Page 651 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

L OS ANGELES  649

coasters, and a giant Ferris 3 Venice
wheel. There is also the 1922 Map B5. n 2904 Washington Blvd,
carousel that featured in Paul Suite 100, (310) 822-5425.
Newman’s 1973 film, The Sting. ∑ venicechamber.net
Bergamot Station is a large,
sprawling 5.5-acre (2-ha) arts Founded by tobacco tycoon
complex that stands on the site Abbot Kinney, as a US version of
of an abandoned trolley station. Venice (Italy), this lively beach
The crude buildings are town was a swampland little
constructed out of aluminum more than 100 years ago.
siding, but with an added touch Hoping to spark a cultural
Santa Monica’s Binoculars Building, of elegant high-tech styling. renaissance in California, Kinney
designed by Frank Gehry More than 20 galleries display built a system of canals, and
the latest in contemporary, as imported gondolas to punt
along the cliff’s edge, this well as radical, art. The Santa along the waterways. Today,
narrow, well-manicured park is Monica Museum of Art, within only a few of the original canals
one of the best spots to watch the Bergamot Station, focuses remain, the rest having been
the sun set. For the quint- on the work of contemporary filled in. The best place to see
essential California experience, artists, particularly those who the canals is on Dell Avenue,
take a walk or jog along the are involved in performance art. where old bridges, boats, and
paths, with the ocean as a ducks grace the waterways.
backdrop and the towering P Santa Monica Pier However, the town is best
palms overhead. At the north- Colorado & Ocean Aves. Tel (310) known for the bustling, circus
ern end, the aptly named 458-8900, Pacific Park information atmosphere of its beach. On
Inspiration Point has great (310) 266-8744. Open daily. the boardwalk during week-
views of the bay, stretching Carousel: Open 11am–5pm Mon–Thu, ends, men and women whiz
from Malibu to Palos Verdes. 11am–10pm Sat & Sun. & (310) 395- past on bicycles and skates,
Inland, between Wilshire 4248. ∑ santamonicapier.org while a zany array of jugglers,
Boulevard and Broadway, is E Bergamot Station acrobats, and one-man
Third Street Promenade. Once 2525 Michigan Ave. Tel (310) 829- bands captivate the crowds.
a decaying shopping street, 5854. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Fri, Muscle Beach, where Arnold
this boulevard has undergone 11am– 5:30pm Sat. Closed Sun, Schwarzenegger used to work
a major face-lift and is now one public hols. out, still attracts bodybuilders.
of the liveliest places in Los
Angeles. Its three pedestrian
blocks are lined with shops,
cafés, bookstores, and theaters.
At night the mood is especially
festive, with street performers
entertaining visitors with music,
dance, and magic tricks.
Santa Monica’s other
important shopping area is
Main Street, which runs south
toward Venice. It abounds in a
wide range of shops, restaurants, Man-made canal in Venice
and galleries. Many examples
of public art are displayed along Raymond Chandler
the street, such as Paul Conrad’s
Chain Reaction, a stainless-steel American novelist Raymond Chandler (1888–1959) set several
and copper-link chain statement of his works in Santa Monica, a city that he loathed and thinly
against nuclear war. The Frank disguised as sleazy Bay City in Farewell, My Lovely. Corruption,
Gehry-designed Binoculars vice, and the city’s offshore gambling
Building, shaped like a pair of circuit of the 1920s and 1930s are well
binoculars, dominates the documented in his portrayal of Santa
street. Main Street also features Monica. His novels, such as The Big
Sleep, The High Window, and The Long
the California Heritage Museum, Goodbye, depicting the dark side of
which has the distinction of LA, were made into films. A leading
showcasing various periods in figure of the so-called hard-boiled
the state’s history. school of detective writing of the
Northeast of the beach, the period, Chandler’s famous detective
1908 Santa Monica Pier is the Philip Marlowe epitomized a tough,
West Coast’s oldest amusement unsentimental point of view. Raymond Chandler
pier, with bumper cars, roller

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