In the spring of my final year of medical school, I had an idle two weeks and made a spur of the second decision to go to the all-inclusive Club Med-Martinique, an out-of-character thing for me. Within the wild experience, I met a UCLA-trained plastic surgeon who, after I told him I'd be doing my residency in L.A., grabbed the straps of my tank top and told me sternly, "You have to live in Santa Monica." Best advise ever.
Nestled between Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean, returning to Santa Monica always feels like coming home (I lived there for 14 years and both of my children were born there.)
Up a little before sunrise, I stepped into running gear and headed out, running North on the bike path on the beach. Running for me is usually a daily event (5-7 miles each morning after my 7 mile bike ride to work), but this morning was special. A hamstring injury in February had hobbled my running (but, thankfully, not my biking) preventing me from running for over two months. I was fearful for what would happen as I trotted out.
What happened was as much as I could have hoped for. I poked along, taking in the sites unique to this area: the beach, the ocean, the runners and walkers, the homes and the homeless, the hills and the sky...
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| Seriously...who needs a gym? Santa Monica has a strong outdoor culture. I think I should be a part of it. |
...making it to where Channel Drive cuts into Santa Monica Canyon...
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| A few private clubs still inhabit Santa Monica Beach; at 7am, this one is gearing up for a birthday party. In the background are the palisades along Ocean Avenue. The matching apartment buildings mark where San Vicente Blvd (the northern border of Santa Monica) meets Ocean Avenue. |
...leading me to the 4th Street Steps. The Steps are an outdoor exercise mecca, 198 concrete steps leading from the floor of Santa Monica Canyon to Northern end of Santa Monica where 4th Street comes to an end.
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| 24 hours a day, you'll find people walking the steps. When I run along the beach, I incorporate a lap, or two, into the morning. |
I joined the others walking the steps early that Sunday morning, running the first 100 or so, then trudging the remaining 98. I was obviously deconditioned, made it to the top sucking wind and recovering in a minute.
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| From the top of the steps, looking down at the masses, walking, breathing hard, and sweating. |
I turned back towards the Pacific, running along Ocean Avenue overlooking the ocean. This area is a mecca for walkers, runners, sightseers, exercise groups and the homeless.
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| Ocean Avenue to the right, the cliffs overlooking the coast highway and ocean with people - like me - in between just enjoying the area. |
Eventually making it back to the Muscle Beach area, I attempted an equipment work out: more signs of deconditioning. After some sets of push-ups, dips, pull-ups and chin-ups I resumed my run back to the motel. I was slow and passed by many, but I covered 5.25 miles without incident…and felt pretty good.
Lani had also run and, after we cleaned up, we both had one thing in mind: the Sunday Santa Monica Farmer's Market.
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| Our bikes had been stowed in the car since Deming, New Mexico. |
Early on Sunday morning, Main Street in Santa Monica was quiet...it was fun to cruise around the familiar streets, not like tourists, but like we belonged here.
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| We became part of Santa Monica's vibrant outdoor culture. |
Santa Monica has several farmer's markets. While the Wednesday market is the most massive, the Sunday market is the most fun. In addition to growers, there are many non-agricultural booths featuring merchants and restaurants.
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| Valet bicycle parking at a farmer's market? How cool is that? They stow your bike and keep and eye on it...no fee, but there is a well-fed tip jar on the table. |
Santa Monica is probably as liberal in its politics as a city can be.
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| While some old feelings die hard, there was no hesitation about our new involvement in Libya. |
Early on a Sunday morning and the market was already a full force family affair.
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| Free pony rides! Yay! |
The whole atmosphere just screams fun.
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| There is a different live performance each week...like a small outdoor concert. |
But, the reason why we come is simple: for the food.
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| Manchego is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed, which is aged for between 60 days and two years. It's also a Spanish restaurant in Santa Monica. I use a fair amount of manchego cheese in my pizza making. |
There were many restaurants serving up all sorts of wonderful food items.
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| Lani and I surveyed the available items for breakfast. |
We started with a burrito from Manchego.
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| So, the general idea is to try and share as many items as possible...it works better with 3 or more people. We only split two dishes. |
My burrito reference point is the Grande Burrito from the La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill, the burrito by which all others are measured, and ultimately fail.
