Venice Beach Visit

     A super good friend of mine was in town this past weekend (all the way from NY!) so, of course I had to see her! She had made plans with a few other friends in the area to go to Venice Beach for the day, and as soon as J got home from work (yes, he had to work on a Sunday -boo!), we drove to the beach to join them.

     J and I have actually not been to Venice Beach before. We've been to Santa Monica a few times and Malibu a bunch, and even to Huntington Beach and as far south as Seal Beach, but nowhere really in-between. So, it was a totally new experience for us. Finding parking proved difficult, but we were able to find a spot just a few blocks away from our designated meeting spot.      When we arrived, we discovered that the plan was to find this cool rooftop bar that had been recommended by someone (wasn't entirely clear on that point). So we walked down to the beach to avoid the crowds, and made our way the few blocks down to the bar - I believe it was on top of the Hotel Erwin? We were lucky enough to find a table to stand at (it was fairly busy, and all of the seating areas seemed to have been reserved), and we each grabbed a drink - I got a Blackberry Collins, complete with fresh blackberries, which was delicious! 

     Eventually, we decided that we were hungry, and that bar food wasn't going to cut it, so we began to wander back down the walk. The biggest observation I could make about Venice, is that it is colorful - in both senses of the word. The thousands of pairs of multi-colored sunglasses, the vendors selling all manner of trinkets and art, and the giant murals filling in the empty spaces. The people are equally colorful, some dressed in typical beach wear, and others wearing rainbow wigs or dressed as trees on stilts. After a while of weaving between the crowds and 'tattoo' signs, we ended up at the Venice Ale House. The place was packed, so we put our name in for a table and headed to the ocean!

     Now, I am of the opinion that when you go to a beach, you have to at least get your feet wet. It always makes me sad to be walking along the ocean and never get the chance to sink my toes in the sand. And, lucky for me, the rest of our group seemed to share this sentiment. So, we kicked of our sandals and waded into the surf - some of us further than others, which resulted in some of us getting a bit soggy.

      After a long wait, it was finally time to grab some grub at the Ale House! Epic amounts of beer were had, samplers served on stationary skateboards (alliteration!), and I had my usual cider. For dinner, I had a turkey burger with roasted russet potatoes, which was quite tasty albeit not terribly healthy (according to my friend, I should have tried their sweet potato "un fries" - next time, perhaps)... but I wasn't terribly concerned about food. It was the company I came for, and I wasn't disappointed. Despite the cold, we stayed long past completing our meal, talking about a little bit of everything. I'm a teensy bit sad I didn't get to talk to my friend Hannah for longer, since I rarely get to see her, but it was definitely nice getting to spend a day out with friends! We even made a new friend who lives right around the corner (almost) and seems to enjoy beer almost as much as J does. Do I sense future brewery visits and epic game nights in the future? Sounds like fun to me!