Venice Beach, CA – Surprisingly Still the USofA

 

Larry and Mark were at the condo for the weekend and on Friday we decided to go up to Venice Beach. It’s about 80 miles north of Oceanside so we got up early and headed north. Venice Beach is, of course, home to Muscle Beach. It is not at all what I expected…

 

 

 

 

We parked a few blocks away and headed toward the beach. The first thing we came upon was Muscle Beach Venice. The original Muscle Beach was a few miles north in Santa Monica but moved to Venice in the 50s and became Muscle Beach Venice. Right next to the gym is a concrete platform/stage and stadium seating. As you can see, Mark and I made it on stage! LOL And the crowd went wild! HAHA Also, a short distance away there is gymnastic equipment including high bar, parallel bars and those hanging ropes with the rings.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked along the beach, being so early on a Friday, there were very few people there, which is just how I like it!

 

 

 

The skaters were up and ready though. I was able to get some pretty good action shots. It’s amazing to me how old the skaters here are! LOL I mean, I’ve seen some that had to be over 30. It’s great they are still doing what they love. It’s how we stay young…

 

 

 

 

 

As we continued to walk down the beach we came upon the Venice Art Walls. There is a sign out in front of it saying it is illegal do deface this work. I, personally, think this was awesome. There are some pretty fantastic graffiti artists and it’s great they are allowed to express themselves in this way. The artists do need a permit though.

 

 

OK, now came the most interesting part of our trip to Venice Beach. The street vendors and the street people, sometimes one in the same. It almost seemed like a different country, a third world country. So the street that runs along the beach starts filling up with street vendors around 10am. There is a wide variety of ware available. A lot of it is art. One guy was even selling pan handler type signs! LOL Just a piece of cardboard that made a statement. Ingenious if you ask me! This guy just gets dressed up in his weed man suit and waits for you to want to take a picture and he’ll want money for that privilege. As I walked by he yelled, “that camera cost more then my rent. I’m not a proud man, I’m just trying to make a living!” OK, so what if my camera cost more then your rent. The camera gear I was carrying probably could pay the rent for 3 months, so what. I worked long and I worked hard for it…

 

Some of the other comments I heard from the homeless: the guy bent over in this picture in the jean said, “with out women we can reproduce”, true. A homeless girl said, “just give me some money so I don’t have to punch you in the face.” Hmm, no comment. A really good looking guy, not much over 20 said, “does anyone have any change, so my dog doesn’t get raped”, as he’s looking at me. I said, “no”, which I didn’t. He said, “I hope you remember that when you’re getting raped”, wow, really? “You’re a jerk”, I said. I was definitely glad I was not there alone at night!

 

 

And of course the medical marijuana places, and there were many! I am quite sure I would have been able to get my marijuana card on this day if that is something I was interested in. Don’t think I’d be much of a problem… “The doctor’s in” LOL

 

 

Venice Beach is a cool experience, but there are definitely a lot of homeless and people who need help. I began to wonder how these people got here, what happened in their life to bring them to this. Was it a series of things the snowballed into homelessness or was it one key decision that brought them down? I hope I never find out…