Thursday, October 9, 2014

Deep under Los Angeles, to the Space Shuttle


        We took a big adventure from Green Valley Lake to San Bernardino, then onto the Metrolink train into downtown Los Angeles. From there we took the NEW SUBWAY to the LA County Museum to see the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Exciting, huh?



                                     First stop, the Metrolink train. It was our first time aboard!




                                           Our travel partners were our friends the Huckabys.
                                         We played cards on the train, and I was the champ.
                                  That means you must call me "champ" for the next 24 hours.
                                                           Those are the house rules. :-)




                               Next stop, the historic train station in downtown Los Angeles.
                                    It's been used in hundreds of movies and TV shows.
                                   On this day we caught the guy at the left going deep in
                                 the nose department. Unfortunately he's not famous,
                                     or I'd be pocketing some cool cash from Us Weekly.




                                          Then it was down, down, down for our inaugural
                                                   visit to the new Los Angeles subway




                 How cool is this! I've been on the tube in London, and the famous
      NYC Subway...and now, finally, we have our own right here in Los Angeles!




                                    There's even a big hopscotch spot for kids to play. :-)





                                 Our own cool LA subway, with our own cool subway riders!




                                  This young musician followed the subway tradition of popping
                              open his violin case for tips. It's good to know that if times get tough
                                  financially, our old timey group Grits 'n' Grady will have
                                                  a place to peddle our musical wares...




                                                                  Sandi minds the gap





                       Next thing we knew, we were on the subway. OUR cool LA subway!





                                 The train also goes above ground, and we passed right by the
                                 home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Staples Center. Here's a tip:
                                   if you ever go to a Lakers game, bypass the $20 parking
                                                         and take the subway instead!





                      The train dropped us off at Exposition Park, site of the USC campus,
                                            the Coliseum and the LA County Museum.
                  I thought the "Suicide Crisis Line" sign at the train crossing was a sad sight.
                               An engineer there had been a few suicides at this spot. Yikes. :-/




        Exposition Park was built in 1932 for the LA Olympics. The architecture is lovely.




                                                First stop: the African-American museum.
                                             Sandi, an honorary African-American, poses next
                                              to her hero Frederick Douglass, who visited
                                                              Los Angeles in the 1860's.




                                My favorite thing at the museum was this photo of
                                    African American Jews in NYC in the 1940's.




                            And finally we reached our destination: The Space Shuttle Endeavor!




                          I was pretty bummed that we didn't get to go INSIDE the Space Shuttle.
                             Ah, well. It was still pretty amazing just to be so close to it,
                                         knowing how far it had traveled, deep into space.


                                 It was a good day in Los Angeles. Now that they actually
                         have a working subway, I think life in the city can only get easier.
                                    Who knows? Maybe I'll live there again someday.




              It's possible, but not likely. Why would I move back to the craziness of
                    Los Angeles when I've got my beautiful Green Valley Lake,
                             where the leaves are turning even as we speak?


                             But, never fear, Los Angeles. You're a great place to visit.
                             And thanks to your new subway, we'll definitely be back!




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