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| It failed to surpass the burrito from La Salsa, but it was still a tasty failure. |
We moved on...time for an omelette.
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| I ordered a Western Omellette. |
Does this not look like fun?
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| 8 omelettes in various stages of production. |
We walked along the many stalls with fresh produce, all very appealing and local.
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| Hey...look what they have here! I bought some avocado and eucalyptus honey to add to my monofloral honey collection. |
We dropped the honey off back at the hotel and hopped back on our bikes.
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| How iconic is this? Garbed in wet suits and applying one last coast of wax to their boards, this trio is just 200 yards away from the Santa Monica surf. |
We biked by the Santa Monica Community Garden.
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| The application fee for a plot is only $60, but the waiting list is long...plan on at least a few years. |
We biked along the beach until we got to Santa Monica Pier, then turned up to Ocean Avenue/Pacific Coast Highway.
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| The beach and Santa Monica Pier are just down the bottom of the hill. |
After our Farmer's Market brunch, we ended up at a favorite dessert shop, the Yummy Cupcake in Santa Monica.
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What a great marketing scheme...turning a childhood dessert fantasy into an everyday reality indulgence.
They offer a wide array of cupcakes, from vanilla to chocolate to vegan. |
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| Don't they look just like the Hostess Cream Filled cupcakes your mom packed in your grade school lunch? |
All I need now is a cup of coffee.
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| Fudge Yummy on the left, Peanut Butter on the right. |
Right next to the Yummy Cupcake was Paper Source, a store dedicated to stationery, writing and all sorts of things that are so-last-century. Lani, who has been writing lengthy post cards on our trip to a select, fortunate few, fell instantly in consumer-love.
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| Stationery? Pens? Writing? I have one answer to that: QWERTY. |
Dragging Lani from Paper Source, we continued outside along Santa Monica's hip and trendy 3rd Street Promenade, a popular outdoor mall with its own special vibe and featuring a weekly farmer's market, food, shopping, street performers and the opportunity to people-watch.
There are all sorts of street performers, from music to crafts.
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| Balloon animals...good gimmick...attracts the kids and the adults follow |
Years back, this area looked pretty sad, with no appeal. After a major renovations by the city, it is a major attraction, both for tourists and locals.
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| We love coming here but there is one problem: no decent chocolate desserts. Serious. |
Some of the performers are more magnetic than others.
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| Elvis has left the building and is singing outside. |
Some people set up displays with a political agenda.
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| Lani surveys the literature. |
Conservative issues and right-leaning politicians do not fare well in Santa Monica.
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| I used to have a bumper sticker that proudly proclaimed "I Speed Up To Run Over Small Animals" on the back of my 1966 Mustang. A lot of people didn't get it and would take a ballpoint pen to it...while it was on my car. |
People trying to make a few dollars will bring pets and various animals so you can photograph them and chip in a few dollars.
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| Is this not a form of dog abuse? |
To its south, the 3rd Street Promenade is bordered by Santa Monica Place, a newly remodeled mall that is now an outdoor-indoor shopping experience. We went there to check it out.
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| Looking north from Santa Monica Place, you have a great view of the 3rd Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Mountains. |
The 3rd Street Promenade is also a great place to people watch.
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| If you ever wanted to have your picture taken with a 3' iguana on your shoulder, here - for a few bucks - is your chance. |
Some of the performers are pretty decent and give busking a good name.
Lani wanted to see the movie Rio, so we finally turned back, stopping at one of those bulk candy stores to pick up sweets for the movie.
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| Warning: stay away from these bulk candy stores! You end up getting much more than you need, spending more than you had imagined. I should have just bought the industrial sized box of Milk Duds at the movie theater. |
The movie would have been better if I was 8 years old.
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| The top film speed (ISO6400) of the Canon 7D allows shots like this without a flash using the available lighting, though the image quality does suffer a bit. |
We returned to our bikes and headed to Venice, one of the best places in the world to stroll and people-watch.
