I spent the entire day driving up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), and it was singularly the most spectacular drive I have ever done. For those that have done this drive, you know what I mean, and for those of you who have not, I would seriously recommend doing this at least once in your life. But I get ahead of myself, I want to share some thoughts from yesterday at Venice Beach as well.
As expected, Venice Beach turned out to be a very interesting place to visit. I started off the day at the Venice Pier, which is at the very south end of the area. As I walked towards the beach, I was struck by an odd occurrence, it was a very bright, sunny, hot day, but as I got closer to the water, there was a heavy fog enveloping everything. If it was morning I would not have been surprised, but it was well past noon. It turns out that the temperature differential between the land and water causes the fog and mist to linger well into the afternoon. It did make for a cooling sensation, like the misters that are used at sporting events and such.
Something began to worry me though, there were no interesting people about, just the normal tourists, joggers, and cyclists on the sea walk. Where were the weirdos? So I turned northward and began to explore. As I walked past expensive beach houses nestled next to dilapidated shacks I began to see signs of life ahead. In a few blocks I reached the “real” Venice Beach, where hippies sat and socialized shoulder to shoulder with homeless people, rastas, potheads, street performers, and vendors – this was indeed a very eclectic scene.
Here you could get temporary henna tattoos from a number of street vendors, get real tattoos from the tattoo parlours, buy African art and trinkets (all authentically reproduced in China), have your name engraved on a grain of salt, buy joints of rolled sage leaves (apparently they are good for you), and generally just stroll and enjoy the people watching. It reminded me somewhat of Canal Street in New York, where you could buy just about any crap imaginable, combined with the multicultural melting pot of a neighborhood in San Francisco.
Venice Beach is also home to the famous Muscle Beach, where bodybuilders routinely work out in an outdoor setting. There weren't too many people there when I visited though, the scorching heat probably kept them away. One thing did make me smile, picture a very large black fellow, in reasonably good shape, dressed in all white outfit of spandex shorts and shirt that looked painted on, rollerskating up and down the sidewalk bopping to his iPod, clearly a man following his own beat.
Photo 1 – Sidewalk of Venice Beach
Venice, California was named after Venice, Italy, because one of the city founders decided to create a series of canals that were fed from the ocean, creating a cityscape similar to his home town. The canals were interesting, and the houses that bordered them were very nice, clearly it would be expensive to buy a place there. There were numerous bridges that crossed the canals, but the canals themselves were too geometrically straight to evoke any thoughts that they were natural and not man-made. However, the entire effect was one of calming serenity and green lushness in the middle of the hectic and noisy city. After the canals I left the confines of the city and headed north towards Malibu.
Photo 2 – Venice canals
I'm not sure what I expected of Malibu, maybe stretches of private beaches fronted by massive homes inhabited by Hollywood's elite. In any event, I was somewhat disappointed in what I saw, or more precisely what I didn't see. From the road all you see are fences, gates, and garage doors, there was no easy access to the beaches from the PCH, but I guess that's the way the owners want it.
As I left Malibu and headed north towards Monterey (home to Pebble Beach, one of the shrines of golf), I stopped at a roadside turnout to stretch my legs and admire the sunset over the Pacific. As I walked along the cliffs I met an Impressionist artist who had set up his easel and was just beginning a new painting. It turns out that he does this on the side, not full time, but he is good enough to sell many of his pieces. I have included his website for the curious.
www.richbrimer.com
Photo 3 – Painting on the cliffs
I started my drive this morning in Lompoc, a small city in the middle of nowhere. As I headed north I hit a roadside fruit stand to pick up some snacks for my day ahead. The strawberries are in the season right now, and having been picked this morning they were excellent. After stopping for a couple of tacos in San Luis Obispo (nothing to write home about), I started the best part of the drive.
Beginning in Morro Bay the PCH hugs the California coastline all the way to Monterey. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, and it was fascinating to see the transition from long, sandy beaches to progressively more cliffs and rocky outcroppings. It took about 6 hours to drive 100 miles, so I averaged less than 20 mph. In some places the road was very narrow and twisted high above the ocean, cut directly into the cliffs. Every little while I would get out to admire the beauty of the seascape, thinking to myself “wow, this is awesome, how could it get any better?”, and then the next stop I made I would wonder the exact thought again, the vistas becoming increasingly more amazing with each stop.
At some point in my drive I stumbled upon a local surfer's paradise, with waves crashing into the cove and breakers just off shore. When I asked one of the surfers as he was leaving, he told me that the waves break only during this time of year, and so it's mostly locals that know of this place.
Photo 4 – Local surfing spot
At another one of my stops I found a curious sight, an old, tattered armchair overlooking the cliffs, waiting for someone to step up and find relief in it's cushions. I'm not sure how it got there, but I imagined that it was the seat for the old man by the ocean, perpetually watching the waves as a sentinel of the sea.
Photo 5 – The old man's chair on the cliffs
As I mentioned earlier, the drive is spectacular, and words or pictures can't really do it justice. I've attached a few more of my favorite photos, but the scenery is best viewed in person.
Photos 6, 7, & 8 – My faves from the PCH
Tomorrow I plan on exploring the Monterey Peninsula and it's surroundings before I head to the Bay Area.
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