CLASSIC TRIP: England, Ireland, Belgium 2005 - Part 1

Aftermath of Bombing

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Francis Tyers under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Just about 16 years ago...on July 6, 2005...the IOC met in Singapore to award the 2012 Olympics to the chosen city. We were in London that day and there were a lot of celebrations...then the next day, the world turned on its head.   Read on to see what happened when we were in London, July 2005...

It was to be a memorable time to be in the city.

Our airline for the LAX to Heathrow portion this time was American Airlines. The service was good and the seats were wider and more comfortable than the last trip we took on Virgin Atlantic. For us, comfort and adequate service beat out Virgin’s amenities which include better service, better food, and vastly better entertainment enroute.

Our hotel for this first leg of the trip was Jury’s Inn in Chelsea…just a couple of miles west of the heart of London. Jury’s Inn is part of the Jurys Doyle chain, an Irish company that has hotels throughout the British Isles. It is in a very quiet area that is being built up on top of the old gas works. It’s a quick bus ride to the shops and pubs of Chelsea and the accessible Fullham-Broadway Underground station which provides quick links to the rest of the city.

The room featured a double bed with a fold out sofabed that would sleep three adults in comfort. Air conditioning, cable TV, radio rounded out the standard amenities. The room was large by European standards (about the size of an average budget U.S. motel room), well laid out, and featured a very large bathroom with a roll-in shower. Our cost was £59 per night (about $80 US)

DAY ONE
A bus ride to the Fulham-Broadway tube station. A ride on the district line to Westminster station. A ride on the Jubilee line to the Kilburn station. Finally, another bus ride to Abbey Road.

Londoner’s may be sad that the old Roadmaster double-deckers are being retired, but wheelchair users aren’t. The new replacements…double-decker, articulated, or smaller regular buses…are wonderfully accessible. A ramp deploys from the back door and a space is reserved.

This round-a-bout journey is what it takes to get a wheelchair from our hotel in Chelsea (Jury’s Inn) to the Beatles studio located at 3 Abbey Road, a ways north of Hyde Park.

Our first stop on this trip is to recreate the picture in the crosswalk that graces the cover of the Beatles Abbey Road album. We take notice of the studio in the smallish, neat white building just to the north of the crosswalk and read the grafitti on the wall in front and the road sign across the street.

Mainly a spot to take pictures, there is not a whole lot more to do here so we walk towards Lord’s Cricket Ground nearby. Tours are being given but at this time the sky opens up and a heavy, cold rain begins to fall.

We decide it’s time to take this journey indoors.

I hail a taxi and we head over to Harrod’s.

The famous department store is huge – get a map at the information counter near the northeastern entrance. Five floors of expensive clothes, appliances, furniture and more. The food hall is impressively expansive, drool inducing, and expensive. The seating, along counters, is unfortunately not friendly to the wheelchair user. It is a little telling that the most crowded counter was the Krispy Kreme stall.

The rest of the store’s departments are housed in smaller rooms. They were having a big sale that day. I remember as we passed through the women’s clothing department a rack of blouses that were 50% off. I checked the price of a random blouse. It had indeed been priced at half off. The original price of 800 pounds ($1,416) was now 400 ($708).

Luckily, there is not a charge to go in and look.

DAY TWO
It’s Wednesday, July 6th. We’re at Covent Garden passing time until the matinee performance of the Producer’s starts up the street.

A limbo dancer is entertaining the crowds for tips when a group of fighter jets roar low overhead. It is at his precise moment, thousands of miles away in Singapore, that the International Olympic Committee announces that London has been awarded the summer Olympic games for 2012. The jets, streaming red, white, and blue smoke are part of the celebration taking place a few blocks away at Trafalgar Square.

It is a joyous moment.

We go on to see our play. The wheelchair seating is excellent, twelve rows back from the stage. The staff at the theatre is also excellent and one usher is assigned to us to take care of all our needs such as getting to the restroom and even bringing drinks in. The play itself is quite good and funny. Ticket prices, as they always are in London, are a bargain compared to Broadway. Less than $100 for all three tickets.