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| Technically a district of Los Angeles, Venice has its own special vibe. |
Venice Beach includes the beach, the adjacent promenade, Muscle Beach, the handball and paddle tennis courts, Skate Dancing plaza, the numerous beach volleyball courts, the bike trail and the businesses on Ocean Front Walk. The basketball courts in Venice are renowned across the country for their high level of streetball; numerous NBA players developed their games or were recruited on these courts.
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| Weekends are the best time to catch an eclectic crowd. |
Those with something to sell set up tables. There is folk art, henna tattoos, jewelry, and, in the adjacent shops, no shortage of t-shirts.
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| Do you see the bike path on the right? If you are spotted by the police on your bike or in-line skates on the path immediately ahead, you risk a moving violation citation. |
Some of the handiwork is elaborate.
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| While none of the Terminator movies were shot in Venice (though some scenes were shot elsewhere in LA), over 75 films have used Venice. |
The Venice boardwalk is replete with culture and sub-culture.
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| Y'know, I do have a California medical license...I'm thinking second career. In the meantime, maybe a joint to take away the pain from the toe ring I'm going to get? |
One of the coolest things about Santa Monica is that you have a front row seat to a Pacific sunset.
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| Our 3rd rate Santa Monica Hotel (Bayside) did have a great location. This was the view from the sidewalk adjacent to the hotel. |
Santa Monica and the Westside of LA includes upscale areas like Brentwood. It's hard to not notice all the expensive cars.
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| Parked a safe distance from our car, this reminded me of the Death Mobile from Animal House (did you see Kevin Bacon in the video clip?) |
In the meantime, I had heard from another friend from residency, Jairo Marin…we were to get together at Tommy’s for dinner. Lani and I finally returned to the motel on our bike’s, jumped into the car and caught up with Jairo.
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| Tommy's features a high-quality, low-priced limited menu with all entrees served with Tommy’s famous chili. The burgers (100% beef), cooked to order, include double-thick slices of real cheese, fresh chopped onions, hand sliced beefsteak tomatoes, pickles and mustard. Extra portions of chili, mustard, onion or tomato are offered at no extra charge. |
Jairo was my first co-intern from day #1 of residency, meeting on 6/24/1981. We worked together for a month – the only time we worked together – and have been friends since. It was during that month that he introduced me to the culinary wonder that is a Tommy’s chili-cheeseburger, taking me to the stand near the VA where we were training. I’ve been hooked ever since. So, it was fitting that nearly 30 years after my first Tommy’s that Jairo and I would again break bread and wipe up chili at Tommy’s.
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| Chili-burger and chili-fries...the best $5 meal you'll ever have. It was great seeing Jairo. |
For dessert, we walked over to the adjacent Donut King, another Santa Monica favorite of mine. DK is in the strip mall around Tommy’s and you would otherwise not likely notice it…it’s just a small hole-in-the-wall donut shop, run by a Cambodian family, probably like so many other’s in this city (or other cities.) But…they make an item, a chocolate chip bar, that is worth a diversion.
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| The Donut King is right next to Tommy's. I'm not sure what compelled me to walk in the first time, but I've been a fan ever since. |
About the size of hands held together in prayer, the chocolate chip bar has the consistency of a Krispy Kreme glazed donut, but it is covered with a generous layer of chocolate icing, studded with chocolate chips and filled with more chocolate. For about a dollar, I would stack it up against any expensive restaurant dessert item…anywhere. That, a cup of coffee and I’m in culinary heaven.
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| A chili-cheeseburger for breakfast, followed by this and a cup of coffee and I'm good for at least 12 hours. |
So, my Santa Monica day was perfect: a long run, breakfast at the Farmer’s Market (acquiring more exotic monofloral honey), a Yummy Cupake with coffee, a stroll along the 3rd Street Promenade, a movie, a trip through Venice, a Tommy’s burger enjoyed with a special, old friend, followed by a chocolate chip bar at the Donut King.
All day long I thought: why am I not living here? The fact is..I could...I could do it now. Well, not now, but as soon as July. Okay, not this July because I'm obligated to my section chief and colleagues for the next academic year, but come 7/2012, I could move here and divide my time between Santa Monica and Mammoth. What am I waiting for? Until my PSA rises and my health declines? Godot? He didn’t’ show up. What?
I’ll have to think about this.
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