Abbot Kinney

The New York Times recently put up a travel posting on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, Ca. You can see the slideshow here

Abbot Kinney, a wealthy tobacco businessman, was the founder of the city of Venice, and had a vision for the coastal stretch of land as a "Venice of America." He envisioned gondolas and performers, and all sorts of other cultural attractions to allure people to the area that he loved so much. Today it has become a cultural icon for different reasons- as a trendy and hip example of the Los Angeles beach lifestyle. An eclectic group inhabits the beachy city, where a breeze always seems to be blowing, and boutiques and small cafes with barely visible names printed on the windows in minimalist fashion, line the streets. Abbot Kinney Boulevard has materialized into a street with an identity uniquely its own, and is attractive for a variety of reasons. Restaurants like the newly opened Lemonade (with its delicious variety of unusually flavored lemonade), Abbot's Pizza (a small store front with a big variety of delicious and creative pizzas), Joe's Cafe, and many others offer great food in a relaxing environment, not to mention the various "taco trucks," serving a variety of food much more than just tacos, which frequent the street. The palm trees that border the sidewalks make the orange and pink sunset in combination with the variety of shops even more picturesque on a warm summer evening. In a strange way, the magic of the street- maybe becuase of the name, or the people, or even just the vibe, make you almost want to say "my street is cooler than yours"- almost.

-- Posted from NYT story by Kimberly Dennis
photo credits: ricardodiaz11, vmiramontes, flickr creative commons)