On the Promenade

Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade is every bit as popular as its Pier.  Throngs of people visit the restaurants and pricey shops that line the streets from Broadway to Wilshire Blvd. especially on the weekend. We were there on Saturday evening after the never-ending Cirque du Soleil performance (review to follow) and we couldn't find any place to eat. That was not because there are few restaurants, on the contrary, there are many but the wait times were unbelievable as young and old played the culinary version of how many people can fit into a phone booth. It was frustrating to have two hungry little girls and no place to feed them.

We have actually visited the Promenade several times. In addition to hundreds of global visitors there are the natives and their dogs, street performers, market day vendors (on Wednesday), and way too many homeless,  beggars and con artists.  The stark contrast between customers carrying upscale store shopping bags--which are NOT PLASTIC and cost a dime each--and the indigent is remarkable. Santa Monica is very welcoming to the hundreds of homeless who sleep on park benches, in doorways and parks; who openly panhandle on the Promenade and course the neighborhood streets like city workers two weeks before an election in Chicago. I expect it is a salve to their Southern Cal Mercedes consciences. The Quickfacts section of the 2010 U.S. Census shows the 2006-2010 median house value to be in excess of $985,000, about double the California average.

I imagine you noticed the "NOT PLASTIC" description above. One should note that shopping bags, grocery and all others, must be paper per city ordinance. If you don't bring your own there is a ten cent charge. This is really a good idea anyway, except when purchasing leaking meat at the grocery store.  Another salve to their conspicuous consuming conscience is the fact the Santa Monica is scrupulously Green.

A day, or evening, on the Promenade is a bit surreal, but makes for interesting people watching. Anyhow the walk is educational. Some of the street artists are quite good, others should keep their day jobs. (Oh, this seems to be their day jobs!) One can pick up all sorts of foreign languages, even Australian. It seems that Southern California is a popular vacation, and business, stop for the Aussies.

Anyway I did promise a review of the Cirque du Soleil show entitled OVO.  It was held in a large tent just below the Santa Monica Pier and it was freezing inside.  The acrobats, tumblers, trapeze artists, and jugglers were wonderful, in the tradition of good circus from all over the world. OVO's theme was lame. All the performers were bugs, insects and spiders, and were creatively, if somewhat obsfucatively, costumed. The sound was deafening while the story line, assuming there actually was a story line, missed by a mile. In addition the show went way too long, beginning at 4 and continuing until nearly 7.  (There are few plays, a small number of concerts, and no operas I would sit still for for that long!)

Time marches on. Only three weeks until we return to the Midwest which has been having terrific weather too. I imagine they have been holding off the blizzards until we return.