Wall Crawl - Hermosa Beach

Some time ago I posted a pic of the kids in front of a wall (shocking, right?) on Facebook, and a friend asked me if I was running out of walls. I had to laugh, because honestly, I know I haven't even scratched the surface of façades Los Angeles has to offer. Though, I'm going to try like hell to get to as many great pieces as I possibly can. 

I've been chipping away at my massive list of neighborhoods/cities/areas. With two kids in tow it's not always easy, as is anything when it comes to kids. And, my window of cooperation (or lack thereof) lasts about 90 minutes, two hours tops. So, it's kind of slow going.

When we go on these wall crawls I do my very best to make sure an activity is planned near each location that I know the kids will enjoy (a new park, a museum, a science center, a beach stop, etc.). Let's be real honest, my kids don't necessarily share my profound love for wall murals, and I don't want them to come home at the end of the day totally bored because I wanted to go see pretty urban scapes. Though, I do have to say, Marcus is paying attention more and pointing out walls he thinks are cool - said walls are typically your regular, run-of-the-mill white or stucco walls, but I love that he's looking.

With all that said, here is one of our latest crawls... Hermosa Beach. 

 This little beach community is jam packed with color. From the store and restaurant fronts to the entries of apartments and houses. I was so tempted to stick the kids in a couple of yards because the way some of the houses were painted were just that cool. I did manage a little self restraint and stuck to public property...

Typically, each area we visit has one main mural that I'm trying to hunt down. For Hermosa Beach, this was *the* one.

14th Street and Hermosa Avenue

The mural was huge. Even standing smack dab in the middle of the street I couldn't get the whole mural in one frame. 

This was the second reason I had to get to Hermosa.

Pier Avenue and Sunset Drive

I couldn't get over how real the girl making the splash looks.

And this beauty was the third.

Hermosa Avenue and 11th Court

Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed to see this mural was painted above an open parking structure. But, that did not at all deter from the amazing artistry in this piece. That whole mural is painted to look 3D, none of it actually sticks out from the wall. The piece blew. my. mind. 

After finding the murals we putzed around a bit as I admired the store fronts and tried to get my kids to cooperate (unsuccessfully).

All found along Pier Avenue

And, about 90 minutes later the kids were ready for a park and a snack, and I was ready for a nap. 

That's a wrap on Hermosa!