Just a snowball's throw from the beach is an outdoor ice rink in downtown Santa Monica, where you can simultaneously enjoy a balmy ocean breeze and a traditional evening of skates and mittens. ICE at Santa Monica is open daily, and even if you don't skate, it's a nice capper to sit and watch after a holiday-shopping spree, or as an end to a free walk along the promenade to soak up the holiday decorations, lights and music. Even those who don't usually go for the oh-so-retail Third Street experience, if you enjoy the holiday thing, it's hard to resist its beauty this time of year.

Mondays-Sundays, 10 a.m., 2009

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