Santa Monica Pier for the first time

I went to Santa Monica Pier for the 1st time, it was around an hour trip from where I live in LA i.e, Lorenzo. I always wanted to visit this place after playing GTA V, it felt so fun in the game. But it wasn't the same experience in real, when I went there, it fully crowded and I expected peace. Might be because of the timing, end of summer vaccations and weekend on top of it. Would try visiting it again!