Guest Post: I Heart Long Beach & Naples Island

Haydee of Happenstance seems to find all cool things way before I do. Her blog is filled with the most glamorous design and fashion, but also captures the beauty of everyday life.
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Keep the Snoop Dogg references in your back pocket for just a minute. This is Long Beach. More specifically Belmont Shore, the town I grew up in in my early youth and have recently moved back to after a 10 year absence. Not many people know about Belmont Shore nor its over the bridge neighbor Naples Island. Yes, Naples is an actual island.

But first Belmont Shore. 2nd Street (pictured above) runs smack dab in the middle of Belmont Shore with lots of cute shops, restaurants and bars. And at the end of 2nd Street is a little bay community with a cute stretch of beach just walking distance from shops and restaurants. Coffee shops and hipsters are abundant. Especially at the local Whole Foods. I swear I think it's a pre-requisite!

Naples Island is where I grew up in my latter youth and it lives up to its name with some of the most beautiful homes on canals where you'll often see Gondola Getaway gondoliers paddling by. Sometimes you'll even hear a gondolier sing opera style Italian songs. And I just found out that they do this pizza cruise (pictured above) with pizza from Domenico's! If you follow my tweets you'll know that I recently tweeted about having had the best dinner there.

Geographically, this southern part of Long Beach has the best of both worlds being situated perfectly between the heart of L.A. and Orange County. Bonus: Long Beach also happens to be the home of the world famous TED conference. It's arguably one of the most influential and inspiring gatherings in the world. I think I might try and sneak in this year ;)

[Belmont photo courtesy of David Casas]