We’re taking you to the hippest spots in the ubercool Westside of LA, particularly in Venice Beach and Santa Monica, where the city meets the Pacific and literally cools down several degrees. Leave the traffic jams behind, strap on a pair of your funkiest sunglasses, and ready your camera phones. You’re going to want to remember this day.
Launch the morning with a proper cup of coffee at Intelligentsia on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. Today, the streets are your gallery. Walk one block north and encounter Diana Garcia’s Uniwolfcheetah— the majestic amalgam of three mystical creatures, daring viewers to be what they dream. Next up: Rip Cronk’s nearby mural, Venice Kinesis, at 21 Winward Avenue. Parodying Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Venice Kinesis celebrates a place in which scantily dressed goddesses rollerblade freely on the boardwalk, where antiquities become parodies, and history becomes myth. Slip into a pair of rollerblades and let the inviting winds of Venice Beach lift you gently out of your comfort zone.
If you can appreciate kitschy film history and living caricatures in neon garb, take a shirtless stroll past Muscle Beach, a Venice Beach institution. A bare-chested Val Kilmer strutted ponderously past this iconic landmark and its cartoonish regulars in Oliver Stone’s The Doors. If that reference doesn’t strike a chord, perhaps this one will: former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, sun-tanning on a grassy knoll near Muscle Beach, and comparing men to wolves in George Butler’s Pumping Iron.
After getting the days' share of the Muscle Beach ‘swell’, walk to the nearby Hotel Erwin. Of all the “fancier” accommodations in Venice Beach, only Hotel Erwin encourages guests to express their more rebellious sides with freshly penned tattoos. (If you get a tattoo, definitely post it and tag us on Instagram so we can see your new ink!) Rooted in the heart of Venice Beach, Hotel Erwin embodies Venice Beach’s eclectic culture: nose piercings and Versace flats; tanned clavicles and fair-trade organic designer bags; skateboarders in suits and muscle beach passersby drinking $6 espressos. Check out high, Hotel Erwin’s swanky rooftop lounge with breathtaking views of the waterfront. Mix a gin and tonic with the golden hues of a setting California sun and introduce yourself to a total stranger. We can’t cover the tab, but we can promise a gorgeous sunset and a dynamite pickup line: “Travel brought me here. What’s your name?”
At dusk, take a cab to the historic Santa Monica Pier and admire its fluorescent Ferris wheel and roller coaster as they dance neon patterns upon the black canvas of the night. Pound a classic pleasure machine in the Park’s famous arcade, or attend one of the Pier’s Twilight Concerts (notable bands in this summer’s lineup: Real Estate, July 16; Ariel Pink, August 20; Rebirth Brass Band; September 3).
After the concert, go out on a whim and take a stroll down Main Street until you reach The Victorian: with its chandelier bar and brilliantly lit terrace, it looks like a structure that one might encounter in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The real attraction here, however, is that which lies beneath. To get to The Basement Tavern, enter the open door to that leads to the Victorian’s kitchen and descend the stairs to the best speakeasy style bar in LA. The music, always good and often live, never fails to draw people out onto the dance floor. Have the bartender concoct you a $12 “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (Bourbon, Amaro, Carrot, Ginger.) Stretch out those dancing muscles, because some of the regulars can really shake a leg.
Need a place to crash after dancing the night away? Check out the Shore Hotel, which happens to be within walking distance of The Basement Tavern (don’t drink and drive, folks!). Wake up with the sun and take a refreshing dip in the Pacific, and be refreshed and ready to continue your Los Angeles vacation.
