Last weekend, a one-day trip to Los Angeles found me back on a train to avoid the stress of driving and traffic. The Solana Beach station has a large parking lot which (so far) is still free. Just as I got in the car to drive to the station, Amtrak started blowing up my cellphone with delay alerts. My stomach dropped as a result of my previous Amtrak experience when the train was delayed by almost an hour. Fortunately, the delay was only about five minutes this time. Phew!
Designed by architect Rob Wellington Quigley, the Solana Beach station was built in 1994. The trip was fairly uneventful, other than two Spicoli kids who were yapping the entire time. Between the “dudes” and the “bros,” the departure at Fullerton couldn’t have come quickly enough!
Arriving at LA’s Union Station is almost like Dorothy entering Oz. Designed by the father-and-son architect team of John and Donald Parkinson, it is an impressive melding of Spanish Colonial, Mission Revival, and Art Deco architecture. The station still looks fantastic and appeared to be fairly well-monitored to keep it safe for the passengers.
When one exits the station, the fantasy begins to crumble as the smell of weed, urine, and the shouting of crackheads encourage one to keep moving briskly to avoid any trouble
On this visit, I checked out the Imperial Western Beer Company at the South Patio, formerly the Fred Harvey House restaurant, which was designed by Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, who served as the Fred Harvey Company’s interior designer and architect. The tile floor is meant to look like a Navajo rug.
The Harvey restaurant closed in 1967 and became an event space/filming location.
And then it was time for me to make my way to my appointment, so I began hoofing it to downtown LA.
I’m not sure when this was installed, but this time I noticed this little plaque in the sidewalk about Union Station:
See more LA Union Station photos at my main website.
I'm glad you mentioned why you picked Solana Beach because I was kind of wondering why such an out-of-the-way station. Makes sense if the traffic in/out is light and easier than others, and as you said, parking is still free. From my experience in working inm Encinitas/RSF area, it's the Spicoli kids that are going through your car while you're away. Sadly those over-reactive apps seems to be the new norm. A couple of friends of mine had their wedding pictures taken in Union Station about 10+ years ago. Their theme was 1940's garb and since they were both artists/animators, my friend Sean intentionally went for the Eddie Valiant look. I'm grateful it still exists. Maybe one day we'll get our clean and mostly-crime free society back so that we can enjoy Union station again. I'm not holding my breath on that one, but I will hold it when walking through the station based on your description.
ReplyDeleteYour post was a mixture of memories and sadness. I'd take the train round trip from Martinez to Santa Ana to visit my folks. Union Station has always been a fascinating place. It is so easy to visualize what it once was, say, back in the 40s, filled now with the ghosts of the past. Especially so when no one from the present is in your pictures. The sad part is thinking that you have to be concerned for your safety there these days, along with the apparent stench that has become part of downtown LA. KS
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