Santa Monica and Venice, California

I arrive at Santa Monica at about noon time on a Saturday, I do not recommended this, it was just crazy crowded and I rode around for at least a half hour before finding a parking space.  It turned out to be a great parking space, kind of hidden inside the entrance to the transit garage and the cost was decent at $1 for 3 hours.  I had to walk about six blocks to get to the famous pier which is a must do attraction in Santa Monica.  Actually, I don’t see what all the fuss is about except that it is the end of Route 66.  There is a small burger joint mid way down the pier that claims to be the last burger joint on route 66.  The other thing worthwhile was the historic carousel and the building that houses it. There were a few interesting story boards on the walls about about notable beach people and the history of the carousel.  Otherwise, there are several restaurants, a couple of huckster boardwalk performers, especially good were the super athletic young men doing all sorts of amazing acrobatic moves like in place back front and back flips, making it all look so easy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Monica,_California

It was crowded

Everyone needs a picture in front of the sign

A classic "woodie" station wagon was coming up the ramp 

End of the Route 66

A good beach day

Last burger on Route 66

The carousel is a beauty 

The roof of the building was equally cool

Edward Hawkins started a paddleboard club called the Manoa surf
Club in the 1930's. his daughter Dotty was their champion rider

Skiff was an amazing life guard, surfer, boatman and woodworker

After leaving the boardwalk I watched women volleyball players,
very impressive and listened to these guys who were great

It’s was then time to return to the van to recharge the parking meter as my time was low.  I should also note that practically every parking space in Santa Monica has a parking meter.  I would prefer to just park in a parking garage even if it was $20 or something, but the van is too tall to fit in the majority of them.  I knew this could be an issue and I may remove it one of these days, I have no use for it, but it may still be too high.

So I then wander around town for another couple of hours, then walk back to the van.  I have noticed that all the downtown streets are signed with no parking between 3 and 6 AM or no overnight parking at all.  I decide to drive further away from the central downtown area to look for better parking options. I happen upon a promising  area next to a bar with a good mural, this seems to happen to me a lot and I plan to return to this place later. I then return to my original parking space downtown, couldn’t believe it was still available.  Downtown Santa Monica is kind of fancy and upscale, crowded, a too clean and polished for my taste and I’m not liking it.  I need to eat and don't feel like cooking so I decide to return to a fine looking English restaurant, The Kings Head, (with a great sign), which I had passed earlier in my wanderings. I went for the traditional chicken pot pie, it was great and just what I needed.

One of the nicest looking parking garages ever ? 

Water fountain on the promenade

They do this street crossing thing where all the light turn red at once
and you can cross in any direction, very efficient and safe.

The Kings Head British Pub

The Speak Easy with its great mural

I ended up going back to that bar with the great mural and went in for one beer, just to see the inside, it was very nice and the barmaid was extra pleasant.  It was karaoke night and the DJ was playing good music but no one was there to sing, it was boring, I was tired, so I left after that one beer.  I rode around the neighborhood and parked on a residential street next to a cemetery, I didn't know that at the time because of a stone wall, good thing, I might have been too spooked. ?  I had really seen enough of Santa Barbara and decided to move a few miles in the morning to nearby Venus Beach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice,_Los_Angeles

I left about 7:30 AM, it's not wise to hang around in a residential area.  I was surprised that Venus Beach was only a few miles away.  I found my way to the boardwalk area parked easily and looked around with some disbelief, it looked like a homeless park.  There were sidewalk homeless camps, people sleeping in cars, vans and beat up old RV’s all around me.  I thought is this really the right area, can this really be the famous Venus Beach ?  I hid all my valuables and locked the van securely then took a walk around.  People were just waking up and getting on the move.  It was absolutely decadent but the photo ops were great with graffiti and street art and weird people in every direction.

This boardwalk goes on for about a mile and the ocean beach is really beautiful.  I could see that there were numbered spaces all along the boardwalk and a few vendors were starting to set up.  I was nervous about my parking location, it seemed like a especially bad area so I moved the van to a beach parking area where for $9 I could park all day.
The boardwalk hobo camp area slowly transformed over the next couple of hours, they seem to move out of sight for the day and then city crews and business owners clean up the mess left behind.

By noon time the shop, food and craft vendors are open, crowds of people start arriving and the place comes to life.  I had a great time there, listened to a several good musicians, ate some good boardwalk food and best of all, did a lot of people watching.  This being a Sunday people started leaving in the evening and you could see the homeless then starting to file back for the night to repeat the human cycle of life on Venice Beach.

As I was walking a young 20 something tattered vagabond looking man on a bicycle started yelling at some kids: Hey stop bitching at your parents and think more about all the things they do for you.  An elderly couple nearby had also heard this exchange and were smiling about, I looked at them and just said, That was beautiful, it really was.  .    

Murals were everywhere

Famous people mural

A very trashy RV

This mural was a favorite

Close up view of one corner

So true !

Endangered species fit this crazy place

Venus needs a patron saint 

Couldn't stop taking photos of this mural

Lots of detail in this one

Alwauys a sucker for old black cars

Listened to him for a while, looked a bit like Willie Nelson
and was very god

This person has too much stuff, needs to lighten their load

Pigeons will do that

Nothing more calming than a quiet walk on the beach

They allow artists (to use that term loosely) to paint  these walls
on the beach front

I want to know what is under that dress ?

Might be a real California beach girl ?

This musician is a teacher who was promoting his book
and CD using rap lyrics to teach children math and science 

All the dead musical icons live here

That's about 10 % of the photos I took, I'm afraid it's out of control again !

One good thing about this, no problem parking and sleeping in the van on the street, except keeping some distance from the scary looking types.  One day of this is enough though, time to move on.  

Next stop is Santa Barbara, California