Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: California

Los Angeles – Amtrak Train to Tucson

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a trip in January 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

My initial plan for this trip was to explore the United States for a month, being reliant on Amtrak to transport me around. I intended on going to around eight cities and would spend a couple of days in each of them. That partly happened, although there were some problems with closed routes.

So, I settled on going from Los Angeles to Tucson, from Tucson to El Paso, from El Paso to San Antonio and then flying from San Antonio to New Orleans. I then had another series of cities after that to visit, but I used plane and bus to get to them. This masterful plan was dented when Amtrak mailed me two weeks before my trip to tell me the train from El Paso to San Antonio was cancelled and they were providing no alternatives. Fortunately, Greyhound buses filled in the gap….

So, the first part of my journey was from Union Station in Los Angeles, California to Tucson Station in Arizona.

I’d been to Union Station on numerous previous occasions and taken many photographs. So this time, I limited myself to just taking a photograph of the tower since it was a warm and pleasant evening.

The departures screen in the main departures hall.

On my previous Amtrak trips I’ve just waited in the departures hall until the train is called. I felt that something seemed different about this trip though, and so I went to the customer services desk to ask if there was anything else that I needed to do. It turned out that this was a good decision of mine.

The man at the customer services desk was particularly helpful and explained that I needed to go and queue up to get a ticket. Instead of giving me directions, he decided to close the desk and escort me to where I needed to be, another helpful touch.

I then spent around thirty minutes in a queue to get a ticket, but that meant I could choose whether I got a window or aisle seat. The Americans (or at least they all seemed American) in the queue was conversational which made for a more entertaining wait. I went for a window seat so that I could look out of the window at California and Arizona, although I forgot it got dark at night and this was primarily a night train….

This was my view for most of the journey…. (not the same hill obviously, but different ones).

Around twenty minutes before departure time there was a call for passengers, so I went to wait on the platform. I hope Dylan and Leon get to see these trains soon, as they are large and slightly clunky, but I think they’re rather beautiful.

Moving the train towards the end of the track is apparently a more complex procedure than it might at first appear.

Ready to board. It looks a bit of a crowd, but the boarding was organised so that individuals could wait outside their carriage. A staff member then welcomed us individually and guided us towards our seat.

It’s hard to give an indication of seat size, but the leg space is substantial and far in excess of that I’ve experienced in any other country. Even if the person in front reclines, it makes absolutely no difference to the comfort of the person behind them.

When I was in the departures hall at Union Station a young guy came up to me and asked if he could borrow my charger. The railway station has a reputation for hawkers and people begging, and I was a little suspicious. I told him that I didn’t have the right adaptor for the plugs there, but I could charge it on my laptop, which I did. This didn’t seem risky as I currently had his phone and he had nothing of mine. All was well, he thanked me and that was that.

Anyway, it transpired that I was seated next to him on the train, which seemed rather a coincidence (the seating was allocated, so he didn’t just sit there). He was a pleasant and helpful guy, and he asked again on the train if I could charge his phone. Which I did, and that’s what is in the photo above.

The guy gave me a can of Pepsi for my help, and so I then agreed to charge his e-cigarette thing. Which promptly leaked. But he was happy 🙂

Getting nearer to Tucson in the early morning.

The train didn’t go that quickly if I’m being honest, but it was relaxing and comfortable. There were cabins on board for those who wanted them, although they’ve quite a bit more money.

Safely arrived in Tucson. The ticket cost around £28 and I thought that this was perfectly good value for money. I was slightly disappointed that there was no wi-fi on the train, but I understand that they’re actively trying to work on this across the network.

Overall, this was a very acceptable way of being transported from one city to another. The train was quiet on boards, there were plenty of toilets and numerous guards were available for any passenger who needed help. I was marginally disappointed I couldn’t get the train from Tucson to El Paso as it had been cancelled, but we arrived into Tucson on time. One final thing, I like that the guards go down the train waking any customer up who is still asleep before their stop, it’s a reassuring service….

August 13, 2025
Los Angeles – McDonald’s (Pasadena)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018 and I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

The photo above isn’t mine, I took it from Google Maps. This McDonald’s intrigued me though as it the first walk-thru outlet of theirs that I’ve been to. That is they have a drive-thru counter and also a walk-thru counter where customers have to order outside. There are no inside counters at all, which struck me as novel.

The actual reason I went in McDonald’s wasn’t to get food, it was to escape the rain. Pasadena decided to flood when I visited and I had another fifteen minutes walk to get to the hotel.

