This well-traveled chess park offers scenic views of the pacific and a colorful, eclectic clientele.

One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

A treasure hunter's tiny bar, harboring celebrities since 1959.

Legendary prop shop filled with one man's collection of scientific curiosities.

A three-story, three-dimensional hobo clown in a tutu welcomes CVS shoppers.

Apartment building was once posh playground to the Hollywood elite.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

An increasingly eccentric apartment building, topped with winged beasties.

Authentic gondola hanging from the ceiling, notable mural in the back room.

A black and white mural stands out from its psychedelic surroundings.

Legendary frontman of the Doors looms in this giant mural by famed Venice muralist, Rip Cronk.

From pre-war whiskey cocktails to prohibition-era speakeasy secrecy, this bar has seen it all.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

An homage to the man who built California's version of Venice.

A lonely Gondola stuck on a traffic circle sits in a spot where it once would have floated down the Grand Canal.

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

The real faces of Venice beach captured on Romanesque columns.

Venue for strange sideshow displays and musical acts.

NASA's leading space science lab started by a co-founder with deep ties to the occult.

First LEED-certified gas station in the United States.

The L.A. Zoo has a secret garden of rare bootleg cycads, a palm specimen dating back 280 million years.