We decided to take the dog down to Venice Beach – it was hitting over 90 degrees in the Valley and it was only in the mid 70s at the water front, and we’d heard that Venice Beach was still a hippie holdover from the ’60s.

I liked it. We walked perhaps a quarter of the boardwalk, talked with a bunch of people and had a fun time. We stopped and ate some ice cream. There were people of all kinds out – some in speedos showing off their muscles (there is a workout facility on the beach), women walking around in tiny bikinis, and lots of skateboards, bikes and rollerblades.

We tried to visit two art galleries but parking was really hard to find (we’d already paid $15 to park near the boardwalk and didn’t want to pay again – if you visit, expect to pay for parking). We stopped at the local public library to use their restrooms, and we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant call the Wacky Wok. The food was okay – my Szechuan chicken was quite sweet, which was a little strange.

A view of the beach from the Speedway, an alley that runs parallel to the coast

Lots of cool murals on walls – keep your eyes open for them!