I have been living in Los Angeles for two years now and have spent plenty of time hanging around Venice Beach. Last week, a friend of mine asked if I had ever been to the Venice Canals. I had no clue what he was talking about and so I immediately googled Venice Canals. How did I not know about this place? And how come I never stumbled into this cute little section when it's so close to Venice Beach! 

Just down the street from the busy touristy parts of Venice Beach is this beautiful and quiet man-made canals. Ever hear of the famous hipster area Abbot Kinney Boulevard? Well this Venice, Italy inspired canal was built by Abbot Kinney. I was quickly drawn into the history behind this place. 

So how do you get there? If you've ever been to Venice, than you know parking can be a real drag. We found parking on 28th Avenue just off of Ocean Avenue. It's a residential area, so be prepared to parallel park and don't forget to read the parking signs. Parking signs can be a bit tricky in residential areas. I always make sure to look at the 'street cleaning' day and time. 

It's definitely a cool spot if you enjoy peaceful walks. We saw families walking their dogs, joggers, and spotted one couple in their canoe. I even saw a family of ducks! All of the houses are so unique with cute little backyards. I felt a little bad peeking into backyards, but it's hard to resist when you can easily see right into many of them. Who knows, maybe the residents are used to it. I did a quick search and it was no surprise that many of these homes are worth millions.

Thanks to Liang for taking all the photos and showing me around this unique spot in Venice. A little note, we went in April and it was pretty hot (high 80s) during the day. Liang really regretted wearing a long sleeve shirt :) 

Photos taken by Liang Ge. View more of Liang's work on his website & flickr.  
Find out more about the clothing in this post at California Moonrise.