At one point, we needed photos of eccentric characters for a project we were working on, so we went to Venice Beach and walked up and down the Strand, offering a few dollars here and there for a pose. We had more than enough takers, because that was the real Venice Beach--an eternally kitschy and colorful, yet unusually approachable show.
No great surprise, considering that the area started off in 1905 as part amusement park and part hokey imitation of Venice, Italy. Visitors arrived on the Los Angeles Red Car trolleys to ride the gondolas, try their luck on the rides, and laze on the beach. By the 1950s, the area had become a rundown haven for the Beat Generation and their fellow eccentrics. By the 1960s, local bands like The Doors were mixing it up with wannabe actors, topless foreigners, and the body builders of Muscle Beach and Gold's Gym.
Today, Venice Beach is as chaotic and dysfunctional a mess as ever, but you don't see a lot of anger. People are too busy acting out their strange and eclectic performances to chafe at each other. The action takes place almost entirely on and off the Strand, with a handful of spectacular restaurants (James Beach has been there for decades, serving some of the best martinis in LA) mixed in with the touristy bodegas, fortune tellers, tattoo artists, and junk food.
Venice is a place that could only come alive in LA. And while it might test your tolerance for crazy, it’s still a place you can sit comfortably for hours and marvel at the antics people will get up to.
Find the beach with Google Maps.