A Trip to the Convention Center, the Scenic Way

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — D4 and I went down to the Auto Show today. I had been last weekend, but hadn’t seen everything, so it was fun to get back and see things in a bit more depth. We got there from the apartment via the Downtown DASH Weekend Service, ate lunch at the St. Vincent Jewelry Center, and then walked back by way of the LA Times.

Heading out we walked down 7th for a few blocks, ate lunch in the Food Court at the St. Vincent Jewelry Center (don't let "food court" fool you... it's a cool place), and then got on the E and took it west to Flower. There we transferred to a DD (Downtown Discovery), and that took us to the Convention Center.

We then needed to head from the Convention Center to the LA Times building, so that D4 could pick up his parking pass. A by-product of a leaner Times is available parking spaces, and they're now offering them for $80/month. That's not bad around here. In a spate of good planning D4 had spent his second quarter at lunch, so the DASH was no longer an option. It was an amazing day, though, so walking was an acceptable solution.

We started up Figueroa to 5th street. There we turned right and walked over to Grand, passing the Central Library. We walked just up to the front of the First Business Bank building on the corner of 5th and Grand and checked out the lobby. We then moved across Grand to the Gas Company Building, but the cool lobby floor fountains were dry, so that was less than impressive.

We continued up the hill to 1st, past the Disney Concert Hall. There we turned right and coasted downhill to the LA Times. D4 picked up his pass and we started to walk down Spring, but got distracted when I found out D4 hadn't been in the Bradbury Building. We popped over to Broadway and walked into the Bradbury lobby. I don't care how many times I've been in there, it still amazes me.

The last couple blocks were uneventful. We walked down Broadway to the Arcade building, cut through to Spring, and then made in back to where we'd started. My legs are a little tired, but I always love walking around near here.