Sparkhouse

Hit the right romantic notes with your date when you plan an evening at the Long Beach Opera. Founded in 1979, this opera is the oldest opera company in the greater Los Angeles area. The group maintains a highly active performance schedule and maintains a repertory of over 70 operas that range in styles from Baroque to works from the twenty-first century. Check the website for specific performance and ticket information.

When your workweek has been no laughing matter, forget about it all by making plans to spend the evening at Long Beach's Laugh Factory. This popular comedy club features an impressive mix of veteran performers along with an equally interesting batch of fresh faces. Some of the comedians who have taken to the spotlight here include Mario Joyner, Kevin Nealon, and Adam Carolla, just to name a few. Reservations are recommended. Also, don't forget to to check the website for news on upcoming entertainment.

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.

Get your groove back in a big way when you stop into Fingerprints, Long Beach's favorite record store. This unique establishment masterfully combines the vintage appeal of vinyl record albums, posters and even CDs and infuses them with thoroughly modern attitude. You can tell that the employees have an obvious passion for music in general and, more specifically, this highly appealing establishment. In addition to offering a deep inventory of hard-to-find titles, there are frequent in-store musical performances, so make sure to check their website and sign up for their newsletter to get the latest details on who's playing next at Fingerprints.