First of my Christmas-y treats

Long Beach Heritage will be gussying up the Bembridge House for a Victorian Christmas on Sunday, December 5 from noon to 4 pm. There'll be Christmas favors, refreshments and music plus crafts for the children in the carriage house. Santa is slated to arrive in an antique firetruck, too. Admission is $10 for adults.

Quilt Show at Bembridge House

Beautiful and historic quilts will be on display at the Bembridge House on Tuesdays through the month of September from 1 to 4 pm. The magnificent Queen Anne Victorian mansion, maintained by Long Beach Heritage is located in Drake Park at 953 Park Circle.

Get me to the churches on time

Now that Long Beach Heritage has its downtown walking tour up and running again, they're adding a new event to their repertoire. On Sunday July 26 at 2 pm, Stan Poe, a native of Long Beach and avid researcher of the city's historyas well as an entertaining story-teller, will lead a bus tour of historic churches. He'll point out highlights of architecture and stained glass window design along with interesting tidbits of history.

The churches featured in the tour are First Congregational Church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the Little Brown Church, First United Presbyterian Church, St. Anthony's Catholic Church, and St.John Missionary Baptist Church. Tickets cost $25 for non-members and can be purchased through the website

What's Echo Park Got that We Ain't Got?

They've got that cool lake with lotus blossoms, but we've got a Japanese garden with a koi pond. They've got Echo Curio but we've got the Long Beach Depot for Creative Reuse. They've got Stories, but we've got {open}.
They've got a go-get-em historical society, but we've got Historical Society of Long Beach and Long Beach Heritage. Sometimes, it seems like the greater L.A. area can't see the forest of great things that Long Beach has to offer for the trees.

Downtown Walking Tours are Back

Long Beach Heritage has reinstated its downtown walking tour in June. The tour begins at 3rd and The Promenade near the historic mural taken from the old Civic Auditorium at 10 am, and is held on the last Saturday of the month. The tour features both Art Deco and modern classics and lasts about an hour and a half for a cost of $10.

Don't tell me it's the second week of June already!

I've been having so much fun cleaning my oven and weeding the garden that I seem to have lost all track of time. A lot of interesting events slipped by like Long Beach Heritage's Home Tour and the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life at the CSULB track, but we just need to move on and not regret all those things that could have been.

As if to relieve my guilt a little, Tour des Artistes still does not have its full schedule online even though it takes place this Saturday June 13 in Downtown LB from 4 to 9 with afterparties promised into the wee hours. The full schedule is supposed to be up on Thursday at the website as well as an insert in OC Weekly. (What isn't the District Weekly big enough?) So far I have my eye on Artmatters Long Beach at the Lafayette's Dome Room in which some of the finest writers in Long Beach will be reading their works. Hmm, sounds just a little bit too good to be true, but I'm just gullible enough to have a look-see