Los Angeles - California - page 1377

Venice

If you were born too late, and have always been jealous of the hippie heyday, come down
to the Boardwalk and inhale an incense-scented whiff of Venice, a boho beach town and
longtime haven for artists, New Agers, road-weary tramps, freaks and free spirits. This is
where Jim Morrison and the Doors lit their fire, where Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped
himself to stardom and where the late Dennis Hopper once lived.
The Venice Boardwalk (Ocean Front Walk; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Venice Pier to Rose Ave;
24hr) , officially known as Ocean Front Walk is a wacky carnival alive with altered-states
hoola-hoop acrobats, old-timey jazz combos, solo distorted garage rockers and artists -
good and bad, but as far as LA experiences go, it's a must. Rent a bike ( MAP
GOOGLE MAP ; 310-396-2453; 517 Ocean Front Walk; per hr/2hr/day bikes $7/12/20, surfboards
$10/20/30, skates $7/12/20) and join the parade, glimpse Muscle Beach ( MAP
GOOGLE MAP ; www.musclebeach.net ; 1800 Ocean Front Walk; per day $10; 8am-7pm May-Sep, to
6pm Oct-Apr) or hit the Skate Park ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 1800 Ocean Front Walk; dawn-

dusk) . The Sunday afternoon drum circle is always wild.
Just a couple of blocks away from the Boardwalk madness is an idyllic neighborhood of
eclectic homes laced with 3 miles of the original canals ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) , built as an
homage to the late Abbot Kinney's beloved Venezia. Hence the name.

Long Beach & San Pedro

Long Beach has evolved since its working-class oil and navy days. Over the past two dec-
ades, LA's southernmost seaside enclave has reinvented its gritty downtown making it an
attractive place to live and party. On any Saturday night the restaurants, clubs and bars
along lower Pine Ave and the Promenade, a new upscale loft district, are abuzz with every-
one from buttoned-down conventioneers to hipsters to the testosterone-fuelled frat pack.
Additional eateries line Shoreline Village, the departure point for boat cruises.
'San Pedro is real quiet,' Bukowski once observed. That's still true today, except for the
distant clanging of containers being hoisted on and off gigantic cargo vessels. LA's own
'Golden Gate', the 1500ft-long suspended Vincent Thomas Bridge, links San Pedro with
Terminal Island.