Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Tourist destination: Santa Monica


This is why I felt like a tourist in Santa Monica, because I thought that it was a gorgeous day. I guess it was not a gorgeous day on California standards because I noticed several people, mostly women, dressed in wool, wearing winter coats and fully wrapped in scarves and other winter accessories. I know that it is January, but wearing your winter coat and scarf outside on the Pier is pure crazy. People you do not even know winter.

After visiting Santa Monica a few times, I still do not think that I have developed an opinion on whether or not I like it. It, to me, is basically an outdoor mall, which should be avoided at all costs on the weekend. Santa Monica has great people watching though, and maybe that it what brings me back.

The best place too truly people watch is by far the Santa Monica Pier. There truly are some characters like the neurotic juggler, who actually gets upset if you do not watch his show.

“Hey, do you want to see something cool?”

No audience response.

“I said do you want to see something cool?!!!”

Still no audience response.

“You are going to miss the coolest thing ever!!! I am going to balance this bicycle on my head!!!”

He does his act anyway even without audience participation and still goes around with his bucket asking people for money even though no one watched.

The Pier musicians are a wide range on Blues singers, Hippies and Classic Rock fans. This is what I like about the street musicians on the Pier; it doesn’t really matter how good or bad they are, whether or not they just sing songs with California in the title, they always, and I mean always, tell you who originally wrote and sung the song. I think that is really polite. I know that if someone was making money off of me, I would like at least a little recognition.

Warning to all female tourists: The public restrooms at the park building right before you get to the Santa Monica Pier are probably the worst public restrooms you will ever come across. I have done a lot of traveling in my lifetime and if I were to rate the worst public restrooms in America I would give these restrooms the blue ribbon prize. Go anywhere else in Santa Monica, but never there.

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