Shops, Food, and...Dinosaurs?

The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is an outdoor plaza lined with shops and restaurants, with dinosaur-shaped fountains in the center. It goes on for quite awhile, and as you stroll along eating an ice cream cone, you can stop and listen to various musicians playing in the street.

James and I had fun eating at an outdoor table at Barney's Beanery and playing a little people-watching game of who's-a-tourist-vs-who's-a-resident. This place had nearly every type of food listed on brightly-colored menus that looked like newspapers.

Yummy food + reasonable prices + nice outdoor patio = a perfect date.

 

Dinosaur fountains! James really liked these :)

And to finish the night off, we stopped at a building you definitely can't miss - the most extravagant shopping mall I have ever seen, called Santa Monica Place. This massive mall has super nice stores, including Coach, Louis Vuitton, Nordstrom, and Tiffany &Co.

Whoah.

Even the furniture was fancy...

Notice the light-up table on the left. And the awesome city view.

Who said furniture can't be fun?