We have found that for matinees, you really don’t need to plan that far in advance except for the most popular shows, early in their runs. I called upon arrival in London and easily reserved three tickets to this show which I picked up at Will Call. Previous trips I have used e-mail from the states, which turned out not to be really necessary. You may want to call direct a couple of weeks ahead of time if you want to go on a traditionally busy time such as Friday or Saturday night.

After the play, we start hitting pubs and celebrate the culmination of the years long struggle to get the Olympics with London’s locals. We end the evening at the Bar Room Bar on King’s Road having pizza and shooting pool with the regulars.

DAY THREE
This is the day we are to go see the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. While getting ready, Tim notes that the BBC is reporting an explosion in the Liverpool Street Underground station. BBC is reporting that it was caused by an eletrical surge.

All cleaned up, we catch a bus to Fulham-Broadway to start our day. Not having had any breakfast and noticing that there is a Starbuck’s in the station, we strong-coffee starved Americans decide to have some coffee and muffins to start our day.

At the counter, the server asks if I want it for here or to take away. Not really thinking about it, I say it’s for here and our coffee comes in ceramic mugs. My wife, not too pleased with this, asks why I didn’t take it to go so we could just take it with us on the train. I don’t really have an answer and we take a few minutes to drink our coffee before leaving.

After we finish, we head over to the station nearby down the hall. The worker there is closing the gate over the front of the station and putting a sign up outside that says “Entire Underground closed due to security alert.”

The crowds gather outside and I keep hearing more talk about the electrical surge. We go out front and try to catch a bus into London but no driver will let us on. Frankly, I’m starting to get a little PO’d at this but calmer heads prevail and we head back to the hotel where maybe we can catch a water taxi.

Since we’re there, we decide to stop at our room and go to the bathroom before continuing on. Tim turns on the TV and there is the bright red banner on the BBC with a large and frightening caption: “TERRORISTS BOMB THE UNDERGROUND”

Much like US crisis reporting, many rumors abound while facts are being gathered. First, it’s an explosion near King’s Cross. Then it’s six explosions throughout London. Soon it’s up to seven. There is a rumor that a bus has just been blown apart. At least two people are “reported” dead with many injured. Now it’s up to four dead.

Within the hour, London’s police chief is on the air saying that everybody needs to just stay where they are…do not travel at all. All Underground and bus service has been halted.
Of course, now we know that four bombs went off that day. Three in the Underground and one in a bus killing 56 and injuring hundreds more.

While it was probably planned to coincide with the G8 summit taking place at the same time, it was sheer coincidence that Rudy Guilani just happened to be eating breakfast about a block away from one of the explosion sites.

For us, most of the day is spent in the hotel bar where a big screen is set up on the BBC and the stranded guests watch the horrible news. Later that evening, local bus service in Chelsea is running again so we’re able to go about a half-mile into town to have a pub dinner.

Trapped on the Underground

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Adam Stacey under CC BY 2.5 license

Although stuck at the hotel and the surrounding are for the day and having our trip to Greenwich cancelled, we are very thankful that we took a few extra minutes before boarding the train. I would hate to think of trying to evacuate the Underground at non-accessible station or, even worse, through a tunnel.

It was a sad day but the locals put up a good front, were still friendly (although understandably miffed at the perpatrators), and the hotel staff very understanding. Besides the direct victims, those who got the worst of it were the thousands of London workers who had to walk many miles home that night.

DAY FOUR
The rallying cry throughout the city today is get back to what your’re doing. Don’t let them shut us down. London is open, come and enjoy. This is what you can do to support us.

Back on the Tube at Fulham Broadway

With that in mind, we took to the streets and underground and continued on. Today, we take the tube from Fulham Broadway to Wimbledon. This is actually one station beyond the famous tennis club but the closest accessible station. We are able to catch an accessible bus from the station wich drops us off immediately in front of the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

There is a museum here with many tennis artifacts such as the Wimbledon trophy, shoes, rackets, clothes (all worn and autographed by such stars as Venus Williams and Boris Becker), plus representations of Wimbledon over the years. There is a well-stocked gift shop but the highlight is actually going downstairs to visit Centre Court, home to the Wimbledon tennis tournament finals.

