Fairy Tea Cottage, located on the corner of Main and Electric in Seal Beach, is now open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Beginning November 7, 2007, and running through December 18, 2007, the Cottage will also be until 9:00 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings for tea, hot chocolate, lemonade, scones, crumpets, soup and desserts.

Gather family and friends for a delightful Christmas Tea, which includes your own pot of tea, homemade scone with Devonshire cream and jam, fresh spinach salad with cranberries, and sliced almonds with raspberry vinaigrette, assorted delicious tea sandwiches, dessert and surprises!

Enjoy the beautiful voice of Ms. Terra Taylor as she sings Christmas songs to celebrate the season; sing along beside our crackling fireplace with song sheets provided, and enjoy a truly Magical Christmas Tea with special treats, tea, Christmas crackers and plum pudding.

Children, grandparents, mom and dad are welcome!

The Christmas Tea will be held on Wednesday, December 19, 2007, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, by reservation only. Seating is limited. Fairy Tea Cottage is located at the corner of Main and Electric in Seal Beach, California.

Pat Hale of Seaside Brokers recently spent a few minutes with us to talk about the current state of the real estate market in Seal Beach, California. If you’d like to talk personally with Pat, call her at 562-773-3919 or stop by her office on Main Street and pick up a free map.

DMGLB: How long have you specialized in Southern California real estate?
Pat: I have been selling Real Estate in Southern California since 1979. I moved to Seal Beach in 1997 and have been selling coastal properties ever since. I just opened my own office “Seaside Brokers” at 311 Main Street, Suite 16, in Seal Beach last year.

DMGLB: We’ve all heard the news about the real estate market, but how would you characterize the current real estate climate in Seal Beach?
Pat: I have noticed a slowing of the market in Seal Beach but have only seen one foreclosure in town, which is not at all like the news is stating. I do have list of foreclosures in other cities–if any one would like one, stop by the office to pick one up or I can email it.

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The Belmont Shore Business Association has announced the postponement of the fourth annual chili cook-off. The event was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 21, 2007, but will be postponed until March of 2008, with the specific date to be announced. For more information, please contact the Belmont Shore Business Association.

Village Treasures is pleased to host a spoken word event featuring well-known community leaders hosted by Darick Simpson. Join us for an evening filled with words to stimulate your mind along with music, hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The Long Beach Spoken Word Festival, to be held on October 13 at 6:00pm, will feature spoken word artists Darick Simpson, Mario Cordero and Dana Michelle. Music is to be provided by The Steve Harris Jazz Collective. Village Treasures’ celebration of Speakology is part of OCTOBER IS ARTS MONTH, a month-long series of events coordinated by the Arts Council Long Beach. Please see www.artslb.org for further information about OCTOBER IS ARTS MONTH.

Village Treasures is located at 146 Linden Avenue in Long Beach, California.

Join Heaven Healing Arts for its one-year anniversary ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, October 13, 2007, at 12 noon. Learn about Reiki, meditation and intuitive readings! Visitors will receive a free gift while supplies last. Heaven Healing Arts is located on 101 Main Street, Suite D in Seal Beach, California. Please see www.heavenhealingarts.com for more information.

Located across the street from the foot of the Seal Beach Pier, Bogart’s is a place to charge your batteries, catch up with friends or simply enjoy the view. Owner JoAnn Adams met up with us recently to talk about coffee drinking in Seal Beach.

DMGLB: How long has Bogart’s Coffee House been serving up coffee in Seal Beach?
JoAnn: Bogart’s opened in November of 2002, so we are almost at our 5 year anniversary.

DMGLB: Restaurants, donut shops, other coffee houses and even gas stations serve coffee—yet you have loyal customers who rarely go a day without coffee from Bogart’s. What’s your secret?
JoAnn: We offer a consistently great tasting organic coffee, good customer service, free Wi-Fi and you can’t beat the view of the Pacific!

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The Wine Crush is a wine tasting venue that specializes in boutique wines from around the world. Located in the center of Long Beach on the Broadway Corridor, The Wine Crush features a relaxing garden setting, huge wine selection and friendly personnel ready to provide you with a fabulous wine tasting experience. Owner and proprietor Marcus Crenshaw took a few minutes out of his day recently to talk wine with Discovery Map of Greater Long Beach:

DMGLB: How long has The Wine Crush been operating in Long Beach?
Marcus: The Wine Crush was opened in July 2004 and we purchased it in Jan 2006. So, it’s been a little over 3 years, almost 2 years owned by us.

DMGLB: Wine is sold at warehouse stores, supermarkets and neighborhood liquor stores. How does The Wine Crush continue to stand out against these other retailers?
Marcus: Wine selection!!! We focus on smaller, estate quality wines and the wines we bring into the store are first tasted by us. In addition, we provide a nice environment, a tasting room and garden, for our customers to try our wine before they buy it. The quality of wine along with the ambience of The Wine Crush is a great combination and definitely helps us stand out from the competition.

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