USA Holiday 2

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October 10

USA Holiday 2, October 10 (So Long Beach)

Not much planned for the day, so went down to Long Beach. They had an Indy Car race here in April, but for some reason there's still ripple strips on some of the street corners in October (it's a road circuit if you didn't guess).

There wasn't too much beach to be seen where we got off, there was a marina, bayside area and a lighthouse though. There was also a ferris wheel and this deceiving walkway that looked just like a rollercoaster. Tried to bus over to the east side, but they were only running every 30-40 minutes (buses just don't work), so instead got the free local shuttle across to the island where the Queen Mary is docked.

I don't think it's an aquarium, just a nice paint job.

The Queen Mary.

Inland lighthouse.

Not actually a rollercoaster.

Indy corner.

The Queen Mary have a series of halloween nights, but they don't start until later in the day so couldn't go to that. Instead there is a retired Russian Submarine next to that, which you can go down into a walk around. It's even tougher to get around in than the USS Midway. The size of the whole submarine was a lot smaller than I expected, perhaps I've been watching too much Sealab 2021.

Russian sub.

So that was it, time to head back to the hotel and then on to the airport. Flight home was as painful as ever - the sleeping tablets did nothing at all! - but otherwise no problems.

USA Holiday 2, October 09 (Runyonero)

Needed to take three metro lines to make it up to Hollywood, about the same time as a single bus in traffic (and everyone knows that trains beat buses). Revisited Hollywood Boulevard which hasn't changed all that much, but this time I figured out where Runyon Canyon was. Mostly by luck, and then following all the people in exercise gear.

Chinese Mann's theatre.

So we hiked up to the top of the Canyon which was pretty damn steep and a really hot day too, but it was fun and actually is a good change to just doing tourist type stuff. Maybe 3 kilometres up and the same amount back, even came out onto Mulholland Drive at the top. I'd have liked to do a bit more of this kind of thing on the trip actually. I'll have to make a note for next time.

Found it !

Half way up. Those steps were a killer.

Hollywood and downtown Los Angeles.

West Los Angeles.

Mulholland Drive.

Took the train back into downtown and got off at Union Station. Got a little bit lost walking around, but managed to end up at Little Tokyo which was nice - it's good nothing on the real Tokyo though.

The entrance to Little Tokyo.

Pershing Square.

USA Holiday 2, October 08 (The LC)

Time to leave San Diego already, which was a lot better than I expected and certainly an upgrade on Miami. The weather was a little too cool for my liking, although it might have been temporary. Similar to Boston the city is large enough but doesn't seem congested, the public transportation was well thought out and it's nicely located between The OC, Los Angeles and Mexico.

Took the train up to Los Angeles, which was a good decision. For a while the train track is actually between the beach and the first row of houses (although that can't be good for house values) so you have a good view on both sides. It's a shame I wasn't able to stop off at Laguna along the way though. Passed through Anaheim on the way to Los Angeles, didn't see Disneyland but the train did stop at Angels Stadium (it's miles from Los Angeles, but even they have a station, it's not that hard).

Somewhere between San Diego and Los Angeles.

Angels Stadium. Either the window is dirty, or we're near Los Angeles !

The Forum, former home of the Lakers, not in a good location.

From the Amtrak station we had to get three local trains with luggage to the hotel which was southwest of LA, close to the airport. Along the trip different people on the train tried to sell various varieties of confectionery - who is really going to buy food from a strange guy walking through a train carriage ? We had to get off the train one stop before Compton and head west, but made it to the hotel without problems. Quite annoying that this hotel was definitely the best and most spacious of the trip - probably because it's in a cheaper area near the airport, so you get better facilities for the same amount of money.

Worked out that a bus was the best way to get up to The Grove. I don't really understand why The Grove is rated so highly, there's a small bunch of fashion shops and not much else, then a farmers market place just alongside, which is much more interesting. Anyway the reason why I wanted to revisit The Grove is because, by luck, there's a Lauren Conrad book signing tonight! Not that I own or have read any of the books, but a chance to see LC is something you can't pass up. Well, as it turns out about 500 hundred teenage girls thought the same thing, so there was a massive line out on the footpath by the time I arrived, and I decided against it. I think that would have been the highlight of my holiday too.

