Great Day Santa Monica

Santa Monica is an amazing place to visit for a day or a weekend. From the pier, amusement park rides, 3rd Street Promenade, movie theaters, restaurants, street performers and of course the great sandy beach, there's something for everyone.

 

Everything is close to each other with parking structures throughout the area. We parked in Lot 6 on 2nd street: free first 90 minutes, then $1.00 for every hour thereafter. Not bad if you're headed out only for a few hours.

 

Restaurants run the gamut of cuisines and price. As my son and I were eager to get to the pier, we stopped for a quick bite at Stefano's Pizzeria. They primarily sold pizza by the slice, which I'm sure is one reason why there were a number of high schoolers here. Their outdoor tables are also great for people watching as it was right on the corner of Arizona and 3rd.

From here we walked south on the Promenade past the dinosaur statues, stores and a street magician then through the Santa Monica Place open air mall.
 

Then we joined the throngs of people and headed to the pier on this glorious sunny 75-degree January day. From the top of Ocean Boulevard you have to walk down a long ramp to the pier itself. At the top of the ramp were two sets of street performers. One set was a pair of guys wearing a Trump mask and the other a Kim Jong-un mask who were posing for pictures with tourists. The other was a music dance troupe.

 

On the pier is the historic merry go round, restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp, lots of vendors and musicians. I particularly enjoyed watching two young women sing while their father played a ukulele. There were also fishermen on the pier and people swimming in the water. From the pier, are great views of Santa Monica beach and Malibu to the north. Looking south is Venice Beach  and the hill of Palos Verdes.

 

After walking to the end of the pier and passing a sign that said "66 End of the Trail",  we headed back to the car. We stopped at an intranet coffee shop and picked up a good smoothie for the hour and a half long drive to go 15 miles back home. Traffic from Santa Monica to anywhere in L.A. after 4:00 is a tough.

 

A great day out in Santa Monica!

Venice Beach Highlights

With its live performers, artists, stores selling everything from sunglasses to t-shirts to Egyptian artifacts to marijuana dispensaries, Venice Beach is like a carnival where you can spend an entire day.  For the athletic, you can rent skateboards, surfboards, bikes, roller skates and more. This post will help you hit the highlights of Venice Beach even if you only have 3 hours to spend.

Free parking is available on Venice Way a couple of blocks away from the beach. A block closer and lots charge $20 for day parking.

We ate lunch at Great White on 1604 Pacific Ave. across from the street sign over Windward Ave. that welcomes people to Venice. From the outside tables
you can watch people standing on the corner taking pictures under the sign, like a young woman modeling in a red dress as a couple of guys stood by and watched. The food is amazing. I had the coco salad with salmon that was superb. 

From here we strolled under the Venice sign on Windward Ave. to the beach and boardwalk passing a great mural of Venice in the 50's. Venice Beach is filled with amazing street art. Make sure to look down each side street and alley as well as on the upper stories of buildings as you never know what you will see.

Cutting across the boardwalk we passed through graffiti palm trees to watch skaters in the skate park just to the north of Windward Ave. Even though I skated a little in my youth, I never learned how to keep your skateboard on your feet when you were in midair like these skaters.

Then we crossed the broad sandy beach down to the blue-green ocean, kicked off our shoes and walked in the shallows of the cold water heading north.  We cut back across the sand to the boardwalk when we reached the northern end of shops and walked south.

Temporary street vendors, performers and artist line the western edge of the boardwalk while storefronts and restaurants line the eastern side. As mentioned, you can find almost anything for sale here, a wide variety of food, and lots of handmade street art.

Make sure to check out #1 Bordello Alexandria house on Westminster Ave. a half block east of the boardwalk. It is a two-story purple painted house covered with Greek and Roman statues, gargoyles, paintings and wrought iron grill work. It is one of the coolest houses I have ever seen. 

We had arrived at Great White at noon and we're in our car and headed home by 3:00 pm. It was an amazing three hours.

If you have an extra 20 minutes, head south of Windward 3 blocks and check 

out Muscle Beach as it is an iconic location if you want to see heavily muscled bodybuilders.