{"id":2754,"date":"2024-05-12T19:20:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T02:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2754"},"modified":"2024-05-12T19:20:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T02:20:41","slug":"santa-monica-was-the-setting-for-curb-your-enthusiasm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2754\/santa-monica-was-the-setting-for-curb-your-enthusiasm","title":{"rendered":"Santa Monica was the Setting for Curb Your Enthusiasm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Santa Monica Pier is California\u2019s most famous. Photo by Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

Larry David finished his long-running, award winning, HBO series \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm,\u201d but the comic actor\u2019s physical footprint will be long-lasting in Santa Monica, California, where many of the show\u2019s scenes were filmed.<\/p>\n

Lauren Salisbury, Santa Monica Travel & Tourism\u2019s senior director of communications, confirmed that during a patio lunch at the trendy, farm-to-table Papille Gustative, \u201ccurbside,\u201d pardon the pun, along the shops of quaint Main Street. (The organic restaurant\u2019s name translates to \u201ctaste buds.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cLarry David has his production offices here in Santa Monica and so he is often out experiencing restaurants. He is a big fan of walking so you can see him going on walks during his lunch breaks. You never know when you might see him,\u201d said Salisbury. \u201cI live very close to his office. I was recently riding my bike and while I was stopped at a light, he came out of his office building, got into his car, and drove past me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked Salisbury if David paid her the courtesy of one of the \u201cstop and chat\u2019s\u201d he is famous for describing on his show.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did not. And because I am a local, I was courteous of his privacy\u2026but it was fun,\u201d she demurred. \u201cThere are resources online that list the filming locations of \u2018Larry David\u2019s Santa Monica.\u2019 I recommend visiting\u00a0SantaMonica.com<\/a>\u00a0for comprehensive information about Los Angeles\u2019s beach city.\u201d<\/p>\n

I told Salisbury I had seen the filming of \u201cCurb\u201d episodes at the house in neighboring Brentwood which represents the home of the \u201cJeff and Suzie\u201d characters on the show; and watched a scene with David shot at the Cheese Shop and in The Farm restaurant on Beverly Drive one rainy day in Beverly Hills.<\/p>\n

\u201cLos Angeles is a county with 88 different cities, including Santa Monica, where we have eight neighborhoods across our 8.3 square miles,\u201d she explained. \u201cSanta Monica is 16 miles down \u2018the 10\u2019 freeway from downtown Los Angeles, and we have a bike trail and beach path that goes all the way down the coast of Los Angeles into Venice and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

That popular path passes right under the iconic, colorful Santa Monica Pier.<\/p>\n

The pier is our historic gem. It is over 100 years old and has an amusement park \u2013 Pacific Park \u2013 with 12 rides with great thrills and views of the ocean,\u201d Salisbury said. \u201cSanta Monica is the proud home of the end of Route 66. While the actual end is at Olympic and Lincoln Boulevard, the Route 66 Association recently recognized a sign on the pier where you can take a photo at the commemorative end to Route 66. If you then stop at the Santa Monica Visitors Center on the pier, they will even give you a certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pier features restaurants, snacks, souvenirs, strolling preachers and performers, as does Santa Monica\u2019s nearby, more gentrified,\u00a03rd<\/sup>Street\u00a0Promenade. I noticed the pier and its surrounds have more of an authentic carnival atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanta Monica has a unique history with circus performers. In the 1920\u2019s, in the off-season, circus performers would come here to spend the winter months. They organically started to do their acrobatic acts next to the pier at a place called \u2018the Original Muscle Beach.\u2019 Over the years it has become a spot where active people do performative yoga, workouts, and other feats for the audiences,\u201d Salisbury explained.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed spying the surfers\u2019 feats from the pier and the beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you saw me in the water, you would not describe me as a \u2018surfer,\u2019 but I love getting out there,\u201d Salisbury laughed. \u201cSanta Monica has a gentle year-round break, so it is one of the best places in Southern California for beginning surfers. There are many fabulous surf schools within the city that will do private lessons to help you get up on the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I told her I once ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, Salisbury insisted getting up on a surfboard should be an attainable challenge for me.<\/p>\n

I was glad to not be trying surfing after our healthy, gourmet lunch, at Papille Gustative, because I took a walk alone on Main Street, where I encountered the outdoor craft beer garden called Heavy Handed. Their short-rib burgers on house-made, buttered buns and crispy beef tallow fries that originated in a food truck have a reputation for being LA\u2019s best \u2013 in a town that worships \u201cIn-N-Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diversity of Santa Monica \u2013 between Malibu and Venice Beach \u2013 is a savory sweet spot.<\/p>\n

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/em>MShiels@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His new book: Travel Tattler \u2013 Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via\u00a0Amazon.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larry David finished his long-running, award winning, HBO series \u201cCurb Your Enthusiasm,\u201d but the comic actor\u2019s physical footprint will be… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4998,597],"class_list":["post-2754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courses-and-travel","tag-michael-patrick-shiels","tag-california"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/05\/Santa-Monica-Pier.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2754"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2757,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2754\/revisions\/2757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}