Union Station/Olvera Street/China Town Trip

Feb. 12 ­ Metrolink Trip to Union Station/ Olvera Street/ China Town
Led by John Shedrick and Duane Whitaker

We were unsure about this trip right down to the last minute.  Everyone was listening to different weather forecasts ranging from rain likely to clearing skies.

We decided to meet for breakfast at the Blue Bird.  The forecast seemed good and the sky looked promising, so twelve of us decided to go for it.  A few chickened out.

Duane was first in line to get his tickets.  He then assisted everyone else with the somewhat confusing ticket machine.  The train was 30 minutes late leaving, but this gave us a little extra time to share in conversation.  The ride was smooth, quiet and relaxing.

 

We began with a tour of Union Station with it's elaborately designed glass dome at one end, then on to the main terminal area with all it's old furnishings, fixtures and doorways.  The group also enjoyed the scenes from the garden area.

From Union Station, we headed over to Olvera Street.  All these little flea market type shops are in the center of the street, between really old buildings on each side, including the oldest house in Los Angeles.  There were many good photo ops in this area.

While we were still in the terminal, some of the group didn't think they would be hungry by 12:30, so we decided to slip lunch to 3:00 pm.  This had it's good and bad points.  A few of us ended up being hungrier than they thought and stopped sooner for something to eat.

 

The rest of us enjoyed a meal at the best restaurant in Chinatown with no waiting for a table.  Of course, we missed part of the parade in the process.

Anyway, the weather was great for our trip.  Not a drop of rain.  Dean thought he felt a drop, but I think it was a bird.  They seem to like Dean.  We had mostly cloudy skies, with occasional sunshine coming through.

We got lots of great shots of colorful and glittery floats, dragons, marchers and more.  Everyone had a wonderful day and came home tired.