A Good Walk Spoiled After A Pleasant Journey With No Traffic
For a few flashing moments, I thought I could have been in Europe.
I was riding in a train through a big city, sitting comfortably in a seat and pulling into a gleaming station.
But I was not in a European city. I was in Los Angeles, a place where I have frequently bashed the inconsistencies of its Metro and public transportation system. And I was enjoying the experience. Certainly more so than had I driven to this event for Travel Massive LA, the organization of travel bloggers and industry professionals.
This event was being sponsored by Czech Tourism and our Travel Massive leader suggested not driving because there were many Czech beers that were going to be served and, as it turned out, some pretty potent Czech liquors, as well.
Plus, it was at 6:30 in the evening and driving in traffic getting to it would not have been fun.
So I decided to take the Metro. It involved the following:
• A bus ride from Hermosa Beach on the Beach Cities Transit to the Metro station off Rosecrans in El Segundo
• A Metro ride to Watts to catch the Blue Line, which I took to the 7th Street station, a real train station
• A few confused moments looking at a transit map to see how in the world I was going to get to the “G.U.” (that’s an LA term meaning “geographically undesirable”) location of the event, an art gallery at the south end – the very south end, as I was come to learn – of the Arts District. I was assisted by an adorable blonde who suggested I continue on the Metro to Union Station and take another train to a stop at the Arts District. Hey, it CAN’T be this easy, can it!? (Nope, keep reading.)
• A Metro ride to Union Station.
• A train ride to the Arts District/Little Tokyo stop.
All this took about two hours. With no hassle and no traffic. In fact, I smiled while we zoomed along the section that cuts through the 105 freeway while cars were literally standing still.
Now all I had to do was to find the gallery, which had an address of as 1923 S. Santa Fe Ave. I was at 1st and Alameda.
What I SHOULD have done is gone down Alameda and caught a bus. Instead, I walked the five or so blocks over to Santa Fe Ave. At first this was very pleasant. I passed a few little bars with a scattering of artistic people sitting outside having craft brews. Later, I passed one of the many downtown craft breweries I had heard about and said to myself “oh so THIS is the area where they are located!”
This was a short-lived thrill. Santa Fe Ave is a long street with blocks the length of those in Las Vegas, which is to say huge. I almost felt as if I were on a treadmill because I walked and walked and walked and never seemed to be going anywhere.
Finally, I saw a bus and jumped on it. It made a stop at 15th Street and when I inquired of the Sergio Garcia look-alike driver if it made a stop closer to 19th, he just pointed ahead and said “I’m going over the bridge.”
A bridge?! I had visions of it getting on a freeway and me winding up in Arcadia! So I got off an headed south.
There there was a side street with lots of trash and then the bridge, so I wound up walking over the bridge, over a row of railroad tracks. Every business there was a warehouse and they were all closed.
When I reached the other side of the bridge, I was dismayed to learn the addresses has jumped into the 2800s; I was on 28th Street!? So I turned around, sprinted across the train tracks and wound up in the parking lot of a gentlemen’s club – really, here in the middle of nowhere!? – where I inquired about the location of the gallery (“I think it’s that way” the attendant said, waving his arm back toward 15th Street).
I walked up to 22nd Street, then up to the next block, which was not 21st Street. Instead, I was back at 15ht Street. WTF!? Then I looked up and saw a sign that said 1923. Was this just an art gallery being “cute,” putting down one address while actually being at another? Had I turned around when I got off the bus I would have been right there at it!
Anyway, I made it, had many Czech beers, a couple of very strong shots of Czech liquor, some good and plentiful food and good conversation.
Later, on the way back home, in an Uber, I noticed there was a Metro stop just around the corner.
Of course.
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