Belmont Shore Stroll and Savor 2019

It's time again for our favorite thing to do in Long Beach at the Belmont Shore. It's the Belmont Shore Stroll and Savor! A time when many of the restaurants around 2nd Street bring out their tasty treats and offer them for a few bucks each.
This is the last one this summer, and Jacob and I were shocked that we hadn't gone to any yet. I think we were both remembering the Belmont Shore Chocolate Festival.

Theresa had to work late, so she's not able to make it. I grabbed the kids and we drove down to Long Beach before all the traffic clogged the freeways.
There's a playground that we always end up walking past after we park the car, and the kids are always begging to play there. I figured with any extra time we had, the kids could run around and play. They were happy to finally get to visit.

Ian is starting to conquer the monkey bars.

Playing on the spinning disk wheel. We don't have anything like this one at our playgrounds back home.

Before we left the house I gave each of the kids a task.
Alli, what did you get for us? Alli - Waters. Two little ones for me and Ian. Two big ones for you and Uncle Jacob. Very nice Alli. And in your Minnie Mouse carrying bag I see.
Ian, how about you? Ian - I got plates, forks, spoons, and napkins. Excellent. I think we're all set.

Before we can do anything we need to buy some tickets. The tickets are the same price as always. 12 tickets for $10.

That makes them about 83 cents each. We'll start with 2 sets of tickets and see how far that gets us.

I appreciate the map of all the businesses. It's not alphabetical, it's based on where each of the businesses are located and on what cross-street.

Like we always do, we'll start at the North-West side at La Strada. I sure do miss the bruscetta they had years ago. I asked the kids what they wanted and they both asked for ravioli.

I don't think they were expecting these big raviolis though, 3 tickets ($2.50). For that, we got 2.5 raviolis in red sauce. Alli wasn't so sure about it at first.

But both kids loved them and wanted even more. We've got to pace ourselves though. There's lot more tasty things to try.

At the Pietris Bakery we got a cream cheese jalapeño in a pastry for 2 tickets ($1.67). Yummy.

I remembered this tasty deep dish Rance's Chicago Pizza from last time. I got a slice of Rance's favorite which has jalapeños on it. Ian was really wanting pizza too, so he and Alli split a slice of pepperoni. They were 3 tickets each ($2.50).

Someone is loving their pizza.

At Natraj Cuisine of India they offered many items for 1 ticket each ($0.83). Jacob got rice, naan, and a tasty curry chicken.

It's great when you're going with someone who has similar tastes because you can split just about everything and try lots more foods.

A prize wheel! Can we spin it?!?
At the clothing store Tillys, the kids won 2 stickers, a keychain, and a little backpack.

Taco Shore offered street tacos for 2 tickets each ($1.67). Ian and I split a carnitas taco, with him eating the pork and me eating the corn tortilla and whatever meat still had spicy sauce on it.

Time to cross the street to Domenico's and time to purchase more tickets. There's too much good stuff here.

They've got a Basil Cream pasta with chicken and a Sausage tomato cream pasta. You can get both flavors on one plate for 5 tickets ($4.17). There's also their ground pepperoni pizza for 4 tickets ($3.33). Jacob gave each of the kids a couple pieces of the Basil Cream pasta and then we moved over to take this picture.

Umm... I think they liked it. They'd eventually eat just about all of that white pasta, with just a taste for Jacob and myself.

The question I was getting in the car on the way down here was "Can we get ice cream?" And the question I got as we were walking so far has been "Where is the ice cream place?" Well kids we're finally here. Paradis.

You can either get 1 scoop for 3 tickets...

Or get a 2 scoop sundae with syrup, oreo cookies, and whipped cream for 5 tickets ($4.17). Kids, you're splitting a sundae.
Alli picked the pink ice cream (strawberry) and Ian didn't disagree with Alli's second pick (vanilla with chocolate pieces). As far as deals go, this one isn't bad. The menu price is $8.50.

I feel like for us, the east side of the street doesn't get represented very well. We're usually full eating all the different places on the west side. And typically by now we're starting to ration our tickets, trying to decide if we can get by with what we've got or if we need to purchase another ticket pack.

At La Creperia Cafe they have a chocolate, strawberry, whipped cream crepe for 3 tickets ($2.50). Please note the presentation they show on the table. A crepe on a plate, folded in the classic triangle with syrup on top.

What we got was a snow-cone cup with a crepe in it with all that stuff in the center. Good thing Ian brought plates for us that we can lay it out how it's supposed to be and split it up.

I have no idea why she's making this face. She loved it and ate the rest of what was in my hand.

We passed by a few new shops, like Earl of Sandwich offering 1/8th of a sandwich for 2 tickets, and Philz Coffee and their tiny 1 ticket cups of coffee. Didn't need anything else filling like a Super Mex bean and cheese burrito for 4 tickets. Instead we're going all the way to the end to a new shop. O'Gourmet.
No signs out for prices for anything. How much are these?
The top shelf is 2 items for 1 ticket. What?!? Now that's a deal. These are pretty much full-size pastries for $0.42 each.

We've got 3 tickets left and I know there's one more place the kids are going to want to stop.
Jacob got both a tasty pan au chocolat and a large madeline for 1 ticket ($0.83).

With 2 tickets left, our last stop of the night is the Frosted Cupcakery. It's not as good of a deal as when they were only 1 ticket, but we'll still pick up something. The kids split a red velvet cupcake for 2 tickets ($1.67).
Alright kids we're out of tickets, time to go home.
Ian - But are you out of money? You can buy more tickets.
I think we're good buddy.

By my count we've had 16 different items tonight and all 4 of us ate for $30. It's been a really fun night and I'm glad we were able to get one in before it ended for the year.

Favorites of the night.
Ian - Chicago Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza and Basil Cream Pasta
Alli - Chicago Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza, Basil Cream Pasta, and Ice Cream
Joe - Rance's Favorite Deep Dish Pizza and India Curry Chicken
Jacob - Rance's Favorite Deep Dish Pizza, Domenico's Ground Pepperoni Pizza, and Domenico's tomato cream pasta.