Blog Archives
Underground in Hollywood, California
I love visiting historic places, and Hollywood certainly ranks up there with its history, especially music, movies, and television. That made Hollywood a definite stop when Jim and I went traveling on National Train Day (May 11).
We probably would have seen more of Hollywood if we weren’t admiring the many Los Angeles Metro subway stations. Following are some pictures of subway stations on the Red Line from Union Station to the Highland/Hollywood Station (North Highland Avenue at Hollywood Boulevard) in Hollywood.
Of course, “subway” does not mean a place to eat. It means going underground.
Underground was unique. Metro Rail serves an average of 363,000 people on a weekday, yet everywhere I looked it was clean, shiny, and beautiful.
I looked around for people cleaning, shining things, sweeping, picking up trash….
No one.
Maybe Los Angelenos are naturally clean people?
Maybe they simply like living, working, and riding in a clean environment?
Or……………………………..
You can’t do anything within the subway environment without risking a $250 fine.
No entry without valid fare….
No littering….
No eating or drinking….
No smoking….
No spitting or chewing gum….
No skateboarding or scooters….
No loud or rowdy activity….
No rollerblading….
No playing of sound equipment.
I can see mommy and her little child:
Child: “Mommy, I want some chewing gum.”
Mommy: “No!”
Child: “Mommy, can I turn my iPod on?”
Mommy: “No!”
Child: “Mommy, can I have my sandwich?”
Mommy: “No!”
Child: “Mommy, can I have a Coke?”
Mommy: “No!”
Child: “Mommy, can we go home?”
Mommy: “YES!”
Hmmmm. I think I’m understanding why I didn’t see any children on the subway. I think the youngest people I saw were college students on their way to classes. Interesting.
Murals were everywhere:
Anyone know what this doohickey is?
How about these doohickeys,
which were all over the walls and ceilings at one station?
If the rest of the Los Angeles Metro Rail routes — Blue, Purple, Green, Gold, and Expo lines — are anything like the Red Line, I look forward to exploring Los Angeles by rail in the next few years. No reason to stay away simply because of the traffic and lack of parking.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Leave the parking to them!
Not that it would ever happen to me, but if you live in San Diego and get bored after a few years, we’re fortunate to have Los Angeles just ninety miles up the road. Put San Diego, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs together — all within 100 miles of each other — and you couldn’t possibly be bored in Southern California!
I didn’t have a great appreciation for Los Angeles until recently, mainly because if I’m driving, I want to be driving! Not stuck on a freeway doing 10 mph, something that’s quite common on freeways like Interstate 5 and U.S. Highway 101 going through the heart of Los Angeles. Both freeways need a serious case of widening or, as San Antonio did, building an upper deck.
Last month, though, on National Train Day (May 11), I took Amtrak to Los Angeles and then hopped on the Los Angeles Metro subway to go over to Hollywood. Until then I had not realized that Los Angeles, in 1994, had started building a subway system. And it’s a nice one! In some future posts, I’ll show you just how nice. I might go to Los Angeles more often now that I know I can use the Metro to go to 90% of the places in Los Angeles that interest me.
My first stop on National Train Day was, of course, the historic Union Station:
Union Station opened on May 3, 1939, to serve passenger trains from Union Pacific Railroad; Southern Pacific Railroad; and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad; and commuter trains of the Pacific Electric Railway and Los Angeles Railway. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it currently serves 60,000 passengers a day.
Along with passenger trains from Amtrak and Metrolink, Union Station has a separate platform for the Los Angeles Metro subway, and another area for buses, taxis, and bicyclists.
A day pass on the Metro is only $5. That allows you to ride Metro trains all day long, get on and off as you like, and really have some fun. I can highly recommend it as a way to get around the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Sightseeing is so much more fun when you don’t have to try to find a parking place!
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere!
As much as I love going to the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and SeaWorld, there’s still nothing like seeing wildlife in the wild. Except I’m pretty sure that I would not want to see a mountain lion mommy and her little one while I was out hiking by myself. Nonetheless……….
