Day-Trip City Guide: Santa Monica, CA | 5 Minute Freewrite, Day 110
How to spend a day in Santa Monica, California
I left my hotel early on Sunday morning, taking my first Uber ever. Turned out - my Uber drive didn't even speak English! He mumbled "hello" in a thick Mandarin accent and then turned up some top-hits/hip hop to squash any of my attempts at conversation. Off to Santa Monica!
As a primer, Santa Monica is a small portion of Los Angeles, near Venice Beach. I chose to visit Santa Monica for one street: Abbot Kinney Blvd. This is the coolest, local-business-filled shopping and 'seeing' district in Los Angeles (in my opinion) and I only had one day... so I spent it there.
Full disclosure, this post took more like 20 minutes. California as a prompt inspired me so deeply that I just had to share this experience with you. I hope you enjoy!
Have breakfast at Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, located on Abbot Kinney.
I found it very "California" that within minutes of being here, Justin Bieber finished his breakfast and left, someone in a yellow Lamborghini showed up, and a hip waitress with an afro handed me a tablet to order my food. At the time, I was gluten and dairy free - this restaurant had me covered!
Stop into Intelligencia for coffee.
Order a pour over of whatever's from Ethiopia. It'll be delicious!
Fall in love with so many murals in this beautiful city.
###And the amazing array of succulents that lavishly decorate every stoop.
Stop into Huett to marvel at the minimalist home goods, stoneware, and decor.
Yes, I did take photos of scissors because as you can see, they are pure perfection.
Grab a vegan ice cream from VanLeeuwen mobile creamery!
Only in California can a vegan get a decadent chocolate fudge ice cream from a truck.
Also visit (not photographed):
- TOMS flagship coffee shop + retail space
- Alternative Apparel flagship retail space
- ZenBunni Biodynamic Chocolate which is hidden in the back of a cooperative retail space with an interior carved like the inside of a hollowed-out tree (yes, I'm serious)
- Scotch & Soda upscale menswear
- Urbanic stationary shop
- Sculpture Gardens Nursery
Visit [this] hydroponic farm, as tiny as it is.
And eat at the attached cafe if you need a quick refreshment!
Most Important: Rent a (FREE!) bike from Rag & Bone so you can get around freely all day.
Side note: If you're going to rent a bike, don't wear a skirt for the day, as I did. I made it work, but it wasn't easy!
Drive down the bike path on Santa Monica / Venice Beach and enjoy a most stunning view.
On the opposite side are bazillion dollar houses of every style and shape. I almost crashed multiple times simply not paying attention while gawking.
If you haven't been to Muscle Beach, just do it.
It's borderline dangerous, especially at night, validated by personal experience, but in the sunshine it's a piece of iconic real estate and full of characters. The skate park is kind of cool. And so are the peddlers. But not the weirdos. Stay away from the weirdos.
Santa Monica has its own "Original Muscle Beach" that is filled with more my crowd: Acro Yogis!
Over a hundred yogis out there in the middle of the day on a Sunday, doing handstands and flips and stacking on top of one another. Another skirt-regret was not being able to strip down and participate. What a glorious sight.
Keep your eyes peel for opportunities like this one: The tiniest side-yard bazaar I found on Main St. in Santa Monica.
This might be my favorite part of the day. Little gems like this happen all over the city. Only 6 - 8 makers here nudged between two very trendy boutiques, one of which was a 50s-themed home decor store. I can only say, "Only in California!*
I happened to meet this lovely lady photographed here and purchase the purple vest I am wearing from her. It's a Japanese woman's working vest handsewn from vintage kimonos. Score!
Grab a healthy, West Coast dinner (like this poke bowl seen here) and journal about your most wonderful day.
In case you're unfamiliar, a poke bowl is an Island food (IE Hawaii and some parts of Polynesia) made from rice, topped with raw tuna or other fish, seeds, greens, and tropical fruits. Super refreshing after a long day of exploring!
I can't wait to go back to Los Angeles!
For this trip, I was here on business and only had one day to spend on my own. The rest were spent filming boring documentary videos for a very important healthcare project. I stayed in near Beverly Hills and spent a bit of time driving around there is well. To close out this post, here is a photo of one of the individuals I saw walking down Hollywood Blvd.
Just a transformer walking his "pet"
Do you have a favorite place in California? Let me know so I can visit!
Hi, I'm Amelia! It's nice to meet you.
I'm a writer, minimalist, tiny home dweller, and maker living in East Tennessee, USA. My blog has lived at www.amelia-bartlett.com until I discovered Steemit, where I now post most of my work. To learn more about me, check out my introduction post, get up-to-date on my school bus tiny house conversion, and follow me for articles on slow living, sustainable fashion, self-expression, and quality curated resteems!
Proud member of
banner by @bearone
banner by @bearone
This was a great post! Thanks so much for sharing your experiences in Cali! I'm going to LA this summer so I'll be sure to check out a few of the places you mentioned. Other awesome areas in California include San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, and Redwoods State & National Park! I talk about all of these places in my response to Day 110's prompt "California"! Let me know what you think in the comments =)
What a day! I’ll have to visit there someday.
Santa Monica it's on my bucket list! Looks like I will have to add new things on my to-do-list! The Venice beach photograph is stunning indeed!
Thank you! Next time I go, I'm bringing my camera (this was just an iPhone 4 or something small). The architecture, the landscaping, nature. So much beauty that I'd never seen quite in that 'California' fashion.
I love the beach (I always do), and the food makes me feel hungry, and... be careful of that transformer, that's neighborhood can be in catastrophic once some bad transformers find him, lol.
Can you imagine the destruction if transformers descended upon Beverly Hills 😂
Wow! This is an awesome post. I love VanLeeuwen icecream by the way. I had it in the Netherlands.
As one of the editors for @steemitworldmap’s daily #traveldigest, I would love to see this post pop up on http://steemitworldmap.com. If you're interested, simply go to the website, search for your location, click on code (down the bottom) and add a short description. It will then generate the code you need to copy and paste into your post (not the comments) to have it show up on steemit worldmap. Then your post will be on the map! There’s also a FAQ section if you need it.
I've been so curious how to get posts on the world map. Thank you for these easy-to-follow instructions. This is exactly what I'm going to do.
You did a lot in a day. Lol! I spent a couple of weeks there when my son lived and worked there. Beautiful olace!
California is now on my wish list. Everyone is convincing me. :-)
Yes, you must. It's a place you can go for a day, a month, a year and feel satisfied yet unfinished no matter what you do. Redwoods, NorCal, and San Diego, and San Francisco are still on my bucket list!
You certainly got a lot done in just a day and turned it into an interesting post.
I'm here standing in for Marianne with today's prompt:
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-111-5-minute-freewrite-wednesday-prompt-dream
I've been to Santa Monica before & this made me miss it even more! I'm gonna have to keep a bunch of these places you talked about in mind the next time I'm there!
Yes @cailliyork just check out Abbot Kinney Blvd and Main St to get you started. I think I could've spent a week just between those two places and the shore. So much food, culture, sights to see. Even just walking amongst the houses is beautiful. They're all nestled into one another with lush yards and unique privacy fences.
I love all the pictures!! I haven't been in LA forever and it is only 2 hours away. When we talk LA, it is mostly to figure out the best time to drive through and not hit traffic :)
Oh my, you're so close! Which direction? In this trip, I also spent 36 hours in Oakland but it was mostly for work. I did eat at a Senegalese restaurant (for the first time) and totally fell in love with the cuisine.
I am in San Diego :)