The Other Venice (As in CA)

We had the brilliant idea to fly down to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend and stay in an awesome vintage trailer we found on Airbnb. Sadly, the weather forecast didn’t quite jibe with the weekend-long beach experience we were dreaming of, so we decided to scrap that plan and stick around the LA area, since we were flying into LAX to begin with.

Our last LA experience didn’t leave us with a ton of positive things to say about the sprawling city, so we were really interested in diving deeper this time around and exploring more of what the place had to offer.

We found this dreamy backyard cabana, just a few blocks from the Venice Beach boardwalk and the famous Venice Canals.

If you are ever in the Venice area we recommend the hell out of this place. It was a simple structure on the back deck of Lisa and Joe’s beach-style cottage. Just a pergola, some curtains, a pallet bed, and the most comfortable mattress ever! We slept like babies and awoke to the beautiful morning light.

They also serve a really delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, baked yummy things, and amazing coffee. They were SO good to us, and the Scottish travelers renting out the other bedrooms were great breakfast companions. Sadly I seem to remember a lot of America bashing, but hey, some of these fools deserve a good ribbing, am I right? I mean, our portion sizes at restaurants are out of control, and the tub of popcorn you can buy at “the cinema” is pretty shameful. The most pathetic part was admitting how many vacation days I get each year (ten!) compared to theirs (60!!).

Last time we were in Venice I was a bit bummed that we never made it to the canals. Anyone who has ever been to the real Venice is probably rolling their eyes right now, but relax. This pales in comparison. We know.

We strolled the canals as the sun was setting, peeking into everyone’s houses, which happens to be one of my most favorite activities. Call me a voyeur, but I just like to see how people live their lives.

I mean, as far as neighborhoods go, this is pretty awesome. I’d choose a canal over a yard any day.

We really liked Venice this time around. Abbot Kinney was totally our jam, albeit a teeny bit too hip and out-of-a-magazine looking, but it is LA after all. It was, however, perfect for strolling around, window shopping, people watching, drinking coffee, drinking beers, drinking cocktails, drinking cold-pressed juice, drinking sizzurp…you get the idea.

We take our meals very seriously, so when a friend told us that Gjelina has incredible pizza but that we wouldn’t be able to get a table because of its “hot new place to be” status, we just knew we’d have to give it our best shot. Luckily we like to eat dinner at 5pm like retired folk, so that often makes for easy restaurant-going. We were able to walk in and sit down right away. The pizza was incredible, so just put it on your list. And the grilled peach, burrata, and prosciutto salad was amazing, so put that on your list, too. And the beer? Well, we like our beverages, as you might have guessed. It was drinkable

So if you’re ever in LA and want a cute beach neighborhood — with a quirky, crowd-pleasing boardwalk to boot — where you don’t actually have to drive around just to find a decent time, then Venice is your place, my friends.