spend a day exploring Los Angeles's subway system

I also want to take pictures as I go along.

A friend did this and it sounded very interesting. Now I am trying to find out how to do it.

I like murals and this one-day class in the Santa Monica City College looked interesting. It was.

We met at 10:30 on a Sunday morning and rode the Red Line till around 4, stopping at stations along the way where L.A. artist, Gayle Gale pointed out all kinds of things I wouldn’t have noticed.

It was my first time on the L.A. subway system and it made me want to go back.

Today, my wife and I went to Union Station and a couple of the other Red Line stops so she could take photos for a photography class. Our mistake was that we drove to Union Station to start and parking was $14/day. We had to drive a few blocks away to get it down to $7. We should have gone by bus, and not paid for parking.

Now I want to see some of the other lines. And I wonder how close the Green line gets you to the beaches?

I was all set to do this at one point, and then life got busy, and now life has shifted things around quite a bit.

I’m giving up on this one.

As long as you don’t need to actually get somewhere.

I am a native angelino and it took 31 years for me to take the subway. Now, I have moved to Hollywood and commute via subway. I keep getting off at different stops just to explore. (And to find the location of all on-my-way Starbucks.) My favorite station so far is Hollywood & Vine (Red Line) which just looks cool, decorated in film reels.

I spent 3 days doing this and it was really fun. Union Station is beautiful and some guys took us on a bar tour on the Gold Line. We got drunk and missed the last train back, though and had to call a cab to Union Station from Pasadena. Our hotel was on Hollywood Blvd and we were able to take the gold line home. I mean the RED line! haha

About 2 summers ago I was taking a week long class at UCLA. Without traffic, I can drive to UCLA in about 15-20 minutes. This day it took aver 1 hour and with gas over $2 at the time (Yeah I thought that was high) and parking about $15, I realized that it was costing me about $20 a day just in transportation cost. That night I did a little internet research and found that I could take the green line to LAX and catch a bus to UCLA for about $5 round trip. (Take that you gas gouging oil companies!!!!! HA, HA, HA)

This was so much fun that the next week I took my 2 sons (ages 4 and 8) to the Aquarium of the Pacific using the Green Line and the Blue Line. A couple of weeks later we were going to take the trains to Universal Studios, but my hubby vetoed the idea when we all overslept. The Traffic gods must want me to use the train system because the traffic jammed up and had us stuck right by a Green Line station in Watts. So we left the car there and took the trains. This was so much fun that a month later we took a large group of cubscouts to the El Capitain theater in Hollywood by subway.

When you do the subway tour take a few minutes to enjoy the design of the stations. The Red Line can be a little tricky going to Hollywood, there are 2 different trains that travel the same direction (N or W I forget) but go to different destinations. At the transfer station you have to make sure you read the front of the train well. While you are waiting, you can ride on the longest escalator in the state of California.

and I was so sure I was going to get around to it this winter!

I’m going to keep it, but maybe the way to actually DO it is to schedule a group effort some weekend—anyone interested?

I have traveled the lines alone and with my husband. I am 56 and Caucasian, and have experienced no trouble myself, although I have seen mentally disturbed people, homeless beggars & young gang members on the line. I have never felt to be in danger, although I have felt uncomfortable at times. I have ridden at night - I can’t say that I would recommend it. I always help other women who might need change at the ticket dispensers (wow! what an insight - the machines don’t always accept the coins and bills that they say they will). I dress down, but never sloppy. I am respectful of others. I don’t make a whole lot of eye contact, but I have had nice conversations with various riders while waiting at stations. I have seen con artists run card games, food vendors hawk their wares, and bible thumpers preaching. My favorite line is the Red line followed closely by the Gold line; my closest station is the Norwalk station on the Green line; my husband & I always use the Green line to LAX when we are going on vacation.