USA road trip, Post 11: Lifestyles of the poor and homeless

In the late afternoon of our Wednesday in Los Angeles, we headed to Venice Beach, where we saw a very different side of LA.

Venice is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk that features performers, fortune-tellers and vendors. Throughout the summer months, the boardwalk is actively entertaining, and this tradition continues on weekends in the winter. It is an important tourist attraction in Southern California, and has retained its popularity in part because it is an attractive location for walking and bicycling. It was home to some of Los Angeles' early beat poets and artists and has served as an important cultural centre of the city. (From Wikipedia)











The Ocean Front Walk is lined with small stores selling all manner of tacky and dodgy items. It took us a few minutes to realise we would need our firm "no, I'm not interested" voices. In the time it took to realise this - while Ben was off taking photos - Delle was conned into buying two hip hop CDs (by the persuasive artists themselves) and I was lured into a bong shop!!! After extricating ourselves from those situations, we continued on our way and kept Ben a little bit closer. ;)

This area is usually full of bodybuilders showing off, but it must have been getting too cold and late for them...



Some of the shops and sidewalk wares...









(There were lots of normal shops and artisan displays too - we just didn't take photos of them!)

The saddest sights at Venice Beach, though, were some of the people who evidently call it home. Some of the buskers had all of their material possessions piled on a shopping cart behind them as they endlessly played their instruments. As dusk arrived, groups of homeless people gathered together in the park. Signs expressed the need of others sitting at the edges of the boardwalk. And just a few miles away is the Hollywood sign and all the wealth it implies...









Sunset and rain...



After dinner at a Santa Monica crepe cafe, and a drive by the Santa Monica Pier with its flashy Ferris wheel lighting up the night, we headed back to our hotel. The Grand Canyon was just a sleep (and an 8 hour drive) away!