Saturday, September 18, 2010

My First Visit to Venice Beach

Amazingly, I've never been to Venice Beach, Calif. even though I've lived here my entire life. I've always been curious about Venice Beach but never found a compelling reason to visit.

Fittingly, I had the best tour guide, Steve, who, during his first few months here in Calif. after traveling cross-country from the Bronx, N.Y., spent many weekends at this timeless classic tourist spot. As expected, there were many beach side stores and restaurants that lined the boardwalk. There were many street vendors, some intriguing, some not so intriguing, and some you flat out had to scratch your head and ask yourself, "Huh?"

But the most interesting was a man dressed in a leopard loincloth holding a sword in one hand and a frying pan in the other. He belted out the song, "I Want To Be a Millionaire." I'm still trying to figure out his act.

I felt safe at Venice as I hung on Steve's arm with Kenny and Christopher in tow. We stopped for burgers and fries and indulged in the ocean view. We watched a poor lady humiliate herself as she fell to the ground in the bike lane, while trying to avoid a collision with a few pedestrians.