May 4, 2024 - Saturday - The Port of Long Beach offers tours to the public but, since so many people would like to take the tour, tour rides are only available through a lottery system. I started registering for the lottery in 2022 and I failed to secure seats after eight attempts. On the ninth try, we were lucky enough to get two seats on the boat. Tours last about one hour and a half, so here we go!
As we left Dock 2, we sailed past Shoreline Village.
This is the four mile breakwater that runs to Los Angeles. This gate is called the Queen Gate and the only other gate is the Angels Gate in LA.
We saw hundreds of working cranes loading or unloading containers.
The crane operator travels along the crane with glass in front of them, on their sides as well as on the bottom, so they can see what they're doing.
This is the new Long Beach International Gateway Bridge that opened in 2020.
This port also services oil tanker ships.
This is a good sign for a ship carrying a lot of fuel.
Before containers, this is how ships were unloaded, by hand. This building was built in the 1950s.
Long Beach is no longer a Navy port, but they still have a presence.
The dome on the left used to house Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose." A cruise ship is on the right and you can see one of the smoke stacks of the Queen Mary between them.
This is a nice shot of the Queen.
It was a great tour and very informative. The port area is huge and very busy.
After the tour we were ready to eat, so we stopped by the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. right next to Dock 2.
Judy had their "Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp" with fries, Coleslaw, and a Cajun marmalade.
I had their "Shrimp New Orleans" with grilled shrimp, a spicy New Orleans sauce, green onions, tomatoes, garlic bread, and steamed rice.
We loved it!
