Nowhere says American West Coast quite like a Santa Monica sunset. As the light fades over the Pacific Ocean, casting a rose-coloured glow across the city’s brightly festooned 105 year-old pier, it’s hard to imagine a more indelibly Californian image. This is, after all, the end of the line, the golden edge of the continent, and the official western terminus of Route 66, the legendary highway that writer John Steinbeck called the “Mother Road.”
Throughout the years, Santa Monica has exercised a potent, if somewhat faded, appeal for visitors and residents, a progressive population that includes artists, film stars and, a bit more recently, technology entrepreneurs. With its 5.6km of shimmering coastline, rubberneck-worthy sights such as the kitschy original Muscle Beach, and quaint, walkable neighbourhoods, the city could survive on its nostalgic charms alone.
– Qantas The Australian Way, November 2014