Although all of the orders were taken outside, there was a relatively small inside dining area.

There’s the sum total of my purchases, a 99 cent unlimited soft drinks cup. Bargain. I stayed quite a while but the rain didn’t really dissipate.

August 13, 2025
Los Angeles – Stout Burgers and Beers (Santa Monica)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018, but I reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This combination of a beer and burger microbrewery sounded intriguing, and since it was too hot in the sun of Santa Monica, it seemed a rather good idea. Stout have five restaurants throughout the country, of which three are in the wider Los Angeles area.

Feeling rather brave, I also decided to dine outside in what felt a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. The interior was though quite minimalist, with lots of brick and wood being visible.

The extensive drinks menu which was well balanced between the different types of beer.

There was a choice of six different stouts and I’d have been disappointed with anything less given the restaurant’s name. This is the Vanilla Cash stout, with tastes of vanilla and coffee. It’s a nitro beer, so it has a smooth texture and a beautifully smooth flavour. The taste of vanilla lingered and it complemented the burger well.

The Mr. America burger, with aged cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion and relish. The burger was served well done but it was still juicy and full of flavour.

Overall, this was a relatively expensive dining option, but the service was friendly, efficient and personable. The quality of the food was high and I liked how the menu gave pairing suggestions between the burgers and the beer that was available.

August 13, 2025
Los Angeles – Blaze Pizza (Pasadena)

[I originally posted this in July 2018 about a visit in January 2018, I’ve reposted it to fix some broken image links]

Just after I arrived in Pasadena it started to rain. The roads started flooding with the quantity of rain, so it seemed that an early lunch would be a rather good idea. This pizza restaurant, which is part of a national chain, seemed well reviewed and was on the way to my hotel. This restaurant is their outlet on East Colorado Boulevard, which is also on the historic route 66.

Firstly, the service was quite ridiculous insomuch as it was near perfect. There’s often talk from restaurants in the UK how they want their staff to engage with customers, to build up a rapport, to be conversational and welcoming. It rarely happens. Here, they had it down to a fine art.

I took a leaflet by the door to get an understanding of the different pizza options available. The process is similar to Subway, that you walk down a line and select the pizza and other items that you want, before paying at the end. I mentioned to the first staff member that it was my first visit, and she proceeded to offer a comprehensive introduction to how the process worked.

Then, after she had introduced herself and the concept, she then introduced me to the other staff members along the line. She was conversational and friendly, it is hard to imagine a friendlier introduction to a restaurant, but it never felt over the top or forced.

There’s an open and slightly industrial feel to the whole restaurant, which soon got much busier. The pizzas are cooked in just a few minutes and customers go and collect them from the counter.

Unlimited Dr. Pepper, a side salad and a pizza, all of which were at the temperature I expected, were neatly presented and tasted of an excellent quality. The pizza base was thin and crispy, the toppings were evenly spread and there was a depth of taste to both the pizza and the salad.

I think that covers most eventualities.

This was my first visit to a Blaze Pizza outlet and I discovered later on that Pasadena was the home of the chain, which might explain the near perfect customer service. It’s a shame that I don’t live closer (it’s hard to justify popping over to Pasadena for lunch) as I’d have this as my go to fast service restaurant….

August 13, 2025
San Diego – Old Town Theatre

The Old Town Theatre is located in the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and it’s a working theatre with 246 seats. It’s operated by the Cygnet Theatre now and the building was constructed in the 1970s in the style of an nineteenth century structure.

One thing that puzzled me was the spelling of the Old Town Theatre and the Cygnet Theatre, which is the English spelling, rather than the American spelling which is usually ‘theater’. Or, at least, what I thought the American spelling was.

And here, I think, is the answer. The word ‘theater’ in American English is actually relatively new, only recently overtaking the ‘theatre’ spelling in American writing. Every day is a school day as they say….

April 12, 2020
San Diego – Karl Strauss Bar Downtown San Diego

This is perhaps one of the most important visits that I’ve ever made to a bar, which was in January 2015, to the downtown San Diego outlet of the Karl Strauss brewery. At this time, I was more engaged with real ale and real cider, so I wasn’t entirely sure what this craft beer thing was all about.

At the time, this sort of beer menu was still pretty rare to me and I’m fairly sure I didn’t really understand most of it.

So I started with a light beer, that’s a pale ale of some kind, although I can’t remember which.

And a pretzel, because beer needs snacks.

