I took my Delaware-born buddy Matt Pierce to Venice Beach the day after Babalu and Father’s Office.

He was very curious about the seemingly-legal access to marijuana, the painted skulls, the beautiful palm trees and the interesting/unique/liberal locals (Sidewalk Cafe is one of the best spots in the country to people watch, FYI).

I told him it was the Wild Wild West, but he thought I was kidding and only quoting a movie and didn’t take me seriously.

Once the crowds began to bother us we ducked into Nikki’s on Market Street – a nice example of Venice Beach culture.

During happy hour appetizers are half price, and I was intrigued by a mozzarella and margarita combo ($3).

Why? I have no clue.

And yeah, literally a plate of mozz sticks served with a margarita.

The fried cheese was tasty, but I did not finish the margarita (simply terrible, reminded me of something you’d get at 2 a.m. at a college bar, perhaps at Sharkey’s on State Street).

I ordered a Shock Top and the friendly waitress brought it over. I was glad to have a beer when she brought the wings out, along with the sweet-potato fries and shrimp cocktail. For the price during happy hour ($3-$6), they were all great bar snacks to go along with a few pints.

Apparently at night Nikki’s is a club (they spell Nikki with one backwards k, by the way), but during the day it is rather pleasant and relaxing and quite the lounge. Tunes on the stereo from Sublime, Slightly Stoopid, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley, etc., made it easy to kick back and tap my foot.

We had a 100-mile journey back to Santa Barbara, but as I’ve previously written, it isn’t the worst drive in the world, especially if you time it right and catch the sunset.