Centre Court, Wimbledon

Wheelchair users are escorted by a security guard and are able to get right up to the edge of the grass. The Royal Box is pointed out. We were there just about a week or so after the tournament ended and noticed the worn spots of grass that were reminders of what had taken place here recently.

Back on the tube, we navigated back to Fulham Broadway where we catch another train to Kew Gardens. It’s an accessible station here but on arrival, wheelchair users must take a two-block detour, cross a traffic bridge, and then continue on about three blocks to the gardens entrance. Upon departing, you do not have to make the two-block detour to the station.

Kew Gardens is a fantastic and large botanic park. It is a royal palace and the grounds seemingly go on forever. There are many highlights here and there is no way we can see them all.

Today, we concentrate on the large, glass hothouses which contain tropical plants from around the world. The day we were there came in the middle of an exhibit of original works by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. His works were extraordinary and were scattered around the grounds and mixed in with the plants in the greenhouses. Of particular interest were the large chandeliers hung in each of the greenhouses.

There is a nice cafeteria here where you can dine on pastas, sandwiches, fruit and wash them down with a glass of wine or a bottle of ale.

This is our last full day in London, tomorrow we move on. We have a dinner at the Rose, a local Chelsea pub, and call it a day.

...Stay tuned for Part 2 and the Emerald Isle.
 
-Darryl
Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

TRANSIT REPORT: San Francisco, California

(Note: Fares updated July, 2021 and face masks are required on all public transit - Ed)

San Francisco is California’s most transit oriented city. It’s the nerve center of Northern California and many regional transportation systems converge here. The city itself is served mainly by Muni (San Francisco Municipal Railroad) and BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) with robust commuter rail service provided by CalTrain. Regional operators Golden Gate Transit and AC Transit also provide bus service into the city from points beyond. A number of ferry operators also provide commuter service across the bay into San Francisco proper. More than a dozen different operators and agencies also provide bus and rail service outside of the city to points around the bay.

MUNI - The city’s main transit provider runs a system of buses, trolleys, and cable cars.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Steve Morgan under CC-BY-SA license

BUSES – Buses run just about everywhere in the city and it seems like you’re never more than a block or two from a line. There are regular fuel powered buses along with overhead wire electrified trolley buses. All vehicles in the MUNI bus fleet are now accessible. Click the following link for a route map.

Bus fares are $3, $1.25 for disabled and seniors. Transfers are free and can be used for two more trip, including returning to your original destination as long as you do it before it expires (120 minutes from original issue).

TROLLEYS – The trolley system here (not to be confused with the cable cars) runs down Market Street underground and to points beyond above ground. Historic trolleys…using restored antique trolley cars from around the world…run above ground on Market Street continuing on to Fisherman’s Wharf. All stations along Market Street are wheelchair accessible, both above and below ground. The historic streetcars are mostly accessible and stops either have ramps or embedded lifts that will raise your wheelchair up to door level when the car approaches. The T line is completely accessible, the J, K, L, M, and N lines are wheelchair accessible at designated stops only. See this link for a list and compare with this route map to see if your destination is served. If it can’t be done by trolley, chances are you can do it via the bus system.

Trolley fares are the same as the bus fares.

CABLE CARS – These are rolling historical landmarks and are not wheelchair accessible. If you do want to ride one, you’ll need to leave your chair behind. If you can walk a little bit, you can probably board. The cost is $8.

