Day 6: Santa Monica&Venice Beach

Greetings. It's been a while, hasn't it? I can't even apologize because sometimes you just need a break. So I took one. Today is all about beaches. Specifically, Santa Monica and Venice beaches. We left Santa Barbara on the earlier side so we would have a full day to enjoy the sun&sand in LA county. I think Naomi and I were both looking forward to LA the most, so we were quite excited to begin this leg of the trip. We had originally intended on stopping in Malibu as well, but realized we wouldn't have enough time to visit all three places, so SM&V won the battle as they are within walking distance of each other. We parked at the Santa Monica pier which was costly ($12) and crowded. However there was quite a bit of construction going on around the pier and we didn't feel like getting lost in LA traffic, so we sucked it up and shelled out the money. On the plus side, if I recall correctly, it's all day parking so if you're planning on being in the area a while it could be worth saving yourself trips to refill the meter.

The pier featuring the roller coaster of death

We decided early on that we wanted to rent bikes. Originally the plan was to rent them in SM, ride them to Venice and then back to SM where we parked. Well, that didn't work. We decided to keep walking past the multitude of bike rental shops in SM to find something cheaper than what we were seeing near the pier. Spoiler: nothing cheaper exists. They somehow got more expensive despite being farther from the entertainment. By the time we realized this we were already halfway to Venice (it's a little over a mile walk and it was hot that day) so we just decided to rent them once we were at the boardwalk. After finally reaching our destination we grabbed lunch at On The Waterfront Cafe. Somehow it was just as hot inside the restaurant as it was outside, but we ordered a light lunch (salads, including the most massive grilled chicken Caesar salad I've had in my life) and lots of water. We spotted a bike rental place at the start of the boardwalk and at $7 an hour, we chose out beach cruisers and headed out.

I got some weird tan lines this day

We cruised around the boardwalk (you can't actually ride on most of it but they have lots of bike lanes along the beach) and took in the...environment. Venice is... I'm just gonna say it: really, really weird. There are a few cool people, but mostly a lot of weird people smoking pot. Pot is just not my thing but you may enjoy the scent of Venice more than I did. After an hour riding around and dying in the heat (high 90's that day, ouch) we returned our bikes, grabbed some cold drinks and began the long walk back to the SM pier. We decided to ride some of the attractions at the pier, but at $4-$6 a ride, we settled on just one roller coaster. Now, this coaster was probably the most terrifying amusement park experience of my life. And I love roller coasters...that are well built. This was horrifying. And we rode it twice (mostly because everyone else was like "again again!" and I think the ride operators got a kick out of my horror) after which I practically ran off the ride.

The famous ferris wheel

I found a swing. I love swings.

After our near death experience we headed to the hotel around 4 to get a head start on LA rush hour traffic. Our hotel, the Ocean Park Hotel, is a mix between a hotel and hostel. More on that later. We then headed to Native Foods Cafe for a healthy, organic, vegan dinner. It was amazing. A fast-casual dining experience with flavorful food and friendly staff. There is a DC location (actually, 2!) opening up soon and I can't wait. We attempted to make some plans with a few of our friends who live/work in LA (when they're not on tour) but prolonged studio sessions and a bit of miscommunication led to us having (yet another) night in. Which brings me to: the bad.

Each room in the hotel is private but has shared bathrooms on each floor. No big deal. The big deal, however, was the lack of air conditioning in the middle of an LA heat wave. It was quite an uncomfortable night. They also leave the doors to the hotel open until 10pm (when someone who works there is supposed to close them) though I definitely got up to go to the bathroom around 11/12 and they were wide open (I shut them, someone opened them again later, probably to let cooler air in). We attempted to reach the manager after hours but were only met with a voice mail, and we couldn't keep our windows open (which did help) due to a tear in the screen which let in a swarm of mosquitoes. Normally we wouldn't be bothered by a lack of sleep (we're pretty good at making it up, clearly) but we were heading to Disneyland (!!!) the next day quite early and needed our sleep to survive the 14 hour day we had planned. The next morning we finally were able to speak to the manager in person who, after a bit of negotiating, agreed to refund us 1/3 of our rate that night for the a/c issue. I really pushed for this because it's not advertised on the website (which is currently down) and we were never informed of the lack of air. We also happened to be there in the midst of a heatwave so it was a lot of poor timing, but even more poor advertising. Regardless, the manager was helpful, understanding and professional, which definitely helped during the conversation.

Next: DISNEYLAND

XO,

Casey

Activities mentioned in this post:

Santa Monica Pier; parking: $12 daily, ride admission: $4-$6 each, unlimited ride passes and annual passes available

Venice Beach Boardwalk bike rentals; varies by shop, between $7-$9 an hour

Ocean Park Hotel; $90 nightly, seasonal rates may apply, free parking, free wifi, no breakfast included

Wearing:

Hollister Co. Shorts, H&M cropped tank, Mossimo shoes, H&M sunglasses