But, it was now that things started to change, and I remember this little exchange. The member of staff was fully engaged about beers and the different types, and they were keen to talk about their passion. I can’t remember the details of the conversation, but I suspect that I told the barman that I liked Guinness, hence how the discussion evolved. It’s noticeable that I probably wasn’t convinced about trying a dark beer, as there’s a sampler there that has been proffered by the barman. And that’s the fiercely strong Wreck Alley imperial stout, coming in at 9.5%. Which I clearly liked, since I’ve managed to get a large glass of it before even finishing the sampler.

I’ve been to San Diego twice and it was bars like this which really got me interested in the new craft beer revolution, although I didn’t think too much about this concept at the time. There’s no shortage of craft beer options in California today, but Karl Strauss remains one of the first in the United States to push this style of drink. And they certainly didn’t let me down on this visit. Although, perhaps I could have picked a cheaper hobby than craft beer…..

But, a memorable and very lovely visit.

April 12, 2020
San Diego – Museum of Man (Beer for Breakfast)

The Museum of Man in San Diego had a temporary exhibition when I visited in 2015 which was all about beer. I have to say (write), what a marvellous choice of exhibition…

And beer for breakfast? The text of this exhibits reads, “The Sphinx is a silent symbol of Egypt, but if he could talk he would tell tales of beer. Why? In Ancient Egypt beer was money and they paid a labourer a gallon of beer a day. By even modest calculations it took at least 231 million gallons of beer to build the Pyramid of Giza. To the Egyptian labourer, beer was a vital source of nutrition. Containing about 3% alcohol and packed with vitamins and minerals, it was a lot more like fermented oatmeal than our European-style beers”.

A gallon of beer a day? There are eight US pints in a US gallon (I think), but that’s about 6.7 UK pints. Nonetheless, 6.7 UK pints per day is still quite a lot. I’m not sure I’d want that much, although if this fermented oatmeal tastes like a fine oatmeal stout, then perhaps I might have been tempted….

April 12, 2020
San Diego – Museum of Man (Gigantopithecus)

There’s one exhibit that I remembered from the Museum of Man in San Diego, which is their model of Gigantopithecus. This is a recreation of the largest great ape that ever existed and they lived between two million years ago to around 300,000 years ago (or so Wikipedia says). Standing at around 7 to 8 feet high (although it wouldn’t perhaps have been standing for much of the time), the ape likely went extinct because food became harder to find and evolution favoured smaller apes.

Here’s what the exhibit, called Mr. G by some of the staff, looked like in the museum, but I was disappointed to read that it was taken permanently off display in 2016 (I visited in January 2015) when they were modernising some of the exhibits. The ape had only been created in 2003, so its life-span was quite short and I’m not sure what they’ve done with this intriguing item.

The museum said that “one of the special features of Mr. G was that he was built with an infrared sensor so that any time someone came near, his eyes and eyelids would move”, although this had stopped working in the last few years, and it definitely wasn’t working in 2015. Anyway, I hope that somewhere this ape is still around, it’d be a bit irritating for the species of gigantopithecus if even their models went extinct.

April 12, 2020
San Diego – First San Diego Courthouse

This is another of the buildings in the Old Town San Diego Historic Park, an area that was nearly devoid of visitors when I visited. Which had the advantage of making it feel like that I had stepped back in time to nineteenth century America, and the disadvantage that nearly everything was shut.

This is a replica building and was installed in the park in 1992, but it’s an authentic copy of the original structure which was built in 1847. It was initially designed as a town hall and it was used for that purpose until 1869, when it became the town’s courthouse.

In April 1872, it was destroyed by a fire which damaged many of the buildings in the area and it was this disaster which was the beginning of the end for the Old Town area. Alonzo Horton was starting to develop a rival settlement, in what is now downtown San Diego, which was better equipped with fresh water and other facilities. Many of the buildings here weren’t reconstructed and people started to drift away from the area.

April 11, 2020
San Diego – Robinson Rose House

Old Town San Diego is the site of the first European settlement in California, although the centre was so far from a drinking water source that the heart of San Diego shifted towards a more suitable location.

This is the Robinson Rose house, although it’s a little bit of a fake arrangement as it was built in 1989 to be used as the park’s information office. It is though an authentic replica of the 1853 house that was constructed by James Robinson, an important local businessman and lawyer. He used it as his legal practice, as well as his private residence, selling it in 1868 to Louis Rose, a local entrepreneur. They’re not entirely sure when it was demolished, but it was some time around 1900.

April 11, 2020