I remember when I stumbled upon my first Canada Goose here in San Diego in 1996. I thought the poor thing had a serious deficiency in its map-reading skills (GPS wasn’t on the scene yet). Thirteen years later and I know that the Canada Goose is resident in all the lower 48 States as well as Canada.
In the 38 years I lived in Texas, I never saw a Canada Goose in the wild, yet the whole state is covered with “I live here in the Winter” blue in my National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. San Diego is covered in the same winter blue, but I can tell you that there are many Canada Geese that live here year round, such as the two in the following flash video. They have been here for several years, rain or shine, hot or cold, winter or summer:
I suspect the same is true up in the Los Angeles area. It definitely is not winter in L.A. yet when I was at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia a few days ago for my 19th anniversary, the only bird more prevalent than the peacock was the Canada Goose.
Following are three flash videos of the Canada Geese at the L.A. Arboretum, including two little babies with mommy and daddy.
Remember that birds don’t have nationalities, so the plural of Canada Goose is Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Just passing through
When Jim and I travel, we usually try to visit aquariums, zoos, gardens, and university campuses. I also try to sneak in a visit to a place having something to do with trains.
When we went to Los Angeles this past Sunday for our 19th anniversary, our main destiny was the Los Angeles Arboretum & Botanical Garden. Afterwards, we went in search of Pasadena City Hall (the second most beautiful City Hall I’ve ever seen, behind San Francisco), the Rose Bowl, and the old Santa Fe Depot in Pasadena. We found City Hall and the Rose Bowl, but, sadly, never found the old Santa Fe Depot.
According to one site that I found after getting home, the Santa Fe Depot was absorbed into the new station and was “rehabilitated to the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.” Ha! Anything but! See for yourself at Pasadena Views.
Jim and I walked around for about 30 minutes looking for the station, or its remnants, or maybe an address where it had been moved. While we never found it, I did get a couple of good flash videos of the Metro trains. The second one is my favorite.
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Los Angeles Arboretum — Gone to the birds
When Jim went to bed Saturday night (he goes to bed much earlier than me), he told me we were going to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena for our 19th anniversary.
When Jim got up Sunday morning (he gets up much later than me), he told me we were going to the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia (next to Pasadena) for our 19th anniversary.
I guess he had a dream…………..
The Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden (herafter, LACA) comprises 127 acres whereas our San Diego Botanic Garden is 37 acres. Of course, we have the San Diego Zoo, also an internationally recognized Botanic Garden, at 100 acres, so there…………..
LACA had a huge Australia garden, probably covering half of the arboretum. That’s about 60 acres. Much of our Southern California climate is very similar to Australia, and Australian native vegetation does exceedingly well here. Walk through Balboa Park here, though, at 1,200 acres, and you’ll see everything in LACA’s Australia garden.
One thing that LACA had that San Diego Botanic Garden does not have is birds. Particularly Peafowl and Canada Geese. More than you can shake a stick at, and if you were to shake a stick at them, some might take the stick out of your hands!
I think if I were around Peafowl (remember that male Peafowl are Peacocks and female Peafowl are Peahens) more often, they could easily become my favorite bird. They are so much fun to watch.
Following are 15 pictures and 5 flash videos of the Peafowl at LACA. Be sure to watch the last video if you don’t do anything else here today; he’s a little tease! The 15 pictures are of 15 different birds.
Lastly, I would like to dedicate this post to my blogging friend Julie, her husband Anthony, and their son Ming (jmgoyder) in Australia. They are the only ones I know who might have more Peafowl than the Los Angeles County Arboretum.
Peacock (male Peafowl) walking the grounds
Mom and baby Peafowl
Peacock jumping from tree to fence
Peahen giving herself a dirt bath
Peacock showing off
I’m Zoey the Cool Cat,
and I approve this post.
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Up from the ground came some bubbling crude
“Thank you!” to everyone for the anniversary wishes yesterday.