The early line for LC.

USA Holiday 2, October 07 (Down Mexico Way)

Took the train all the way down to San Ysidro, which is the town just before the border to Mexico. You could walk across if you 1) had your passport with you 2) wanted to go there (I would not have minded actually) and 3) were confident you could get back in.

It was pretty cool just to see across into Tijuana, where they have this big arch constructed and also a big Mexican flag. There was also a large outlet mall down here on the US side (kind of a strange place to put it) which was good timing near the end of the trip.

Last Stop This Town.

Tijuana.

Back through downtown next, stopped off at another sports card store which looked like it had heaps of stuff, but the place was just a mess. Not making this up, it's as if the guy just stacked up boxes in the store and couldn't be bothered doing anything else. The basketball cards were at the back and you weren't even allowed to go down that far, so I gave up on that. Walked uphill to Balboa Park which contains not only the famous San Diego Zoo but a whole bunch of other interesting stuff. There was some Mexican style buildings, a cactus garden, other gardens, fountains and international cottage park (no Australian cottage though). A surprisingly large amount of area dedicated for park land so close to the city.

Arizona Cardinals plane.

Entrance to Balboa Park.

Museum maybe.

Looks like it belongs in Rapture.

The Big Cactus.

I think they gave out houses to the lesser known countries.

Never even heard of this one.

Not The Colonel, that's for sure.

He's two for two !

USA Holiday 2, October 06 (SoCal)

Took the train/trolley thing across to Old Town - the train system is pretty similar to Boston in terms of size and coverage, and seems quite efficient. Old Town is as the name suggests, a small town which has either been recreated or maintained in the old Mexican/Western style. It was pretty well done actually, they had stables, blacksmith, a saloon, pretty much what you see if you've played Red Dead Redemption.

Where pavement and traffic lights seamlessly meets Olde Town.

A church perhaps.

Definitely not a church.

Gonna use oil-based paint, 'cause the wood is pine.

Took the next train further out of the city, past Qualcomm Stadium (wow, they have a regular train station *at* the stadium) and stopped off at Mission San Diego. It's similar to the missions I've seen before in San Antonio, so didn't stay for long. Westfield Mission Valley was nearby, which is possibly the worst designed mall / shopping centre ever. Basically there's just a bunch of those mega stores each with their own car parks you have to walk through, and collectively they call that a Westfield. That is until you finally find the proper mall part hidden through and behind the Target. Good thing I found it too because they had an Anime/Mange store, a Comic Book/Sports Cards store (maybe this is why Comic-Con is held in San Diego) and self serve yoghurt store. Finally I found some stores I could buy things from.

Mission SD.

Back to San Diego after that and just enough time to visit the USS Midway, a former naval ship. It's the usual thing where you get your headset for a self-serve guided tour, only this time you're trying to crawl in, through and out of the lower levels of a ship. The space they save with this kind of design must surely be outweighed by the amount of time you waste struggling to get up and down ladders, through doorways and getting lost. Up on the top level was the aircraft deck and a bunch of planes on display too.

Last chance to enjoy the open space.

I'm on a boat.

Cockpit was crazy uncomfortable. I'd be reaching for the ejector switch.

Celtics plane.

Camo plane.

Whatever the thing up the top is called.

That top thing, with all the flags.

Walked down to the Embarcadero Marina area next, just a park and marina area really, which leads around to the San Diego Convention Centre and Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres). At first the stadium looked odd and not like a stadium at all, but once you get around to the back you realise it's pretty great. They haven't closed off the outfield with a big wall or stands, so you can see right into the stadium (although they don't allow that during the game) and watch the teams away games on a big screen from this small park.

San Diego Convention Center.

Petco Park.

A park behind Petco Park.