Visitors can purchase 1, 3, and 7 day passes that are good for unlimited rides on the entire system, including cable cars. The costs are $24, $36, and $46 respectively and are sold at various outlets throughout the city and the airport. Click the link to find sales locations.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Jon 'ShakataGaNai' Davis under CC-BY-SA license

BART is a heavy-rail system that works as commuter rail from points in the East Bay and the airport. It runs as a subway under Market Street. All lines converge here from Millbrae and the airport in the south and Fremont, Dublin/Pleasanton, Pittsburgh, and Richmond in the East Bay. The complete system and all stations are wheelchair accessible. Fares are distance based and vary, you can check this calculator to see how much your ride will cost. All BART fares are now paid via a Clipper Card, a one-time fee of $3 is required to buy one.

One word of concern about MUNI and BART – our experience with several of their station employees and drivers were the worst encounters we’ve ever had from transit employees that included being yelled at for a) asking a question, b) going the wrong way, and c) not knowing the name of the stop we wanted to get off at. Be prepared, they may get you where you’re going but not always with a smile.

CALTRAIN is a commuter rail line that runs along the West Bay peninsula from San Jose, and Gilroy just a little bit, to the San Francisco station just a few blocks south of Market Street. There are stations along the way in places like Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Redwood City, San Mateo, and South San Francisco. The passenger cars are double-deckers with wheelchairs riding on the bottom level. Each station has a wheelchair ramp built into the platform, chair users should wait on top to board the train…the conductor will deploy a ramp to get you in. Fares are distance based from a low of $3.75 one-way for one zone to a high of $15 for six zones. A day pass is available for twice the amount of a one-way ticket, disabled and senior riders pay a little less than half price.

FERRIES are operated by several companies and cruise into the city from Alameda, Oakland, Vallejo, Tiburon, and Sausalito. Fares start at $5.75 and disabled fares start at $2.75. All are wheelchair accessible.

AC Transit runs buses from Oakland and the East Bay and Golden Gate Transit from Marin County. All buses are wheelchair accessible.

A multitude of agencies run buses, trains, and ferries to other parts of the bay area that don’t come into San Francisco. For complete information about these agencies, plus the ferries and commuter buses, go to transit.511.org for complete transit information for the area.

San Francisco is one of the world’s premiere travel destinations and is very easy to see in a wheelchair. Have fun.


-Darryl
Copyright 2010 – Darryl Musick

Capital Transitions - Riding the Rails to Washington, D.C.

(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed)  While we fell in love with the food at Supano's in Baltimore, it is a bit spendy with a final bill in the three figures for the three of us. I'd like to have one more meal there before we leave but it would push the budget.

Not to worry, our new favorite Charm City restaurant has a nice happy hour where we can eat without feeling the pangs of poverty.

A good size, delicious pizza is only $8 with liters of Natty Boh only $3.  Luckily, the hotel is only a hundred yards away and we can easily walk over to it to sleep off this pile of pizza and booze.

Derek, the host we met our first night, sits with us as we chat.  We find out we both have media work to talk about...our blog, Tim's voiceover and announcing work, travel articles while Derek tells us he's lined up financing to film a pilot and pitch it for a reality show he wants to make.


Talk turns to family and we find he's putting two of his through college while ours already made it through and he tells us one more thing: the trial of the cops that were in charge when Freddie Gray died is starting this week so he'd like us to be careful and on our toes.

Watch the Video!

We'd heard quite a few riot tales from various people while we've been in town. We've met plenty of local citizens on both side of the divide and found most people in Baltimore to be friendly and down to earth but there seems to be a distrust of the other side and a lot of anger bubbling under the surface and it would not be a place where we'd want to be if and when it boiled over.

It's our last night anyway, we're leaving in the morning.

During our time in Baltimore, we fell in love with the Charm City Circulator, a fleet of free, wheechair friendly, and air conditioned buses with friendly drivers. We found that the Purple Line stopped in front of our hotel and went to Penn Station. That's what we're going to do when it's time to leave.

Packed up with two suitcases and a duffel bag, we're at the bus stop in the morning. Bus should be by within 10 minutes.

We wait.

We wait some more.

Finally, a lady walks by and says "are you waiting for the bus to Penn Station?"

"Yes."

