St. Monica Catholic Church

You can almost hear the ocean from the steps. St. Monica sits a couple of blocks off the Promenade, and on a Sunday morning the plaza in front of it is one of the busiest front doors in LA — families, students, people fresh off the beach, all filing in.

Inside, the Spanish Colonial Revival nave is big and warm, and the light coming through the windows over the altar changes all morning. We walked the whole thing: the side chapels, the school courtyard, the parish garden behind the church. Then we walked to coffee and stayed for two hours. Which is, honestly, the whole point.