Walking L.A. #5 - Mar Vista

This walk is the closet to our home of any of the walks. Since the official walk was only 3/4 of a mile, we decided to extend it by starting and ending at the Mar Vista Farmers Market. This turned out to be a perfect starting place because 13 people came on this walk, our biggest group yet. There wouldn't have been enough room at the Rumor Mill, where we've met before the previous walks. At the farmers market, people could order omelettes or crepes and also get some coffee from the booth operated by the Venice Grind which was just down the street.

Although we met at 9:00 AM, the walk didn't get started until close to 10:00 AM. A few people were late because the map on the eVite we sent out confused the corner of Venice and Grand View with another one in Downtown LA. I guess next time, we need to put an actual address instead of an intersection.

We were going to head west on Venice Blvd, but one of our friends suggested we head up Grand View to get a view of the ocean. We informed the non-locals that there were 3 parallel "view" roads on the hill: Ocean View (a view of the ocean), Mountain View (a view of the mountains), and Grand View (where you could see both the ocean and the mountains). From Grand View, we turned left on Palms Blvd and took in the ocean view as we descended into the west part of Mar Vista.

The official walk started on Marco Pl and Meier St which was in a residential neighborhood. It took us down Meier St and Moore St between Marco Pl and Palms Blvd. This neighborhood was described by the book as a utopian vision of modern living. The houses there were built by 1940s architect Gregory Ain. This two-block housing project of 52 homes was marketed as the "Modernique Homes" when it was completed in 1948.

We must have looked pretty funny walking through the neighborhood staring at the homes. A lot of ladies stared out at us from their kitchen windows. We looked at them and waved as we passed by.

We took Venice Blvd back to the starting point. A few of us stopped at Anonymous to buy some clothing. I had a 15%-off coupon that I was able to share. After parting with the group, I stopped along Centinela Blvd to find my 17th geocache, the Headless Horse (GCTJYE).

The next walk is Playa Vista and the Ballona Wetlands.

Walking L.A.: 36 Walking Tours Exploring Stairways, Streets and Buildings You Never Knew Existed