"They're not running because the Freddie Gray trial started and there's a protest on the next block."

We do notice the news choppers circling above like vultures and plenty of sirens in the area. We decide to hoof it five blocks to the nearest light rail station and take that to the train station.

Once there, it takes another 45 minutes and three trains that are not going to the station passing us by until we finally get on board.

It's another hot and muggy day and my plan of taking a comfortable air-conditioned bus to the station has been dashed. We're sweaty and a bit grumpy by the time we get to the wonderfully air-conditioned lobby of Penn Station.

Luckily, the ticket vendor is a very friendly lady and exhanges three tickets to Washington, D.C. for the twenty dollar bill I hand her.

It's fairly uneventful after that as we settle into the comfortable MARC train for the short trip to Washington's Union Station. We transfer to the Red Line of the Metro subway system for a one-stop ride to the NOMA station.

The Courtyard by Marriott sits adjacent to the subway station, which as this point is no longer subterranean, and we check in to a very comfortable, accessible room featuring a huge bathroom with roll-in shower, double sinks, a tiny little kitchenette (microwave, coffee maker, and fridge), along with a king size bed with a queen size sofabed.

Our windows look out on several sets of train tracks just a few feet away. Trains go by ever few seconds from before sunrise to midnight. Uh oh...that's what we were thinking too but the Courtyard has invested in some quality sound proofing and multi paned windows.

Now, we just have a very nice trainspotting view without the sound that comes with it.

It's time for us to unpack and rest up for the D.C part of this trip. We'll catch up with you in the morning.

Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

PENNSYVANIA - Part 1

Penn Station, in New York, is appropriately named. We’re leaving here for Pennsylvania today. The station itself is a rabbit warren of a maze, especially if you’re in a wheelchair looking for that elusive ramp or lift to the next level. While Grand Central Station is massive, with soaring ceilings, stone walls, and magnificent artwork, Penn Station is cramped with low ceilings, dry wall, and has all the charm of the post office.

It’s hard to navigate our way through. Penn Station has notoriously bad signage, and it takes us a couple of laps to figure out where we’re going. We finally find the Amtrak ticket counter and lounge and also receive the bad news that there will be no checked baggage on this train. Our big suitcase (we all share one big suitcase along with each of our small carryons…you just can’t avoid checked baggage with a wheelchair) will have to ride with us.

Once the hectic pace is done and we board our train, with the help of Amtrak’s staff and a wheelchair lift, it’s a quick, 75 minute ride through the “scenic” wonders of New Jersey to the station in Philadelphia.

We pick up our rental car, a Suzuki Grand Vitara…which my wife keeps calling the Grand Viagra. It’s doable with a manual chair and is not too hard to transfer Tim into the front passenger seat. It is pretty stained due to sitting under a wet, rusty roof in the parking lot. As long as it runs well, which it does.

We head west out of Philly to our destination of West Chester. Our intention is to stay in this quieter suburb and take the train into Philadelphia for sightseeing and activities. Arriving at the West Chester Microtel, we notice a lot of construction going on. We booked Microtel because you can guarantee a roll-in shower on their web site. I had called the week before to confirm that. However…

We are told that the lady staying in the room we had booked does not want to leave and that there is nothing the hotel can do. Funny, because I remember being told “no” in no uncertain terms once when I wanted to extend my stay because someone else had booked that particular room.

What to do now...I was offered another room at the hotel but there was no other accessible room that we could use. I was adamant that it had to be accessible, Tim needed somewhere to bathe. The manager offered to put us up at another nearby hotel. I agreed as long as it was an accessible room.

The “best he could do” was the Microtel at the Philadelphia airport. I told him that I specifically avoided that location because I did not want to be near the airport…which was also not close to where we were. I was told it’s only a 30 minute drive and basically “take it or leave it.”

A 2-hour drive later puts us as the Microtel, Philadelphia airport. Indeed, it was an accessible room with roll-in shower and a good staff. The whole experience, especially when I complained to the corporate office and the manager of the West Chester location e-mailed me back, angry that I had complained when they had “done so much” to accommodate us, put me off of the Microtel brand…which usually comes highly recommended by travelers with special needs.

