3 Reasons to Check Out Venice Beach
In 8th grade, I accompanied my best friend on a cross-country family vacation that culminated at Venice Beach. My memories are warm and golden, like the sand that crept into crevasses and required my friend and I to scrub thoroughly to get it out. Beyond that, I don’t remember much.
Recently I found myself down the street from Venice Beach, so decided to take a detour on my business trip to reignite that memory.
Venice Beach is an interesting place. If you’ve ever watched the Netflix show Flaked (and I highly recommend you do), you’ll understand a bit about the vibe. It’s uber laid-back, even for Southern California. Here are a few reasons you should go.
1. It’s Crazy Full of Art

I love the trend of businesses embracing grafitti — artful grafitti — to transform a mundane building into something worth looking at. Venice is fully supporting this movement, and the result is oh so Instagram-worthy.

2. It’s a Magnet for Interesting People

I’m not sure why some towns attract more than their fair share of homeless, mentally-unstable people, as well as freaks and geeks, but Venice Beach is definitely a vortex for this demographic. If you’re a people-watcher, this gives you more entertainment than a House of Cards binge.