AP Market-Deli

A spicy taste of New Orleans comes to the West Coast by way of the Long Beach Crawfish Festival. There's plenty of great live music, vendors and activities and of course, plenty of delicious food! This is one of Long Beach's biggest events, as it regularly draws approximately 15,000 people when it is held every July in the city's Rainbow Lagoon Park.

Ever wonder how California assimilated the cultures of the Native Americans, the Mexicans and the Spanish? Connect all of the individual influences and learn about how they helped shape the California that we know today when you visit the Rancho Los Alamitos. This attraction has earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places not just for its cultural significance, but also for maintaining its historic ranch, ranch house and gardens that date all the way back to 1800.

Jazz is the type of music that exudes class and style. So it stands to reason that a club that features this uniquely American musical genre would be just as appealing. And, Long Beach's Roscoe's Seabird Jazz Lounge most definitely is. Every Friday and Saturday night from 8 to midnight, enjoy live jazz music from the Dale Black Quartet, the venue's house band. They perform classic jazz from John Coltrane, Charlie Mingus and Miles Davis, just to name a few. In addition to a great atmosphere, a great bar selection and excellent service, the quartet also performs Sunday afternoons from 2:30 to 6:30.

As long as there are stars in the California night sky, the Griffith Observatory throws a star party every night. The venue offers these free get-togethers with a little help from the Los Angeles Astronomical Society. Also with the facility is the Samuel Oschin Planetarium; this planetarium gets in on the fun by offering $7 tickets to three exciting shows that spotlight the wonders of the universe, of the sea, and of the ocean. The observatory is also the home of the new Leonard Nimoy Event Horizon presentation theater, so there is much to do here between the time you are peering heavenward.