Earth Day and Other Ways to Save the World - in Long Beach

Happy Earth Day, Long Beach!  There are lots of doings are town to keep the earth green, save water, minimize our footprints, save the world.  Just do a search on 'Earth Day Long Beach' and you'll see what the City did, what the Aquarium of the Pacific has done.

Okay, I admit, it made me use a glass for my water today instead of taking another plastic bottle.

Two of the other things that aren't exactly Earth Day related, but that can help are the Shred Day at Keller Williams Pacific Estates on Saturday from 9a-1p and the Unwanted Prescriptions drop off at Long Beach Memorial, also on Saturday from 10a-2p.  You can do both with just one trip in the car, thereby saving on gas and your carbon footprint.

The Shred Day is free, although donations for the KW Cares foundation are welcome.  Bring up to 5 boxes of paper to be shredded and bring your E-Waste, too.

For your unwanted and expired prescriptions, Long Beach Memorial Hospital is having a drive through self-disposal.  I know where my big bottle of 2 year old Vicodin is going this weekend!  This event partners the hospital with the Long Beach Police Department and is part of the DEA's National Pharmaceutical Take-Back Initiative.  Enter the medical campus from Atlantic Avenue, drive through on Memorial Medical Center Drive and exit onto Long Beach Blvd.

Okay, time to go through your medicine cabinets and your old sensitive documents.  Spring cleaning and Save the Earth time!

Purple Haze - The Jacarandas

Those purple blobs you can see when you're in the final approach to LGB, flying over east Long Beach.  Those tinges of purple in the trees.  Those messy flowers dropping onto your car.  It's time for the jacarandas to bloom!

The jacaranda mimosifolia, shortened to Blue Jacaranda or just jacaranda, is a tree found mostly in the tropics and subtropic regions, like Central and South America, the Bahamas, South Africa, and Australia.  But Southern California is dotted with them, especially in the tree-lined neighborhoods of Long Beach, where they were imported by the horticulturist Kate Sessions early in the last century.

 

The photo above was taken this morning at the intersection of Clark, Stearns and Los Coyotes.  The trees should be in full bloom in early May and last for a few weeks.  They also bloom in the fall, but nothing as full as the spring bloom. Check out this shot I took last year of Fidler, just south of Stearns:

 

Pretty spectacular, isn't it?

But the trees are very messy.  V.E.R.Y. messy and you know this if there is one on your property or you've parked under one.  The blossoms are oily and difficult to clean up.  You can see the mess on the street above, but it's almost beautiful enough to overlook the aftermath.

Do you want to live on a street with jacarandas, like the one above?  How about a house with one in the yard?  Let me know and I'll be happy to help you find your happy home.  Do you have a favorite spot to view the jacarandas?  Please let me know where or send me some photos to post.

Long Beach, it will surprise and delight you.

 



Duffy Boats

Cruising the quiet waters of Alamitos Bay and the canals of Naples are the Duffy Boats.  Perhaps you've seen them, but didn't know what they were called.  Maybe you own one with a really clever name.  Maybe you've only heard the name and have no idea what a Duffy Boat is.

What is a Duffy boat?  They are all electric bay and lake cruisers.  They have no exhaust, only one moving part in the DC engine and they are built right here in California.  They are used in Disney's California Adventure, Marriott Resort properties and other corporate venues worldwide.

Locally you will find Duffys in Huntington Harbor, Newport Harbor and some of the inland manmade lakes, like the ones in Westlake Village and Lake Forest.  There are over 3,000 of them in Newport Beach.  In Long Beach they live in Alamitos Bay and the canals of Naples.

Many of the residents of Naples own their own Duffy and they have clever names like "Nuts & Volts", "Lotta Watta", "Amply Blessed".  You can join clubs, like the McKenna's Electric Boat Club, where you pay an annual membership fee and have use of a Duffy.  You can rent boats by the hour at Pelican Joe's Bay Boat Rentals.  An 8 passenger boat is about $65 an hour and a 12 passenger boat is around $85 an hour.  There are specials and discounts seasonally. 

 We like to rent a Duffy to show friends and family from outside the area how beautiful Long Beach is.  We'll rent or borrow one just to have a little celebration, with wine and appetizers to cruise the area.  And I rent one to show my clients appreciation by taking them on a little cruise.

Our favorite time to rent is during the Christmas season when the Naples canals are decorated with light shows and all types of holiday decorations.  It's really beautiful.  Our group has been known to sing Christmas carols while cruising and sipping on a nice hot cup of wassail.

 It's another one of my favorite things about living in Long Beach.  A Duffy Boat cruise around Christmas or a gentle cruise on a summer evening, with good friends, family or clients, enjoying the good life on Alamitos Bay.  Long Beach, it will surprise you.  If you'd like to learn more about Duffy Boats or my client appreciation program, please send me an email (katielarson@kw.com) or give me a call (562.673.5335).