On of the first things hubby and I did in Los Angeles? See the Pacific Ocean - my first time, his real first time even though he may have seen glimpses when he was a truck driver. We walked from Venice Beach to the Santa Monica pier on Sunday. We saw a pod of wild dolphins - I never saw wild dolphins before, either, not even in Key West.
Here I am having a beer at the Sidewalk Cafe on the boardwalk in Venice Beach. I also had a cheeseburger and fries. The menu has a "Bookshelf" section, which includes sandwiches named for the Iliad and the Odyssey, the thesaurus, Daniel Pinkwater, Mario Puzo, Henry Miller, and Ernest Hemingway. Why no female authors, I wonder?
The street art outside the cafe was also bookish: this is Edgar Allan Poe with Alice Cooper-esque eye makeup. Why Poe? I wonder. I would think John Steinbeck would be more California's style.
Next to the Sidewalk Cafe was Small World Books. I bought a blank journal there, and was sorely tempted to buy the latest Lemony Snicket volume, Who Could That Be at This Hour? I also wanted to buy - but didn't - The Dial Press trade paperback of From Here to Eternity:
...although I cannot for the life of me figure out why The Dial Press has not released a new edition of Whistle. My book obsessiveness demands they complete the trilogy. My favorite part of Small World Books? Petting Conan the Librarian, the bookstore cat.
You can't see it because he's sleeping, but he has a black spot on the nose. He's almost, but not quite, a Cat That Looks Like Hitler.
Venice, California, is named Venice because of its human-created canals. They're quite beautiful.
It's nice to just wander around in the canal neighborhood and sight-see, and then come out and have a beer at the Baja Cantina or another place. Next time I come to Venice Beach, I am definitely renting a wet suit and a surfboard. (This time, we rented a tandem bike. That was fun, too.) I still contend that if I can stand up on a paddleboard, I could totally learn to stand up on a traditional longboard.
9 comments:
Love that last photo and enjoyed the trip through your words and lens.
Ooh, gorgeous! I think I'd love to go to Venice.
Glad you are enjoying it. Is this the place that was putting fear in you a bit ago?
If so, I'm glad it is working out and that you have your husband to help you through the new adventures!
Yep, I was really nervous about visiting the West Coast for the first time, and appearing on TV for the first time. (I did a game show.)
How cool! I've always wanted to go out that way and stop in on some game shows! I hope you faired well!
I have never been to Venice Beach but that bar/restaurant sounds like something I would love, not to mention the regular stops for beers :-). I hope you get to go there again soon with your wetsuit!
Kiran
The pix and text were fun, but I am biased because I live in LA.
It is a fantastic city and Venice is all sorts of fun. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
Wandering by from SOCS ...
Sounds like a tremendous amount of fun - Have to ask:
How did you do on the game show? Oh, and {psst?} which one?
Jeopardy! (See my September posts for the play-by-play of my tryout.) I'm not allowed to tell the outcome of the game(s) - too spoiler-ish. You'll just have to watch the week of March 4th.
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