich, some crackers and a drink and toss them in your backpack along with a Twinkie for the ducks—those fat, fat ducks. It’s true that you can get a picnic lunch anywhere, but there is another reason to stop at Dick’s: they’re lucky. Last year, they sold a winning Lotto ticket worth $60,000. 3014 STUDEBAKER RD | LONG BEACH 90808 | 562.496.3999

Heartwell Park
El Dorado is great, but Heartwell is possibly more useful with soccer fields and baseball diamonds aplenty. Take the pleasant bike trail through the park down to the duck pond, the best in the city. No, it’s not as flashy as the one at El Dorado, but you get a lower duck-to-old-person ratio here and there aren’t any violent geese. Enjoy your lunch and toss some food to the ducks as you choose between watching soccer practices to your right or pickup football games on your left. If the beautiful day gets too monotonous, there’s a small library on the corner. 5801 PARKCREST ST | LONG BEACH 90808 | 562.570.1365

Recreation Park
After a long bike ride, spend some time at Recreation Park. Long Beach’s laziest-named park is also a great place to pass a lazy afternoon. It has some of Long Beach’s finest tennis courts, named after Long Beach’s finest tennis player—and America’s second most significant athlete, after Jackie Robinson—Billie Jean King. For something a little more low-key, there’s the busy-but-beautiful golf course, a lagoon to fish in and a lawn bowling green where you can hustle old men. How else are you going to pay for dinner? 4900 E SEVENTH ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | (562) 570-1670

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA

Park Pantry—The Original
There’s no other way to end a day in Long Beach’s parks than a meal at the original Park Pantry, just across the street from Bixby Park. The Pantry has been around since 1959 with a loyal group of regulars. Everything about it is old, in a historic, non-crusty way. The cooks and some of the managerial staff have been there since the early ’80s. The bread and dressings are made fresh on-site and manager Tammy Greenwood says the fresh halibut and salmon are their most popular dishes. She did mention, though, that she has a weak spot for the split pea soup. Me, I get the same hamburger I got when my dad used to bring me. 2104 BROADWAY | LONG BEACH 90803 | 562.434.0451

Bluff Park
After a filling dinner, you’re just a few blocks north of Bluff Park, where you can get a coastal view of everything that’s right and wrong with the city, from the Queen Mary to the breakwater to the homeless man chasing pigeons, all illuminated by the pollution-painted rays of an ocean sunset. Of course, you’ll have to avoid looking at oil derricks and other coastal eyesores, but hey, the beach looks almost useable from up here. Stroll the coast until its dark, then head home for a restful sleep or if necessary, to Whaley or Birdcage Park for the safest, free, sleep spots in Long Beach. OCEAN BLVD BETWEEN REDONDO AND LINDERO | LONG BEACH 90803

Tags: Special Issues, To Do