We got up at 8am on Wednesday and walked down our street to see the Venice Canals. They're literally just around the bend from us. The Venice Canals were built by a man named Abbot Kinney in the early 1900s, an attempt by him to recreate Venice, Italy in Southern California. The district with the canals is probably one of the highest priced real estate areas in Venice. The canals have been featured in tons of movies and television shows like Californication and Valentine's Day. We took about a half an hour to walk the bridges and backyards of the local rich folk. We also came across a yard-full of sleeping ducks! After we were sufficiently walked out, we headed towards Venice Beach. There were about 30 or 40 guys on surfboards out by the breaking point, and maybe 4 young children splashing in the shallows. Chrissie warned me that the Pacific is always cold, but I was pretty sure I'd be able to handle it. Just barely! I walked in to my waist and then dove into a large wave just to get it over with. It had to have been 60-65 degrees in there. I splashed around for a minute and then happily fled back to our towels to catch some sun. At around 11:45 we went back to the house to start preparing for the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Now.... I don't want to brag.... but I was on CBS and Chrissie wasn't. Really. Watch the bottom right corner at 0:38-0:39. I'm in the stripy shirt. That's totally my back. He was hilarious! I actually laughed out loud watching it again last night on TV. Everybody that worked with the show was awesome, and Craig was funny from the moment he walked on until the moment he walked off. During the commercial breaks he was almost funnier.
We got done there at about 6pm and found a little Sandwich shop on 3rd street, but I'll let Chrissie catch you up on the nightlife.
Chrissie here-
My old friend Vanessa gave us a list of good restaurants in the area, so we decided to try a place called Joan's on Third in West Hollywood. It was a gourmet market, with sandwiches and other such things. Mike and I both got sandwiches and really liked them. We ate them outside and people watched. While they were a bit pricey for our budget, the place was actually not expensive by L.A. standards. We've come to realize that EVERYTHING in L.A. is expensive. We are paying twice as much for food, gas, and drinks here. But, it's worth it. It's an interesting city, with a lot to see. I'm glad we are staying here for a few more days.
Another note on L.A.: It seems like everyone here has a lot of money. Well, except the many homeless individuals we've seen on the street. The city is oozing with wealth. I thought Miami was bad, well L.A. is Miami x 1,000,000 .... It is cool to see all the glitzy cars and beautiful houses, but it is also kind of sad. The people in this city seem to care very much about "being seen." Everyone looks like someone, even if they're not. But, I guess that's what happens when half of a town is in showbusiness. Comes with the territory.
After we ate, we decided to drive to a bar called The Surly Goat, also recommended by Vanessa. We got there just in time to take advantage of Happy Hour. The drinks were still $4, which is (by Keys standards) quite expensive for Happy Hour. But, it was a cool place, Mike tried a new beer and liked it. We then wandered over to another bar that Vanessa recommended, which happened to be right down the street from The Surly Goat. It is a Russian-themed bar called Bar Lubitsch. Their specialty is, you guessed it, vodka-based drinks. Mike had a Russian beer and I had one of their $12 cocktails. Yes, 12 bucks. Expensive! But, it was good. Tasted like strawberries and champagne!
I decided that I wanted to see The Viper Room. Some info about the club: Johnny Depp used to own it. It is a big music venue. Also, actor River Phoenix died right outside of the club from a drug overdose in the 1990s. So, after putting money in a nearby meter, we walked over to the crowded club on Sunset Boulevard. Well, we were asked for I.D.'s and then led to the inner hallway. Then we realized they were charging a $10 cover fee for bands we didn't even know. Normally, I wouldn't mind paying this (Gainesville clubs had cover fees too), but we had already spent a lot of money and are on a budget. But now we can say we were inside of The Viper Room! We may go back before we leave.
After traversing the Sunset Strip, we decided the cover fees were just too high for us. We decided to head back to the Venice area, so we'd be close to our place.
We parked in front of our efficiency, then walked to Abbot Kinney ... a street filled with restaurants, shops, and bars right near us. We went to another bar called The Other Room. It was ok; a lot of people and the prices were high for a beer. We called it a night after that and walked back home.
Stay tuned for our next entry!
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