Santa Monica will move you

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From my hotel window on Ocean Boulevard I can see joggers, skaters, bikers and people walking dogs in Palisades Park, a narrow strip of manicured greenery on a bluff overlooking the impossibly wide sandy beach.

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Out on the water, a couple of guys catch small waves on their boards while someone else passes by on a sleek paddle.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that Santa Monicans always seem to be on the go. This city boasts one of the most pleasant climates in California, not too hot and not too cold, and is also home to the original Muscle Beach, which started America’s fitness boom in 1934.

I’m not here to get in shape, just to settle in for a few days and rediscover SoCal after a two-year absence.

First, a bike tour led by Chad Reinhart, an improv comedian at the Westside Comedy Theater by night, bike guide by day at the bike center. It’s just me and a family of five from Mississippi as we follow Chad, first through the quiet streets of the city, then down the impressive 35km long bike trail that locals call The Strand. To the north, Malibu’s mansions hug the curving bay. To the south stretches the famous Santa Monica Pier, topped with a Ferris wheel, roller coaster and other attractions.

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Pedaling under the pier, we stop at the other end to watch skaters carve out the sunken pools of the Venice Beach Skatepark. They really do look like dry pools, and Chad tells us that’s how skateboarding got started.

“There was a drought one year and no one could put water in their pools,” so kids in the nearby San Fernando Valley started jumping on their skateboards.

We passed half a dozen production trucks and trailers. Hollywood is only 25 km away, says Chad. When he first moved here from Missouri, he worked at a beach camp one summer where he had a bit of a culture shock. “I came with my bologna sandwich and fries and the kids at camp had fresh sushi,” he laughs. “Then you find out, you know, that this child’s mother is Diane Keaton or that this child’s father is Eddie Murphy!”

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We turn inland to explore a couple of canals excavated in the early 20th century.^the century when wealthy developer Abbot Kinney created the neighborhood of Venice. For the grand opening, “he even brought gondoliers from Italy,” says Chad.

Back in Santa Monica, at the end of our trip, the mother from Mississippi confesses that she wishes her family would stay longer. “I love shopping, I love the beach, I love the pier.”

The pier is fascinating, for sure. But I have to wonder why 11 to 12 million people a year visit what looks like a small amusement park. Sure, there’s the old-fashioned fun of the Ferris wheel, but there’s also a lot of history, CEO Jim Morris tells me when I meet him on the dock one morning. The carved and hand-painted horses on the carousel, for example, will be 100 years old this September.

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There is also nostalgia. “People used to be able to drive to the end of this pier and that’s what attracted anyone driving Route 66,” he says as we walk half a mile to the end, where signs suggest it’s also the end of the famous highway. . That’s actually a few more streets according to Jim, but this ending is more romantic.

Another thing Santa Monica has long been known for is its food, especially its farmers markets. The Wednesday morning market stretches over four blocks and is a favorite of chefs from all over Los Angeles County. Today, local celebrity chef Govind Armstrong, who runs Lobster, at the foot of the pier, is here sampling the colorful seasonal produce.

“I trust my buyers, who have great relationships with farmers, but it’s nice to get off [myself] and touch and feel and taste,” he says, popping a juicy red Juliet tomato into his mouth.

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Feeling peckish, I head to the elegant and spacious Lobby Lounge at the Fairmont Miramar, just a block from where I’m staying at the Oceana Hotel. Later, I appreciate a deep massage at Exhale Spa, known in the city for its experienced masseuses. Mine certainly found knots that I didn’t know I had.

On my last night I dine at Lobster. Partly I want to see what Govind has cooked up, but I also want to enjoy a Southern California sunset from possibly the best vantage point in Santa Monica. My main course is a no-brainer, since it’s the last night of season for California spiny lobster.

Ryan O’Connor, the restaurant’s service and beverage manager, stops by to suggest wine, telling us that the setting sun sometimes reflects off the large windows of Malibu homes. “And from a distance, it looks like the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains are on fire.”

We see no flames, but this place feels safe hotas the good times have returned.

If you go

Hotel Oceana Santa Monica It occupies first class real estate with 70 spacious suites overlooking an interior patio with a swimming pool. Some also have ocean views.

the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows offers almost 300 rooms, suites and bungalows, many with ocean views.

The writer was a guest of Santa Monica Travel & Tourism. He did not review or approve this story.