Yesterday, I drove early in the morning to L.A., trying to by pass the rush hour traffic. The sun was already bright and shining; providing a moderate temperature of 75 degrees F by 9:30am. Ah, you gotta love Southern California weather, you can map out your day with no problem and you’re almost guaranteed to have a consistent weather throughout the day. As my friend and I wondered off to Venice Beach, we made a stop at my bro’s solo art exhibit at Superba Restaurant. Mr. Artist himself, Jay was hanging out by a cool airstream mobile trailer on the parking lot. The trailer reminded me of the 70’s which, he turned into an art gallery to showcase all of his works. I thought this painted a nice introduction of what Venice Beach was like. A place for creative fiends who enjoys the arts.

Born as a creative maven, J sketches, paints and has worked in the creative industry for as long as he’s been working in his lifetime. His art exhibition, I think, truly captured his talent with the current work signifying a self representation of people in social media and the influence it has in our world. I was impressed and proud to see him pursue his passion.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh4Kyh9n_vz/?hl=en&taken-by=astintabroad

After we hung out for a few hours, we said our good-byes and made our way to Abbott Kinney. Another reason why I like Venice Beach is that it’s compact and you can reach the beach within a few blocks from Abbot Kinney. It’s convenient for parking reasons and at the same time, you can enjoy the beach and wonder around the center.

When we arrived, we window shopped, people watched and took in the sun. The weather was definitely putting everyone in a good mood. There were people everywhere either on a bike, eating ice cream, drinking, socializing and having fun.

Abbot Kinney is located in Venice Beach, CA. It is a mini Art District of West L.A with a bohemian feel. You’ll find tons of coffee shops here, restaurants, bars, juice shops that are likely selling organic or gluten free options. They also hold an art walk on the first Friday of every month and it often draws a large crowd. I’ve attended it once and I remembered it being jam packed with people and tonze of food trucks parked on the streets. The food was great and it is definitely an event that you need to see at least once.

My go to coffee shop here is Intelligentsia. This place is usually busy; probably because they make their coffee strong and provides a space for people to hang out. I grabbed a Chai Latte and we walked down to the beach boardwalk right after.

The Venice Beach boardwalk is not for everyone. I love it because there’s always something going on but, it does get crowded and it is 100x busier than Abbot Kinney. You’ll find street performers, skaters, beach-goers, tourists, lots of gift shops, dogs, birds, bikers and everything in between.
After watching a street performance, we left the chaos and opted for something a bit quieter. We went up to the High Rooftop Bar that overlooked the beach. It was definitely better suited place for us older folks. We found the view beautiful and ended our day here.