5 pm to 9 pm is only 4 hours. Besides, how are you calculating your layover time? Are you including the time it takes to collect your baggage, the time it takes to go through security for your onward flight and the time BEFORE your connecting flight that you need to be at the airport?

The other thing to consider is: If you leave the airport, what will you do with your luggage? The connecting airline might not accept baggage 5 hours before departure. (Check with them).

Your choices for an excursion from the airport are pretty limited. The only option is to take a taxi into downtown Long Beach. You don't indicate the time of day but you could easily spend some time at the Aquarium of the Pacific (great aquarium) which has a row of mid-priced "chain" restaurants adjacent to it. There are also 45-minute harbor cruises which leave from the dock area adjacent to the aquarium.

Taxis from LGB to downtown are price-fixed at $19. However, the return trip is NOT price-fixed and could be as much as twice as much.

Oops, you are right - sorry - 4 hours! Hard to believe I'm a banker :)

In any case, I should have been clearer - we are flying Jet Blue all the way from SF to Boston (we live in Boston) so they will take care of the luggage - no delay for that on either end. We'll have to check back in an hour ahead I suppose so that gives us 3 hours to kill. Also, don't know if security lines are long at that airport (is it a large airport?)

I read about Shoreline Village and Pine Ave area - how far are these from the airport? Perhaps we could take a cab, have some dinner and return? It will be a Monday night so not sure about traffic in the area. Is this a crazy idea?

We have a heavy rush hour and it spans from 3 to about 7. Ordinarily, the taxi ride shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so but with rush hour, it could be twice as long. The other thing to remember is that you have to find a taxi -- I don't recall whether there are taxi stands in any of the areas you spoke of. Maybe someone else knows.

Shoreline, Pine and the Aquarium are adjacent to one another (about 10-15 walk between them) or you can jump on a bus

Here's a map to get you oriented.

visitlongbeach.com/maps/downtownlongbeach.htm

Shoreline Village is the orange area inside of the green area near the southern side of the city. Pine Avenue is one of the vertical streets in the blue area. The various dotted and solid lines that run on some of the streets and in the water are buses and water taxis. If it were me, I'd stick to shoreline village. Arrange with the taxi company that drops you there to pick you up at a specific time at the same location.

If you find yourself with extra time, you can walk along the harbor towards the Aquarium (there's a foot path overlooking the water that isn't shown on the map).

Have fun!

Go to Shoreline/Pike and hit one of the restaurants, just the ability to walk around is worth it. You can work something out with the taxi that takes you down to Shoreline/Pike or you can walk over to the Hyatt at the corner of Pine and Shoreline and catch a cab from there. Shoreline and the Pike are right next door to each other.

You have a pretty wide choice of places to eat. I cannot really suggest the Long Beach Aquarium to someone who lives in Boston, while it is a nice aquarium, it just does not compare to the New England Aquarium. Oh, and the Irish bar doesn't compare to the ones in Boston ;)

Thanks everyone - the thought of sitting in the airport for all that time makes me crazy , especially with 2 bored teenagers :) Maybe we'll give it a shot!

An alternative would be to take a cab to 2nd Street, part of Long Beach known as Belmont Shore. Its a stretch of shops, restaurants and sports bars/restaurants that run along a very nice part of Long Beach.

Three blocks from the Pacific Ocean, it is very beachy, much more so than downtown (Pike, Shoreline Village) so you will see bikinis, board shorts, people walking their dogs or roller skating by.

Bayshore Drive, a small cross street, is closed to vehicles during the summer because it faces the bay with a little sandy beach. Bathing suits, volleyball players, sunshine.

Long Beach has been working really hard on the downtown area,and its cool, but Belmont is better.

Oh, and unless one of your boys is planning on being an oceanographer or the like, I would not bother with the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is very small with lots of stingray petting but not much to excite a teenager.

Have fun!!

That sounds like a good option, and right up my boys' alley (let's just say no budding scientists :)

Thanks!

Are you going to be here while the Lakers and Celtics are battling it out? That could make for an exciting sports bar experience. They all serve food so you sons will be able to enjoy.

No , unfortunately, but my boys got to go to a Celtics game in each of the two previous playoff rounds and are huge fans of course :)

anyone old enough to have gone to the pike when it was still there?