Santa Monica State Beach

Santa Monica State Beach Highlights: Must-See Features and Attractions

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Santa Monica Beach is a popular seaside holiday retreat in Los Angeles. Boasting turquoise water and pristine sand beaches, this is a place teeming with waterfront restaurants, bars and shops, making it a site bustling with action both day and night. With magnificent seascape much adored by Hollywood film directors, this is where many movies and TV shows have been filmed. Santa Monica Beach sits at the end of Route 66, a road of great historic value that traverses across the US from east to west. As a cultural symbol, the signpost of Route 66 is a photo takers’ mecca.

Los Angeles' sunset truly does not deceive me

Day 1 The day I set off for LA was really long. A 24+15 hour April 23rd, starting from midnight on the 23rd, I didn't sleep well. First, an early morning flight to Tokyo Narita, then a few hours in a capsule hotel, which was also a new experience. I wrote about it in a guidebook. Overall, it was a pretty good experience. Continued on to LA, a 10-hour flight during which I watched five movies, had two main meals, one snack, and finally arrived. Welcome to the State. The security check just asked a few questions: what are you here for, how many days, why LA, are you a couple, work, itinerary. After coming out, it wasn't time to pick up the car yet, so I stayed at a nearby Marriott for day use for a few more hours. While waiting for the bus, a guy saw us waiting too long and agreed to give us a lift, even writing us a tissue memo. I saw an almost perfect sunset, strolled around Venice Beach, enjoyed the breeze, watched the sunset, the big moon, and the Santa Monica Ferris wheel. I circled around LA clockwise, up and down the hills, through rich and poor areas, drank LA-only beer, and took a round at the observatory. Day 2 On the second day in LA, I was a bit jet-lagged... It was not a good idea to have breakfast in the wind, the Mexican guy just took it all apart... Breakfast was indeed bad, both salty and cold... Set off for the rich area, Beverly Park, and the park on the hilltop, found a way to avoid paying for parking~ In Beverly, saw many Israeli flags, commemorating those who died in the conflict that started last October. The afternoon was spent visiting the Getty Center and Villa, both very beautiful, with some private collections, not too crowded, free admission with advance reservation. If you check in at both places in one day, parking is only $25, and if you enter after 3 pm, it's only $20. There's a bit of a traffic jam from the center to the villa, about half an hour, and the villa closes at five, so watch the time. I love Highway 1, it's basically along the coast, so beautiful. LA has mountains and sea, skyscrapers and bungalows. I really like the well-decorated single houses. Thinking about it, the streets and houses are super Israeli. All the signals on the road are only in English, different from any other country where local language + English is used. The road signs have become very pure. Saw Taylor's chart-topping on the road~ Bought a new album at the supermarket, went to the supermarket twice, really felt like Israel, everything is in such large quantities. Reminded me of the time when I also bought a week's worth of stuff. Found a beautiful spot for sunset photos, saw the sea and the mountains, unfortunately a bit cloudy, but still beautiful. Day 3 A cloudy day, finally went downtown, took photos of the Hollywood sign, went to MOCA and The Broad, $27 parking fee (because I was over by a few minutes, otherwise $17 for within three hours), saw Angel's Flight, saw The Last Bookstore (really a lot of books, dazzling, even if you read one book a month from there, it would take many, many years to read more). That's about it for the city, but these days have been from one suburb to another, and in the end, I didn't go into Santa Monica, whatever. Was supposed to have an interview in the evening, but it got delayed, so I went to eat tacos with a classmate I hadn't seen since junior high school graduation, finally resolved a long-standing curiosity, everyone's married, and got a rough idea of some local Chinese matters, just so-so. It was also the first time having an interview in a car, and the first time having such a short interview, introducing the Canton Fair in English, introducing myself in Cantonese, well, I seem not to be interviewing for a journalist position, but of course, I'm very willing to be a journalist. Met a spirited little dog named August, really super beautiful, no tail, but when it wags its butt, the muscles twist and turn. Finally arrived at the place I was supposed to come to four years ago. Americans drive fast, this time I can trust Google Maps. Overall, it's comfortable. Looking forward to the East Coast later on.

WanderlustSojourn