VAC Turns 1 Year Old and Another Way to Tour Venice

The one-year anniversary of the is the big event of the week, but before we get to that, let's look at some other things that are happening.

Our exploration of Venice tours continues with new bike tour company Alltournative.

Last week, we told you about , a new walking tour company, but for those who would rather cruise than trudge, Venice local Barbara Lonsdale can be your guide. Lonsdale is very involved in the Venice community and knowledgeable about its history, leading tours for the and the , as well as acting as events coordinator for the . In other words, she knows the places that locals go to shop and eat.

Alltournative offers two bike tours, one from Venice to Santa Monica on the bike path and one from Venice to Marina del Rey that features and Fisherman's Village. Lonsdale is a Native American who will also tell tourists about the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribes that once populated this area. The bike tours are $35. 

Another one for this week is on Wednesday from 7-10 p.m. at Beyond Baroque. Venice local leads this discussion group that focuses on every kind of media, including spoken word, art and the Internet, and how it affects society and the individual. The event it free.

The Venice Art Crawl has its first birthday Thursday! The crawl started with pop-up restaurants, shops, galleries and vacant spaces on and near the boardwalk between Venice Boulevard and Westminster, with a couple of spots near Rose Avenue. "" features Marshall Carbee's large surf paintings on paper with his super cool mechanical dog sculptures along with painters Isabelle Alford-Lago and Mare Costello. Three DJs will rock the MOMENTUM party: Lyf, Kwaku (who just flew in from Detroit) and DJ Hoff. The event is from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the old Aardvark space at 85 Market St. Also check out the ground floor and Larry's Lounge on the fifth floor, plus Schulzies on the Boardwalk featuring Rich Yaker's digital kaleidoscope art at 1827 Ocean Front Walk.

Stay tuned for more details on Thursday's event, and have a great week!

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