Chill Out in Santa Monica
Los Angeles is a city which resembles an amusement park with the sense of limitless boundaries and crazy antics. Based around the film industry where imagination seamlessly merges into reality Los Angeles is an energy to contend with no matter what the nature of your travels. Tucked beneath the chaos on the Western coastline of Los Angeles lies a seaside suburb where energy is dialed down a fraction, summer is amplified, and attractions are plentiful. For visitors to Los Angeles, whether for a short stop over en route to greater pastures or for an independent Los Angeles holiday, Santa Monica is a refreshing base.
What to Expect in Santa Monica
Expect beach lifestyle with a backdrop of the grand city of Los Angeles. Santa Monica beach is a wide stretch of near perfect yellow sand that reaches into an ocean which seemingly goes for miles. Trademark lifeguard towers reminiscent of the Baywatch era scatter the beach where both surfers and swimmers enjoy the beach life from dawn to dusk in what appears to be an endless Summer.
Fringing the beach is a palm tree lined highway with high end hotels holding prime real estate in one of the most popular beach areas in the state of California. It is this highway where convertibles and mustangs divide beach vibe from city vibe, alluding to the sensation that Santa Monica is a World away from Hollywood, Gotham or Inglewood.
Santa Monica sights and Attractions
There is no shortage of activities in Santa Monica and as with any region of Los Angeles, visitors can find the end of the day draws near, long before unlocking even a handful of sights. In America they say that “everything is big” and this is perhaps no more true than when realising the length of time taken to enjoy each and every aspect of Santa Monica.
The Santa Monica Pier is the centre piece of this Los Angeles suburb. More than 100 years old, the Santa Monica Pier crosses the sand stretching into the ocean with circus like amusement games atop. Expect to take your time wandering down the pier (which measures only a quarter of a mile in distance) because there is entertainment all around which requires noticing. Music, performers, fair rides and food vendors make the Santa Monica Pier enjoyable for all ages.
Santa Monica Place is an open mall one street across, and running parallel, to Santa Monica beach. One of the best shopping areas in Los Angeles there is no shortage of merchants at Santa Monica Place and with the beach air and summer sun beaming down while shopping, the experience is certainly an enjoyable one. Choose from more than 2500 retailers selling all the known brands as well as plenty of popular fashion houses having their flagship stores here. Between stores sit back with a beer at a ground floor verandah overlooking the shopping thoroughfare for a perfect spot to people watch while resting weary legs.
For active travellers the Santa Monica outdoor gym offers a paradise playground for athletes and gym goers. A selection of climbing ropes, parallel bars and callisthenics apparatus have prime position on the sand, serving more than one purpose. If you’re not the kind to be active here you most certainly won’t be able to help stopping by to watch the action as athletic individuals spend their day bending their bronzed bodies over the equipment. Display of seemingly Olympic gymnast activities is the athletic contrast to the World famous Muscle Beach body building gym located just a few kilometres down the same stretch of sand.
To other parts of the World roller blades had their glory days back in the 90’s when Beverly Hills 90210 was the go-to show for staying up to date with the latest fashion. But Santa Monica beach missed the memo that blading is not what the cool kids do anymore. In any case, this is a definite must do activity for all visitors to Santa Monica; conditions are ripe and fun will undoubtedly be had. If you prefer to hire a push bike then this is an option too and plenty of roller blade and bike rental stores are dotted along the beach from Santa Monica to Venice beach.
Running along the sandy shore from Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach is a wide sealed path for walkers, runners, cyclists and roller bladers to travel along. Although just 5km between the two beach side suburbs, the time taken to travel along the path can be as much as a day due to the plethora of intriguing sites and entertainers en-route. Buskers and musicians, souvenir stalls, art stores and boutiques are lined side by side along the promenade, becoming more obscure the closer to Venice Beach travellers come. Once at Muscle Beach stay and admire the sheer strength and mass of those exercising within in, or watch the ability of local basketballer’s playing on the free court beside the ocean.
Once observing the bizarre, brazen and totally obscure sights of both Santa Monica and Venice Beach has been fully satisfied then jump on a hop-on-hop-off bus from Santa Monica to the wider Los Angeles area. For a relatively low cost this is a really convenient way of exploring Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and you can always beat a hasty retreat back to Santa Monica, by just jumping back on the hop-on-hop-off bus.
No trip to Los Angeles is complete without sampling a burger and shake from an authentic American Diner and on Santa Monica Place there is one of the best in the city. Swingers Diner will always have a long queue outside but if you can, ask for a seat at the bench rather than a table so you can truly embrace the diner experience, complete with mini duke box.
What to Expect in Santa Monica
Expect beach lifestyle with a backdrop of the grand city of Los Angeles. Santa Monica beach is a wide stretch of near perfect yellow sand that reaches into an ocean which seemingly goes for miles. Trademark lifeguard towers reminiscent of the Baywatch era scatter the beach where both surfers and swimmers enjoy the beach life from dawn to dusk in what appears to be an endless Summer.
Fringing the beach is a palm tree lined highway with high end hotels holding prime real estate in one of the most popular beach areas in the state of California. It is this highway where convertibles and mustangs divide beach vibe from city vibe, alluding to the sensation that Santa Monica is a World away from Hollywood, Gotham or Inglewood.
Words by: alexchasingdreams.com
@alexchasingdreams