L.A.’s Best Day Trip

Contributing editor Carolynn Carreño takes us on a low-key “daycation” of strolling canals, bohemian shops, and gourmet cafés in her favorite neighborhood, Venice Beach.

Photographer Thomas J. Story, Text by Carolynn Carenno

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Only in Venice

One Saturday I was walking down Abbot Kinney Boulevard, the main commercial drag in Venice, when I ran into two friends whom I’d recently introduced having lunch together―because Venice is like that. “We were just talking about you!” one said. Oh ... yeah? What were you saying? “We were saying that you should totally, like, move here!

A quick bit of geography: I live 12 miles from Venice, in the Hollywood Hills, just a half-hour drive away. I make the trip to Venice so often that acquaintances, shopkeepers, and restaurant servers are astonished when I reveal that I actually live “in town,” which is code for L.A. But I like visiting Venice. And in fact, retreating to this seaside community from “town” is what first put it on the map.