Trip 2005 - Venice Beach

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If you've never been to Venice Beach, you may at least have heard about it. It's quite famous actually, but not many go there for the surf and the sand - they go there for the people. Venice Beach is where you'll see and meet some of the most interesting people on the planet. Street performers (such as this juggler, who tossed knives and flaming torches), artists, bums and tourists comprise the population of Venice Beach that make this place rock.

Sarah, Tim and Jenny really dig this place, it's right up their alley, err... boardwalk. Their personalities mesh well with the locals, because they all are a little bit unique. We had all day to hang out here, seeing as how we weren't planning on driving to San Francisco until tomorrow. Trust me, we'd last the entire day... these kids could spend years here.

The last time that I was at Venice Beach, it was March of 2003. The 17th of March, St. Patrick's Day to be exact. This building, pictured below, was engulfed in flames and it burned down right before my eyes. It was one of the most stunning and powerful things that I have ever personally witnessed because of the raw destruction that fire can possess. If you don't believe me, click on this passage to go to my pictures of it from my California Spring Break.

It's nice to see that life goes on after death takes its role call. Massive reconstruction and a new paint job made this building look brand new once again. It is rather surprising that there's still scaffolding on the building, but hey, as long as they get the job done. The cast of You Got Served 2: Take it to the Streets lit the pavement on fire with their mad skillz and blaring rap music. I sat and watched them brake dance, then I moved on down the path.

I decided to go down and wade into the Pacific Ocean, knowing that this could very well be my one and only opportunity to do so while I'm out West. It's quite a hike to get to the water, seeing is how there's like a mile of sand between the boardwalk and the Ocean, but it was worth every single grueling step. Nothing can compare to the Ocean's soothing and calming powers. It's science...

By this time, I had already lost Sarah, Tim and Jenny to the evil and mysterious clutches of Venice. I don't really know what they were doing, but I didn't mind because I was getting to know some of the locals. This guy stood out there and totally rocked the bass guitar. I believe he was playing "Play that Funky Music" by Wild Cherry, because I distinctly remembered standing there and singing along.

I took this picture in hopes of recreating one of the visually stunning FX-laden scenes from the Day After Tomorrow. I was going to add tornados and helicopters using photoshop, but I just got lazy. Seeing as it's been 8 months since I took these pictures, I figure I better not delay this any further.