24.9.15 - Day 20 Thursday - Santa Monica Beach, Muscle Beach, Segway Tour, Venice Beach, Third Promenade

Awoke way early at 3.30, thankfully went back to sleep until 6.30, then did some blog etc, prior to the normal preparations and down for the breaky on the Veranda as part of our package, very nice poached eggs, which came boiled. 

View from our window of the Santa Monica Pier.

Breaky.

doing some landscaping next door.

 

View through the deco windows on the fire escape.

Looking through to Pier across Ocean Ave.

Our hotel The Georgian. 

Then we went our separate ways to spend some time around Santa Monica, I meandered along the beach and phoned to arrange a Segway tour.

I had to walk 15minutes or so to the start of the tour at Casa Del Mar. Plans changed on the way, when they phoned back to say I would be joining a family of 5 who had a tour booked at 11.00. All good.

past the original site of Muscle Beach.

This guy was attempting to tight rope walk

He almost got up this time.

Lots and lots of mean, expensive looking cars in Santa Monica, these suburbans were everywhere

Four guys on tandem bikes having fun.

Lifesavers off to some emergency I presume.

 Met Cameron our guide, who took us to a van with the segways, given I was a last minute addition he had had to hire a bike, so he had enough.

The family were Mum, Dad and 3 children ranging from about 14 – 18 from Sydney.

The training was pretty brief and they weren’t too confident, anyway off we went along muscle beach. 

Not far into it, the elder girl – Maddy (about 18 I reckon) came a cropper and grazed her knee and elbow and couldn’t go on. So we hung around for 20 minutes of so, while it was decided that she would stay on the grass in the shade with the bike, while we all went on.

This group was certainly not as confident or competent as the Washington crew.

Famous scientists and poets etc. A new mural

 Saw a lot along the beach, saw where Arnie Schwarzenegger trained for his Mr Universe stuff, also Venice beach skate park (the first one anywhere evidently) Lots of street vendors, homeless folk, shops along the way, of course the beach, sunbathers, life savers etc.

We also looked at Venice Canals and out onto another pier along the way.

Venice Canals. There used to be 16 miles of canals, fashioned after Venice Italy

Some workmen coming along. Cleaning up the weed.

Grooming the beach.

The beach.

Me and my segway on one of the other piers.

Looking back to the beach along pier.

 All in all a good tour. We came back and Maddy decided she would walk back, which was slow.
 This gave us some extra playtime at the carpark on the segways. 

Turned out Mum is a kinder teacher and dad works with corrective services, they are off for 10 days in New York, before heading home via Hawaii.

LA Fire Truck.

The building was weird, all wood which I assume is then rendered?

Venice.

Cool paintwork on an RV door.

 From there I wandered back along SM beach and walked the long walk across the sand to the water, had a little paddle, then checked out the houses along the Pallisades.

Beach volleyball. I stopped for a bit.

Spike.

Still fixing the tyre over 2 hours later.

big job it seems.

Along the beach to the pier.

Just like Baywatch.

Even that orange buoy they used to always carry.

In the water shot.

The water was lovely, but no time to deal with the togs and sand etc.

some very red bodies out on the sand. I was putting on sunscreen, still got burnt.

Me on the beach

A little stilt I think.

Volleyball. 

Houses along the Palisades.

Flasher Palisades house a little further along the beach.

Palisades houses.

Stopped for lunch at Tender Greens, had a lovely Octopus Salad. 

My mangled Octopus Salad lunch from Tender Greens.

Then on to check out Third Street Promenade, full of posh and interesting shops and vendors. 

Dr Martens.

Cool garden art in Third St. Promenade.

And some more art along the way.

 Then home to The Georgian, Lyn had just arrived home too.

Time for a shower – bit sunburnt today bugger it and some blog, photo downloading and journal updating along with some organising of the cases for tomorrow.

Lyn went out shopping and looking a bit more, then we headed out for dinner, went to an English Pub around the corner.

Tomorrow we check out and have arranged an all-day Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverly Hills tour, then back to collect bags and off to airport to freshen up in readiness for our flight at 10.50pm