Morning and Early Evening Strolls Through Venice Beach, California
- Brooke
- Jun 15, 2023
- 6 min read
Let me start off by saying that Los Angeles is not one of our favorite places. However, I can concede that there are pockets of the city that make our occasional trips there bearable. One of those places was somewhere we had technically been to before, but never spent a good amount of time in: Venice Beach. During our drive cross country when we moved to Hawaii in 2004, we stopped here to do a quick walk around and see Muscle Beach. It was fine. In the years since, we have been to dinner in town a few times as well. But, just like the rest of LA, it was just something in a big mess of "meh."
Perhaps my dislike of LA stems from it's familiarity - each neighborhood has been featured in some TV show or movie that you can't help but feel like you've been there a million times before. For some, that might be exciting, but it's just not my cup of tea.
And yet, in February 2022 when Ben had a work trip in Marina del Rey, we used the opportunity to spend a bit more time in Venice Beach and see if we couldn't extract a little more enjoyment out of it than in our previous visits. And reader, I'm happy to concede that this little area of LA might have wormed it's way into my heart. Let me show you why.
Evening Stroll Through Canals and the Beach
First things first - I took two trips into Venice Beach, one with Ben (in the evening), and one by myself (in the morning) while Ben was at his meeting. I took a similar route both times, but added the Venice Pier to my morning excursion. I was curious to see how the lighting would change based on the time of day for each visit, but also the morning was the only time I would have during the day to do a solo walk as I had class (both as a student and as a teacher) throughout the remainder of the day.
I had heard of the Venice canals a while back, having seen them on a show somewhere (maybe the artist Pink lives there and she was on a show? or maybe I made that up completely?), and I thought, hmm, this is one of those famous landmark places in LA I would like to visit at some point.
I later learned that these canals used to be much more extensive, and are now filled in, covered up, and acting as streets. Carved out of tidal marshlands directly behind the beach area, the canals today might not have the shear scale as they once did, but they still make for a pleasant stroll and people/dog/duck watching opportunities abound.
Those won't be the last ducks you'll see either...
The canals make for an enjoyable evening stroll - it's a relatively quiet neighborhood, and wasn't too busy, considering how pleasant the neighborhood is.
We really didn't even see a lot of evidence of people actually living in the houses - not that we were prying, of course. Everything just seemed kinda quiet, with the occasional resident or two watering their lawn.
There's quite a lot of evidence that residents can take out their own little boat to cruise around the canals, though I saw no direct evidence of this myself in either trip. I should mention, though, that despite Southern California's reputation for being a warm year round destination, it was flippin' freezing by our Hawaii standards (40s and 50s), so not exactly what we would consider to be boating weather.
We hadn't given ourselves much time to enjoy the canals *and* the beach before sunset (while avoiding walking back to our hotel in darkness), so we kind of had to skidaddle almost as quickly as we had arrived. Fortunately, there are several exit and entry points, with public access routes that lead right to the beach.
From the canals, it's about a 5 minute walk through some wide alleyways - more houses, and some publicly tended spaces as well.
Next, we reached the beach, and not the part we had been to in the past, but a different section away from the more famous Muscle Beach area (though only about a 10-15 minute walk in the other direction).
We had managed to make it to the beach right in time to admire the sunset, this time on the other side of the Pacific from our home in the middle of that same ocean. The lighting was perfect, and the only downside was the very cold temperatures and bustling wind.
Don't let that sun fool you - we were bundled up and freezing!
But don't take my word for it being cold - here you can see a few (presumably?) locals also bundled up against the cold and wind.
Somewhat tropical looking like Hawaii, yet a lot colder than Hawaii.
Above, you can see some evidence of the wind whipping the sand around.
Still, it's hard to complain when it's otherwise so nice out. Thankfully, we came prepared for the cool weather, so while it was not as warm as we like it, it was not miserable.
And just as the sun slid behind the horizon, it was time for us to return to our hotel in Marina del Rey. Our first evening in Venice Beach showed us that visiting LA doesn't have to something we have to endure, but can actually be something we could look upon as a place to enjoy. The next morning only made that feeling more solidified.
Morning Walk to Canals, Beach and Pier
The next day, Ben had his work meeting at our hotel in Marina del Rey, which left me with an open morning before my classes later that day. I decided to take a morning walk down to the canals once again, and this time out onto the pier. I was curious to see it in a different light, and also just enjoy a good morning walk before all the work madness I had for the remainder of my day afterwards.
This morning I decided to walk on the other side of the canal from the one we started on yesterday, to see if there were any new things to notice.
The fun part of visiting the canals is seeing all the random facets of the residents' personalities, like canoes with string lights on them. It made me wonder if they actually lit up at night, something we didn't see the night before.
I mean, it seems so obvious, but of course if you lived at the Venice Canals, why wouldn't you have a swan boat?
The morning walk through the canals was pleasant, and there still seemed little local activity (other than those who might have lived near by taking their kids/dogs out for a stroll).
As well as more duck sightings.
I especially loved that right in front of the "Slow Duck Crossing" sign there were actual ducks crossing!
Having more daylight hours meant more time to enjoy the scenery, and I loved all the landscaping choices all around.
However, it was time to head back to the beach, and this time I had one goal on my mind, something that had eluded me the night before (and all other visits to Venice Beach): the Venice Pier.
The Venice Pier was built in the 1960s, but was rebuilt in the late 1990s after falling into much disrepair. Saved by local residents who saw the value of the nice scenic views as well as fishing opportunities, the Venice Pier lives on as a place to take in the scenery.
Though the day was warmer than the previous evening, it was still chilly - I tipped my hat to those playing and surfing in the water.
From the pier, you could look north towards Santa Monica and Malibu.
There were sinks along the pier, presumably for folks to clean the fish they had just caught, but I only saw some birds chilling in them in a sort of make shift (empty) bird bath.
At the very end of the pier, it rounded off providing 360 degree views of the shoreline in either direction, as well as some more fishing possibilities.
Looking back towards Venice Beach from the end of the pier, it was clear that this small corner of Los Angeles lifted our perspective of the city as a whole. I found myself taking it all in, and wondering to myself, for the first time ever in anticipation, when would we be able to come back to LA again?
Venice Beach Details
Venice Beach is a small community within the larger city of Los Angeles. It is located about 20 minutes from LAX airport, and a bit further from downtown LA. While Venice is known for Muscle Beach, be sure to also enjoy Venice's other scenic areas including the canals and pier.
Days of this trip: February 23 and 24, 2022
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