Venice

Venice Beach, California is one of my new favoritest places. Though there are many on the list, this one just jumped towards the top like Jessica Simpson up the country charts (but with better taste). Venice Beach, in my mind, contained rollerblading men with tank-tops and as commercialized a version of California beach as you could get. Think Bakersfield by the beach but with tourists. Yowza. On my recent out-of-curiosity-visit (a regular occurance), however, I determined that while still touristy, Venice Beach is definitely a list-topper. It is hippie, and trashy, and crowded with all types of people - Kanye wannabees, hip urbanites, flower people and homeless all intermingle. And most of the tourists that I encountered, anyway, were from outside the US, which makes things much more interesting. If you like hippie, cultured, semi-trashy places, Holly, this place is for you.