Third Street Promenade

The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian-only stretch of 3rd Street in Santa Monica which runs from Broadway Street to Wilshire Boulevard. You can think of it basically as an outdoor mall, but in fact it can be much more than that.

Okay, some of you who know the area may be thinking "Really? You're gonna recommend that comercialized, cheesy place?!" We admit, the Third Street Promenade is like a mall, definitely a consumer society phenomenon. However, we have to defend it based on at least a couple virtues.

It is chock full of restaurants (some good, some mediocre), shops (mostly chains like Urban Outfitters, Gap and the like), and movie theaters. However, its real fun is not the commercialized junk but rather the people. The promenade is almost always crawling with all walks of life. But especially on the weekend, this place is teaming with people of all types. Just walking around or sitting and having a coffee and people watching can be fun.

The other virtue, maybe the greatest, of the 3rd Street Promenade, is the slew of street performers. Most days you can find a few, but on the weekends they are out in droves. Now, we've all seen our share of mimes, but there are some really cool performers on the promenade. Everything from dancers, comedians, and musicians to animal acts. Yes, some are quite mediocre, but some are shockingly good. What the heck is this drummer doing on the street!??! Shouldn't he be like a rock star or something!?

The coolest thing we ever saw? Ok, before we tell you, we only saw him there a couple times, so don't come complaining to us if you visit and don't see him. We saw a monkey! And we got to shake his hand! Seriously. There is this guy who brings his monkey who walks around on a leash. You hand him a dollar and he takes it from you and shoves it down in his pocket in his cute little overalls. Then he reaches out and shakes your hand to thank you. This guy must make bank! Sorry the picture below is so poor, all we had with us at the time was a poor phone camera. And yes, that is a lollipop sticking out of his mouth as he shoves our dollar into his pants! So. Freakin'. Cool.

At night the Third Street Promenade is hopping as well. No, its not the place you hipsters and alternative types will want to hang out for anything more than people watching. However, it is full of people and there are a number of bars along the strip. Most are kinda preppy places such as Yankee Doodles. Yes, its cheesy but its a sports bar with tons of pool tables so it can be fun to have a drink with friends. I've seen Woody Harrelson playing pool with friends there, if that kind of thing floats your boat.