Panama Canal Day 17

We checked out early, even before the hotel front desk was open, and headed south. My plan was to drive along the ocean and pull over to take photos when possible. I hadn’t really seen the beach area in the daylight and wanted to check it out. We did see a tiny bit of Santa Monica Beach but access is restricted and parking isn't free.

We did make our way to the Venice Beach area and put some money in a meter. After grabbing a bite of breakfast at Subway, we walked towards the beach area.

I soon understood why so many people had recommended that we come here in the daytime, not at night.

There weren’t a lot of folks out and about at 9 AM, and the people we did see had had a lot of challenges in life. The area was obviously for tourists but it was definitely unique and very photogenic.

It would be a real interesting place later on in the day for sure. We spent a bit of time capturing what we could with our cameras.

As it was so close to the busy Christmas travel season, we wanted to get to LAX in good time. The car rental return went smoothly, the WestJet check-in was a breeze, we got the super-fast-no-need-to-take-your-shoes-off line, and the plane arrived home 15 minutes early!!! Another GREAT trip!