As far as what Jim and I did, that will have to remain unknown for a little while longer while I catalog the billions and billions and billions of pictures I took.
However, LIKE if you recognize the title of this blog post because Jim and I were mesmerized by the bubbling crude at one place we went, shown in my 40-second video:
You also have my permission to LIKE if you know where the video was taken.
This post approved by 
Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572
If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!
Friday Flower Fiesta — #12 (April 13, 2012)
For this week’s Friday Flower Fiesta, a selection of pictures taken in March throughout San Diego.
Pictures 1, 2, and 3 were taken in Balboa Park, the crown jewel of parks in San Diego County and the largest city-owned urban cultural park in the United States, according to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, and who am I to argue with them? I questioned them on it one time because there are three parks with more acreage: Mission Trails Regional Park right here in San Diego, Central Park in New York City, and Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The key word in the Visitors Bureau publicity is the word cultural. None of the other three parks are cultural parks. Now I understand.
The rest of the pictures were taken at The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College.
Now that we have that out of the way, Friday Flower Fiesta #12:
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5
Picture 6
Picture 7
Picture 8
Picture 9
Picture 10
Picture 11
Picture 12
Picture 13
This post approved by
Out & About San Diego #8 — San Diego: A train rider’s paradise
#8
San Diego: A train rider’s paradise
San Diego is not a hotbed of rail activity, making train watching a hit or miss adventure. However, if you are looking to ride the rails, there’s no better place than San Diego.
Amtrak will get you from downtown San Diego to Los Angeles with a few stops along the way.
The Coaster will get you from downtown San Diego to Oceanside. From there you can take Metrolink to Los Angeles or the Sprinter east to Escondido.
Then there is the San Diego Trolley, or light rail system that has been going strong for 31 years. In August 2011, the Trolley, run by the Metropolitan Transit System, added a vintage PCC streetcar that was built in 1949:
During World War II, streetcar service increased dramatically in cities throughout North America. As soon as the war ended, though, streetcar service began to decline in favor of rubber-wheeled busses which were more maneuverable and required less maintenance. San Diego was the first major city to switch over completely from streetcars to busses, with the last streetcar running in April 1949.
PCC #529 originally operated in San Francisco. It was bought by San Diego Vintage Trolley (a non-profit subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transit System) from a collector in South Lake Tahoe, California. Although it was in poor condition, dozens of volunteers spent more than 10,000 hours over six years restoring it to operating condition, and it made its first run on the downtown loop on August 18, 2011.
San Diego Vintage Trolley has five more streetcars purchased at the same time and which will be renovated for use in San Diego. Two were also used in San Francisco, while the other three were used in New Jersey and southeast Pennsylvania.
Take a ride on PCC #529 on the downtown Silver Line loop with stops at the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park, Seaport Village, the harbor, East Village, San Diego Convention Center, America Plaza, the Civic Center, and San Diego City College.
The Silver Line Vintage Trolley takes about 25 minutes to travel the full loop, and travel is in a clockwise direction only, just in case you need to make it somewhere. The fare is just $2, $1 for seniors and disabled. Children five and under ride free. You must have exact change. Although the PCC #529 can accomodate wheelchairs, only one wheelchair can be handled at a time.
The Silver Line operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. First departure on Tuesdays and Thursdays is from the 12th & Imperial Transit Center at 9:52 a.m. Last run departs at 1:52 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, first run departs from the 12th & Imperial Transit Center at 10:52 am with the last run departing at 3:22 p.m.
If you are interested in helping preserve the history of the San Diego streetcar system or helping with restoration, join the San Diego Electric Railway Association (SDERA). SDERA operates the National City Depot at 922 W. 23rd Street in National City. The historic Santa Fe railroad station has a museum, railroad cars, a large model railroad, and a gift shop. The National City Depot is open Thursday to Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Monthly meetings of SDERA are held at the National City Depot on the second Saturday of the month at 7:30 p.m.
