Despite it being a wet and gloomy day on the West Coast, our contractors kicked us out of our residence this morning so that they could finalize the installation of our wooden floors. Looking for a change of pace and some activity to kill time, I suggested visiting the neighboring Venice Canals or the Marina del Rey Peninsula.

We did neither, opting instead to park our car off Washington Boulevard and head west, on foot, towards the beach, where we happened upon a small pier that locals call Venice Pier.

Other than walk to the end of the Pier to watch the local surfers enjoy the huge waves –yes, even while it is raining — there is nothing else to do here.

Or is there?

This small pier is officially known as Venice Fishing Pier because this is a popular local fishing venue. There were indeed a handful of fishermen silently waiting for the catch of the morning.

Here’s a sight I wouldn’t have noticed before: a school of fish!

The presence of various schools of fish also means that there are seagulls — or should I say various bird droppings — everywhere. I was then reminded by one of the transients on the Pier to just enjoy the scenery. I did so, opting to overlook the droppings for what they were, instead enjoying the visual beauty of the “splotches” of white on the concrete starburst on my feet.

I unexpectedly captured a photo of this guy, too.

This is Los Angeles, so it was no surprise that a professional photo shoot was happening at Venice Pier. After briefly eavesdropping on what seemed to be a meeting between a photographer, his upbeat staff and a client, I learned that the shoot was for a lifestyle segment featuring an up-and-coming athletic clothing line. That’s the photographer and model to the left of the frame while two onlooking tourists on Segways casually pass by this location shoot.

We headed back to our car because our grumbling tummies dictated us to do so. We remembered passing by a handful of interesting restaurants on Washington Boulevard, but my nostalgic college days convinced my group to grab a burrito and a bag of deep-fried giant corn tortillas from El Tarasco before going about our day’s to dos.

Venice Pier is a great change of pace from our usual stomping grounds of Santa Monica Pier because there are no souvenir stalls often frequented by visiting tourists. It is also smaller and quieter, which means that you can actually have a peaceful walk to the end of the Pier, all while enjoying the great views of Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

I have to make an effort to visit Venice Pier again, either before sundown or during an early summer morning, as I suspect this would be a great place to view the sunset and sunrise on a beautiful day.

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Venice Pier
Washington Boulevard and Ocean Front Walk
Venice, CA 90291
venicebeach.com

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