LA - Long Beach Blue Line to Pico Station and the LA Travel Show.
A great place to research Tourist,
Amtrak, and VIA trains is the LA Travel and Adventure Show which
moved this year from Long Beach to the Los Angeles Convention Center. This
made it easy for those in the suburbs, like me, to take an Amtrak
Surfliner to the Los Angeles Union Station, then a Metro line to within
a block of the Convention Center. The show is also held in these
cities: San Diego, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., San
Francisco/Bay Area, Philadelphia, and Denver. will
probably appear at each city.
additionally, this show had headline speakers like these that will
probably appear at each city:
The show has other professional travelers with travel tips plus
International Food demonstrations and International dance groups.
From Orange and Los Angeles Counties, you can take the Amtrak
Pacific Surfliners to Los Angeles Union Station,
or Metrolink
These photos were all taken at my home station, Fullerton.
On the way from Fullerton to Los Angeles because of recent record rainfall in Southern California, I
photographed several waterways with water rather than dry riverbeds.
The flyover above the LA River is a good vantage point for photos.
From the left/south side of the train into LA, I like to see what
equipment is at the turntable south of the station.
No. 3751 can be spotted here often, carefully covered against the
weather.
Because of washouts at La Conchita between LA and Santa
Barbara, all trains were terminated at Los Angeles. The Coast
Starlight did not run on this day, so this might be the
Sightseer/Lounge from that train.
The Metro building and platforms as we approach Union Station.
Only in LA: While reloading my TAP card for use on the
Metro, a young fellow nearby was very helpful. He said he was a
Screen Writer. On the Metro, a fellow asked if I was going to the
Travel Show. Found out he was a movie extra. A couple of
vocations you might not run across at other train stations.
After reloading my TAP card with a 75cent Senior fare, I went down the escalator and boarded the Red Line from Union
Station (left above), three stops to 7th Street/Metro Center where I
transferred to the Blue Line to Pico about a block's walk from the LA
Convention Center and the Travel show.
Metro is a subway at this point, but by the convention center, it
is above ground.
It was only one stop to Pico, with no extra cost for the transfer.
Picked up my press pass at an office overlooking the convention
floor.
Rick Steves highlighted his book - Europe Through The Back Door -
which he upgrades each year.
Cardboard cutout of Rick left, and current photo right. (Rick you
might want to rethink your speaking wardrobe.)
Plenty of photo ops with the many nations represented.
Even camel rides were available.
At the Grand Canyon Railway and Hotel, I reconnected with
Deni.
An excellent video on their website:
I have written rail reports with photos about the Grand Canyon Railway
at:
Rails to the Rim - Grand Canyon Railway Hotel and Train Package -
October 16-18, 2008: http://trainweb.org/carl/RailsToTheRIm2008/
Stopped by the Verde Canyon Railroad Booth
and met old friends. I've written several reports on this tourist
railroad and the Blazin' M Ranch and the Jerome Grand Hotel.
Verde Canyon Railroad Overview from their website:
They now market together with other attractions as "Cottonwood and
Verde Valley." Ask them for their Visitor's Guide which puts it
all together The Visitor's Guide is online at: http://www.visitcottonwoodaz.org/
Scroll down to "Visitor's Guide" and page through the informative
booklet.
This travel show always has a Photo Booth where you can select a
background and get a free 4 x 6 and a digital copy send to your e-mail.
The first speaker I heard was Angel Castellanos' "Travel Smart and Pack
Right"
Angel's Contacts
Angel's Long Plane Ride Essentials
In a small bag have all your electronic connectors
The main reason I go to the LA Travel and Adventure Show each year
is to hear Pauline Frommer speak:
Wouldn't her talk title attract you: See More, Spend Less: How to
Travel in 2017.
She first encourages everyone to turn on their cell phones and take
photos of her slides. I used my digital camera. She says
she updates her speeches the night before to be current. Her
contact information above.
She also has a Travel
Show:
Every
weekend from noon to 2pm ET, Arthur Frommer, the founder of the Frommer
guidebooks and his daughter Pauline (publisher of Frommer's.com) appear
across the United States on the nationally syndicated Travel Show.
When I went to Frommers.com after the show, I signed up for her
excellent newsletter. At her website you can get full articles on
the things she mentions briefly in her talk.
Pauline Frommer mentioned that you should search using one
browser, but make your reservations in a different browser because of
"cookies" left on the first browser which alert them of many details
about you that the cookie collected (scraped).
One thing Pauline has, that other presenters do not have, is a
large staff who do research for her. The following are the result
of some of that research:
Four airlines control 85% of domestic travel so look at these
out-of-US owned airlines. "Basic Economy Fares" cannot use overhead
bins, can't choose seat, can't change seats, and earn no points.
Atypical tour companies are limited to 12 people, inexpensive with international clientel.
HotelsCombined.com found the best prices 80% of the time, her staff found. Still, the best rates are through hotels' loyalty programs. Bidding Traveler.com, for
instance the Hilton Hawaiian Village, with 600 rooms, goes for $359 a
night, but bidders can get you a room for $129 a night.
Never buy travel insurance from a travel agent.
Budget River Cruises - Emerald Waterways, CroisieEurope, Grand
Circle (which is American owned and gives good info. before your trip).
We were asked what the 5 countries above had in common. The
answer: They all issued travel advisories to their citizens about
traveling to the US.
Other notes by Pauline Frommer:
Beware of information on the Web such as fake reviews by the property
owners. She, of course, promotes the Frommer Guides as trusted
information. Beware of travel companies that use cookies.
She says Momondo.com does not use cookies, but watch because Kayak
recently bought them and they may start using cookies.
Traveler's are happiest before their trips when they are reading, studying, and seeing videos of the place they will visit.
Look for "Starving Graduate Students" tours in foreign cities, they are free except for the tip.
Use a travel agent for cruises - they know the different ships in a
cruise line, but they do not rep. all cruise lines. They will
know about discounts and on-board credit for the cruises they do rep.
Best places to travel in 2017: Paris (because of attacks, tourism
there is down), Montreal (anniversary), the Canadian Island of Haida
Guaii. Nashville, Tennessee, is having a centennial of the Grand Old Opry.
Between the Convention Center and the Metro stop, I passed this mural.
Soon my Blue line trolley arrived to take me to the 7th St.
Station where I transferred to the Red Line and back to LA Station to
catch the Surfliner (below) back to Fullerton.
Passing the Metro yard, south of LA Station.
In the Amtrak yard, we passed several private cars.
LA River was still flowing to the sea as I returned home. LINKS
