Wednesday Linda an Maxine and I flew out to LAX and then drove over to Venice Beach where we had booked a couple of suites in Su Casa, a hotel right on the boardwalk. Venice Beach has changed a lot from the grungy surfer hangout we remembered from our college days, but it is still definitely rough around the edges, particularly at the end where we were staying. We realized our hotel was actually right next to a Phoenix House center (Max, who works in harm reduction, noted that maybe her work was following her.
The night scene was a little daunting, with an odd mix of hipsters at boardwalk bars, skate boarders, street musicians, and homeless people. But the next morning we had breakfast right by the ocean with a much brighter (though hazy) vibe. We weren’t sure how much of the haze was mist, or smog, or smoke from the nearby fires in Southern California.
Breakfast was at the Figtree Cafe where we particularly enjoyed the corncakes and the chicken sausage hash
