O H, H A P P Y S U N D A Y!
I am so excited to share some more Cali love for you all today. I'm talkin' bout Venice Beach! AKA one of the coolest, most dreamy places I've ever been. Pete and I arrived there late on boxing day, we had just enough time to some how find a beautiful, delicious restaurant to desperaretely find something to eat.
We stayed in an adoraaaable airstream air b&b which was filled with cool books, mint green and everything cute, all in a very small amount of space. Cute and cosy for sure! Venice was such a fun first stop on our trip (it also set the bar very high as we absolutely loved it) Something about the good vibes and aesthetic in VB was very "us", the people were so nice, the shops were amazing, the coffee shops were cool af, and the restaurants were delicious.
1. Explore the boardwalk // The Venice beach board work is just too cool. It was exactly what I hoped it would be! It all starts with the perfect and famous venice sign! It's literally always sunny and there are so many things to look at around there! There are so many characters who make things exciting, people biking, rollerblading, skateboarding and riding on things I didn't even know existed. People gathered around the skate park watching, people playing basketball, tennis, and every sport in between! The main note is that it was nothing but good vibes down there! (Also, the pride boat lighthouse was my favourite part of course!) See photo below.
2. Shop along Abbot Kinney // Coolest street ever? It's definitely up there for me. Pete and I had a great time walking from the boardwalk to Abbot Kinney! We actually spotted our first celebrity of our trip (Mena Suvari!) and she was as beautiful as she is in the movies! - there were so many cool shops, bright colours and inspirational messages everywhere (one of my favourite parts about California for sure!) we found lots of great shops and wandered around all day long in the sunshine!
3. Rent bikes & head to Santa Monica Pier // A few people recommended doing this to me and I was so excited we were able to make this happen! Pete and I rented (cute) bikes and biked along the boardwalk to Santa Monica Pier - it's such a fun and easy ride! There are tons of people biking, skating, running, walking and exploring the boardwalk. We headed to Santa Monica Pier, which was cute but definitely crazy busy and somewhere we only stayed long enough to snap some photos. We explored the shopping area a few minutes from there too which was really cool! Renting bikes for the boardwalk though? DEF WORTH IT, and so fun!
4. Experience the beach at sunset // Pete and I were having a bite to eat at a place not far from the beach when we started to see the pink and purple sky form! We literally booked it back down to the beach and I am so glad we made it in time to see one of the most beautiful sunsets! We took a billion photos and selfies and just stood there in absolute awe of the view. The beach is covered with palm trees that only make a sunset look even more perfect. A sunset in Venice Beach is definitely something you should put on your list if you're headed there.
5. Eat delicious food // I feel like this is something that should be on your list no matter where you're travelling! VB was filled with great spots to eat and I've listed a few below. Great White was probably my favourite spot we went to (the avocado toast pictured below is from there) and Egg Slut was definitely up there too! Such a cool spot, and the most delicious breakfast sandwiches. We were only there for so long and didn't get to go to world famous spots like Gjelina, but everywhere we went was really good. A lot of fresh delicious food, and drink specials. Oh, and obviously (always) coffee.
All in all, Venice Beach was WONDERFUL and did not let us down. Here are a few of the places we loved below! & if you don't follow me on insta yet, I've been posting a lot of VB photos for you to enjoy if you're interested.
Places you should check out in Venice Beach:
// Urbanic - cutest stationary store (spent a good while in there!)
// Great White - in love with this beautiful cafe
// Egg Slut - still dreaming about these breakfast sandwiches
// Southend - such a tiny, cool, local pizza & wine spot
// Buck Mason - really awesome men's store with v. cool decor
// General Admission - such a cool shop, beers while you shop & visually beautiful
// Lemonade - delicious spot for lemonade drinks and healthy lunch food
I went to San Francisco last year and LOVED it! Our plan was to go to Big Sur and stay overnight in a forest, but we could not make it due to the landslides blocking the highway! We vowed to return, and I think I would definitely add Venice Beach and Joshua Tree to the itinerary based on your photos/posts! Especially that airstream!!! Lovely photos!
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