It was great to be back in LA, and the first thing we noticed was the fresh ocean air!! Such a relief after the heat and humidity of Florida. We're staying at a fabulous hotel, right opposite Santa Monica pier, and perfectly placed for great shopping and restaurants.
The first morning we headed over to the pier to hire bikes, and ride south to Venice Beach and Marina del Ray. It was beautiful weather and a fun way to do some exploring, while the kids we're tucked up in a trailer buggy. We had previously visited this area with our friends Tim and Claire Steel (who were locals at the time) back in 2001, so it was great to know where we were going!
There was a competition for the VBL (Venice Beach League) basketball, and a music and food festival on at Venice Beach, so we stopped off there for a while. It was really good - and a great American sport fix, seeing we've missed the football, NBL and baseball seasons. This area is great for people watching too - so many characters!!
The next stop was Muscle Beach. It has changed a bit since we were here 11 years ago, and the weights etc have been replaced by strength and gymnastic equipment. It seems a wider range of people can use this, and in turn there was more athletic muscle, than bulk to look at!! As you can see from the videos below, Luke enjoyed his workout the most!
The next day after a spot of shopping, we headed back to the pier to check out the rides. The kids LOVED it! Compared with Disney it was nice and compact, the lines were short etc, but I found myself visually checkimg the nuts and bolts, safety requirements, as the rides (and pier) seemed a little tired! Anyway, it was a really fun, sunny afternoon.
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