The Venice of California

Last week we spent a delightful four days with Abby and Adam and baby Charlotte in Venice, California. It was such a relaxing and fun vacation. I think what made it so much fun was that the activities that were fun for the kids were also fun for the grown-ups. There was minimal stress over supervision or entertainment. A notable exception was the excursion to the amusement park at the end of the Santa Monica pier. Some people love amusement parks (i.e. Ryan, the boys, the rest of the free world). I, however, detest them, and the “fun” of trying not to lose the kids gave me a MAJOR stress headache. But basically, we laid low and the kids were happy.  We went biking/running on the beachfront bike path, we built sandcastles and flew kites on the beach, we played games at the house, and Elliot went on lots of “adventures” that consisted solely of locking and unlocking the front door with the house keys.  It was total bliss.  

One of the highlights was the Getty Center. This is one of my dad’s favorite places and has raved about it for years so Abby and I were eager to go. It did not disappoint. The museum was shutting down for Carmageddon so we went on Friday. Ryan had to work from the beach house so he couldn’t join us, but our friend Michelle from high school came along. (If you hadn’t heard about Carmageddon, it was the non-event that was supposed to throw all of LA into a traffic-roiled mess (more than it usually is, I mean) when they shut down the 405 for the entire weekend for road maintenance.) Anyway, even though the kids mutinied and refused to stay in the galleries, the gardens and grounds were so enchanting that it was still a great experience. They especially loved the tram-ride up the mountain-side to get to the museum.

         I loved how every aspect of the buildings and gardens were exquisitely designed. One of my favorite details were these re-bar trellises for bougainvillea. Not everyone (ahem, Adam) thought they were terrific but I sure did. The rebar has rusted and now they look like giant sculptural trees.

It was quite surprising to discover that Venice, California has a series of charming canals—almost, [well, not quite] like the “real” Venice. Who knew?! I know what you’re thinking, when you hear Venice Beach you think exhibitionist bodybuilders and a head-turning parade of heavily tattooed, body-pierced, self-medicated skaters/surfers/runaways/carnival hucksters, but we discovered the quaint “Venetian” side of Venice.

 

 

This is where we stayed in Venice. Not on the canals, but on a cute little pedestrian street a block and a half from the beach. It was the perfect home base.   

         

We stayed in LA for four days and then took 2 days to drive the Pacific Coast Highway home. That was an amazing trip! I will post photos of that part of the trip soon.