Venice Beach, CA

Venice Beach held its annual Venice Beach Music Fest last weekend, so we headed south to check it out. Our son Z also happened to be playing the drums in one of the featured bands, Dylan Chambers and the Midnight Transit. So that was all the more reason to go...

What can I say about Venice Beach? Well, it's quite magical, funky, and very colorful. It really reminded me of the wonderful hippie era - very laid back and full of artists, musicians, performers, vendors, and tourists; it's a great spot for people watching. Fortunately the local residents work hard to support the art and music scenes, and they celebrate them throughout the year with various festivals. 

Venice Beach is so alive and vibrant and is really an ideal place for a summertime music festival - and a bit of photography! Here's a tip: we stayed in a hotel right next to LAX. Those hotels really seem to be more reasonably priced than the ones along the pricier beach communities, and they're not that far at all from Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Marina del Rey. And, they're quiet too!

Welcome to Venice Beach...

                          

The Pacific bike trail...

Walking along the Boardwalk...

Medicinal marijuana anyone?

You want t-shirts? Venice Beach has them - with every message you could imagine...

Interesting architecture...

Starry Night revisited...

Venice Beach Park...

Typical beach scene... 

Public graffiti walls...

It could almost be Venice, Italy...

Dylan Chambers and the Midnight Transit on stage...

Dylan Chambers...

Two young men enjoying the music...

Dancers...

A mini Lion King...

Venice Beach has numerous man-made canals along which you can ogle at multimillion dollar homes...

You won't have trouble finding a place to eat around here...

Almost time for sunset near the Venice Beach Pier...

Kind of reminds me of the Baywatch days...

The popular pier...

What would southern Cali be without a surfer?

A lovely LA sunset...

Here's another tip: if you watch some of the street performers or take photos of them, be prepared to leave a small tip, so bring plenty of change or dollar bills to help them out. Venice Beach should definitely be on your bucket list of places to see in the LA area.