"The Charbor Chronicles": My Day Off in Los Angeles

My one and only day off during this work trip was scheduled for Sunday, April 28th. Knowing this in advance, I obviously wanted to make the most of it.

Originally, I had the idea to rent a car for a day (my day off in particular) while out here. The thing is, everything is so damn expensive here. Renting a car itself might not have cost all that much. However, the cost of parking at the hotel was $61 a night. That made me realize that everywhere I would drive to would surely require me to pay for parking, and I often saw prices where it was something like $3.75 for every 12 minutes. That kind of thing can really add up if you want to have a serious visit to a place. Plus, gas is outrageously expensive here, at close to $6 a gallon. In short, all of this made me hesitate enough to opt out once that day off finally approached.

Now when I mentioned this to some guys who were also working this event, they all had quick answers. One of them told me that it was actually $30 overnight, although I had asked the desk receptionist, specifically, at the lobby of the hospital, and that was what she had told me. Another guy said that his brother had come to visit and rented a car, and just parked on some back street somewhere. Still, I felt that those were examples of guys trying to show that they knew better and were privy to outsmarting the system, rather than actual strategies or guarantees to beat the high cost of parking in this city. The last thing that I wanted was to park somewhere, and then find the car missing the next morning. Suddenly, I would have a much bigger problem.

Thus, I had to abandon those plans. That mean getting cars to drive me around a bit, as well as relying on public transportation. I had heard, and was about to learn, that the Los Angeles metro, or subway system, was not as reliable as those in some other cities. Indeed, it seemed adequate for a while, until I wanted to visit the Griffith Observatory. Originally, that was going to be one of the early sites to visit, but it wound up being the last place later in the day, by which time my legs were tired, and my back and feet hurt. So I opted to get an Uber instead to drive me up.

Another possibility which I quickly abandoned was visiting the city with one of my coworkers from New Jersey. He was here a little bit earlier than me and would be leaving a day earlier, as well. Yet we had the same day off. I offered to bring him along if I rented a car, and at first he gave me half answers, not really sounding especially interested. Towards the end, when asked what he intended to do on his day off, he said that he wanted to just eat in bed. I can understand relaxing, trust me. But the idea of just sitting around in a hotel room and having lunch in bed, which is something I can do anywhere, seemed...well, a bit dull to me. Yes, I was tired, but I was also in Los Angeles. I understand the desire to relax, but I am probably old enough to be this guy's father, so he should have had more energy than me. Yet, the idea of just having a day in a hotel room seemed to me frankly boring and depressing. Not for me. This was my first ever trip here, and who knows when - or even if - I'll get back here. So I wanted to do more than that, and take advantage of this rare opportunity.

So I got up early that morning, wanting to get off to an early start. I had already decided to give that coworker what he wanted, peace and quiet, so I never asked again whether he wanted to go exploring with me, especially after I had abandoned the plans of renting a car. Then after giving it some thought, it seemed like a good idea to go to the farthest destination possible first. That would be Pasadena and the Rose Bowl, which was one of the major sites which was on my itinerary leading up to this trip. Luckily, I had already gotten to visit both Santa Monica Pier and Venice Beach, which were also two major destinations which I had wanted to go to, but which were a bit far. So with those two places already checked out and out of the way, if you will, the only distant destination left was the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Early in the morning, since it was Sunday and it seemed unlikely that LA's notorious traffic problems would be much of an issue, I got a car to drive me there. As it turns out, the driver was French, although he had the strangest French accent that I had ever heard. It sounded more Russian than anything. Very quickly, he said that he was not interested in politics. Then not even five minutes later, he started going on and on about how Ronald Reagan was the best president, and how he was thriving and making a lot of money then. Not wanting to engage in that particular conversation, I instead talked about travel. He talked longingly about how beautiful and green everything was there, and how it was a desert out here. He told me that had he known this was a desert, he likely would not have come out here in the first place, maybe opting instead for New York.

Yet apparently he liked Los Angeles just fine. He said that he had now been living here for 50 years, having left France as a young man. For a while he had been selling jewelry. Now, perhaps retired (I didn't specifically ask), he was driving people around, and apparently making what he referred to as "decent money."

We drove past some places and names on signs which sounded familiar. La Brea. Downtown Los Angeles. The hills lined with wealthy California residences, and the mountains in the distance. There were signs for San Diego and Sacramento. Glendale. And finally, Pasadena.

The Rose Bowl was the first place I visited. Then, it would be a walk to the nearby train station (about 2 1/2 miles) and the train back to downtown Los Angeles. From there, I switched plans again, now believing going straight to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Garden would be best. So I did some quick research, reinforcing my earlier research, and found the train stop to be Expo Park/USC. It turned out that Exposition Park was one of the most impressive and beautiful places of the entire visit to Los Angeles. There were a whole bunch of museums, the Rose Garden, the Coliseum, and an actual space shuttle, looking like it was set for takeoff.

Fascinating stuff, and one of the best places which I visited on this trip.

After that, I headed to Griffith Observatory, from where, I had read somewhere, there were great views of the Hollywood sign. There were views, and they were decent. Yet the sign itself was a bit more distant than expected. Still, not being one much for the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, this was good enough for me.

The Griffith Observatory had come highly recommended and felt like a must see. Yet admittedly, I was tired and feeling a bit bothered by then. It was a hot day, and bringing the sweatshirt, which had seemed like a good idea during the chilly morning, now was obviously a bad idea. My back was acting up, my feet were sore, and my legs were tired. So all of this got in the way of a better visit. Still, it was hard not to be impressed with the exhibits there, as well as the views. If you love science, or great views, this is the place for you.

After that, I went back to the hotel. And much like my coworker, I too had lunch relaxing in bed. Rested up for a few hours, and then went with that same coworker to the playoff hockey game. He is a big hockey fan, and had been hoping to go to a game, and asked if I would be interested. Why not? So we went, which was another experience. It was also probably the best way to close out my day off.

Overall, not bad.

Below are some of the highlight pictures of the places I went to and visited. There will be more pictures, and more detailed descriptions of each of the places and experiences, in future blog entries.

Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California