Visit all the beaches
culture  

Visit all the beaches

By Ker Lee

One of the things I will miss most about southern California is its beaches. The week of commencement is going to be super packed, so I figured the weekend right before that would be a good time to take a solo adventure to Santa Monica.

I started out at 10 am, and after a couple missed trains, made it to Santa Monica. It was pretty cheap ($1.25) for all 3 trains I had to take in order to make it there. My first stop was lunch at Plan Check. I got a fancy chicken and waffles with beer-batter waffles and candied bacon (I think?), butter, and walnuts.

I took a bus that went straight to the Getty Villa, a Roman/Greek estate that houses various historical pieces and gorgeous gardens. Pedestrians need to wait for a shuttle to go up to the hill to the villa. Admission was free, though the website asks for guests to pre-reserve tickets. I got there and they didn’t even mention tickets.

I walked down from the trail head to Sunset Blvd and got to the beach.

I stopped for a gelato popsicle before taking the 1.75 hour Metro ride back to Pasadena.

If I were to visit this area again, I’d take the bus from downtown Santa Monica to Getty Villa all the way out to some better coastal hiking spots like Point Dume. This route didn’t show up when I tried to Google Maps when I tried to look up a public transport route to Tuna Canyon, Point Dume, or other trails in that area. I’d also want to drop by Venice Beach, which I heard was an eclectic area.

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