An afternoon at Venice Beach

(For those of you familiar with Venice Beach, you'll notice that I reversed the picture so that the lettering of "Venice" is readable. My apologies for the misrepresentation.)

Last Saturday, Andrea (sister), Bri (sister's co-worker), and I spent the afternoon at Venice Beach. Though I was only there for the afternoon, it seems like a nice enough beach, with lifeguard towers and all. As an Oregonian, I feel compelled to write about lifeguard towers since we don't have many. Maybe three or four along the entire stretch of Oregon coastline. The Pacific Ocean in these parts is not particularly safe to swim in, and according to every piece of coastal literature/billboard/beach sign/hotel brochure, we are notified of how DANGEROUS! it is because of the undertow (and probably lots of sea monsters, which I find to be even more threatening than undertow). People still swim in it, but they have been duly warned not to, and no lifeguard is going to protect them from sea monsters, er, undertow.

It was perfect weather for being at the beach. Hot and not windy. Though my sister insisted on parking miles away from the beach, and we had to hike through a homeless camp to get to the ocean (not kidding), it made us appreciate our destination all that much more. By the time we got onto the sand we were ready to relax. We snacked, we Frisbee'd, we napped, we talked, and--amazingly--we swam. In the ocean. Of which I have a phobia.

Even though all three of us are admittedly afraid of sharks, we convinced ourselves that it would be good therapy to go out into the ocean. Not far into the ocean, but into water that was probably four feet deep. (And, in case you didn't know, a shark can attack you in less than three feet of water. I'm just saying. You need to know this to appreciate our bravery.) Plus, we reasoned, surely the sharks would go after the surfers before us.

Venice Beach was a visual treat, because we encountered all sorts of things that I wouldn't normally see at our conservative-by-comparison Lincoln City beach front.

Like this guy, who was standing not far from where we were hanging out.

He totally reminded me of some Baywatch episode. Oh, the good old days of Baywatch, and red swimsuits, and Mitch. One thing is for sure: the Oregon coast never makes me nostalgic for Baywatch (probably a good thing). I'm not sure if you could even get one of those floaty devices around these parts. The guy was committed to the role, though. A couple minutes later he was still there, yellow buoy in hand.

If you're thinking of watching old Baywatch episodes, don't look at Blockbuster. They don't have them.

After beaching it, we decided to just wander down the boardwalk, stopping along the way to look in the shops and watch people.

 

Here's where we stopped to get a very tasty fruit smoothie, and a blended mocha. I'm actually just pretending to pose for the camera because the real focus of this picture is behind my left shoulder.

Hello, Mr. Iguana! It was evidently a great day for reptiles, because right before this we saw a girl wearing a snake as a necklace. A live snake. With a flickering tongue and everything. I'm so not caught up on my reptilian accessories.

We continued down the boardwalk, hoping to get a glimpse of the famous Muscle Beach. We found it, yes indeed.

Hello, gorgeous blue skies! Hello, towering palm trees. And, um...

Hello, leopard print speedos. This guy was working out on the Muscle Beach fitness equipment, and he was totally committed to his workout. Props to him for his dedication to physical fitness, no matter what the attire.

Vibrant, eclectic, and a great place to watch people, Venice Beach was a fun place to spend an afternoon. It has a totally different vibe to it than anywhere I've ever been, and it was made all that much more enjoyable being able to spend it with Andrea and Bri.

We finally headed over to the Santa Monica pier for yummy food and drinks at the Mexican restaurant on the far end, and even though the birds were mercilessly crowding us trying to get our food, it was a fantastic end to our adventurous beach day.

***

And lucky for me, my fun day at the beach happens to fit perfectly with Parent Bloggers Network's blog blast theme, in which they've teamed up with Huggies Little Swimmers. Blog about your family's summer adventures for lots of great prizes!

Comments

[Rachel]

After our fantastic lunch, it's great to put pictures to the stories you were telling me! I love it! I could handle laying out on the beach watching the lifeguards...I mean ocean...I'm glad you had such a great time!

[Amy/P.O.W.]

Oh Stephanie, I wish we'd met up! I almost suggested it, but I didn't want to butt in on your sister bonding time. We were at the beach on Saturday too!

[Jeri]

I love that mexican restaurant on the end of the pier and well, venice is the place to see every type of humanity possible...with reptiles apparently....I have moments where I miss the relentless sunshine of LA.

[Margaret]

That blue sky is amazing. There is nothing better than beach, sun, and interesting people watching!

[mothergoosemouse]

Oh, I love Santa Monica. Never did make it to Venice though.

And that Speedo is...just...WOW.

[Karen]

Carefull Jason might not let you go back with all these pictures of men...specially the last one :)

[Alida]

Stephanie, you WALKED?...you parked FAR AWAY?. Oh no, no, no. I had to laugh just remembering when I was young and we were kinda frightened of Venice, but went anyway. (Frighten not of the homeless, but of the guys working out in leopard speedos!)

Santa Monica, yes not quite so eclectic but feels so much safer.

[Leslie]

Wow! What a day. It looks like you had a blast.

I do think I am scarred forever by the picture of the Speedo guy. Just not an attractive view.....

[violetismycolor]

I have been to Venice, CA...did you see the canals? On one of my cousin's weekends, we went on a gondola there. It is a really cool place...

[Caryn Bailey]

I am ROTFLOL!!!!! Haha! I am a Socal girl and your perspective is truly funny! : )