Bad hotel experience behind us, we decide to enjoy what we can. It’s a Thursday morning, so we decide to take a drive around the city to see what we can find before we go to our ball game.

We’re driving around, just south of downtown, when we make a random turn and find blocks full of old looking stalls looking like something from Little Italy around the turn of the 20th century. It’s looks very interesting, so we park and start walking around. It turns out that we stumbled onto the Italian Market (forgive me, but I’d never heard of it before), a marvelous place with many old-time grocers, meat markets, cheese shops, fish mongers, bookstores, and restaurants spilling out into their stalls in the street. We find a place that sells pizza for breakfast (!), have a couple of slices along with donuts and coffee.

It’s a lot of fun just exploring. We go into a nearby butcher shop, D’ Angelo Brothers, and get some dried meat for later. I ask the lady working behind the counter what the deal is with this neighborhood and she explains to me that it has changed relatively little over the last 100 years or so. Families still run their businesses, as theirs does, being passed down through the generations. She shows me a butcher block, worn down into curves, that has been in continuous use for over a century.

What a fascinating place. We continue on looking in all the shops.

Come game time, we head even farther south to Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. It’s a day game versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Being an Angel fan, Tim despises the Dodgers so he finds it easy to root for the home team. I’m pretty much indifferent about L.A.’s team. I liked them when they were owned by the O’ Malleys; lost some enthusiasm when Fox ran the team; and can’t stand the ownership team of the McCourts so I heartily cheered the Phillies on too.  Our seats were in the second deck, in right field, on a straight line with second and third base.

Being at the top row of that level, we were shaded on what turned out to be a hot and humid day. Surrounded by 5 food stands, a souvenir shop, and nearby restrooms, we were set.

We had a great view and hung out with some great Philly fans that were gracious and friendly with the out-of-towners. The staff was friendly too. We had some great ushers who kept our area clear and told us where the best food in the stadium was.

The "Pool Suite" at Citizen's Bank Park

Unfortunately, our cheering didn’t work because the Phillies went down to the Dodgers that day but they’d rebound to make the playoffs and then take the World Series the next season.

That game ended this trip’s baseball stadium quest with three more stadiums added to the list; Yankee, Shea, and now Citizens Bank Park.

Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

Bobak Ha'Eri under CC-BY-SA license

After the game, we had a choice to make...Pat’s or Geno’s. We make our way north a ways to find the center of the cheese steak universe on the corner of 9th Street and Passyunk Avenue. The two Philly Cheese steak legends duke it across the street from each other…Pat’s a kind of plain-Jane looking stand while Geno’s is a garish neon outpost that I don’t doubt can be seen from space.

Pat's and Geno's

Which one to choose? They both have their fans and detractors and both seem to be good so it came down to which one has the shortest line. At this time, that would be Geno’s so off we went.

Ordering at either of these places can be intimidating. Signs are posted on how exactly to order. Kind of in a Soup Nazi way, you make your way to the first window where you order your sandwich and you must be ready. Know what you want…steak sandwich; cheese type (provolone, wiz…cheese wiz, or American); wid (with onions) or widout. People who are indecisive are sent to the back of the line to start over. After the sandwich window you go to an adjacent window to get your drinks and fries.

At Geno’s, you are also faced with signs that proclaim that this is America, when ordering “speak English,” which has caused no shortage of controversy (and free publicity) in this town. Owner Joe Vento says his family had to learn the language when they came to America and encourages others to do the same. Despite the sign, he says he’s never refused anybody service due to their language but says that he can’t guarantee their order will be right if they don’t.

Once past the intimidating gauntlet of procuring your food, you take it to one of the outdoor tables and dig in. It is a delicious, juicy, cheesy, greasy pile of sliced rib eye on a bun. I have no dog in this fight, so if you are put off by Geno’s English bias, try Pat’s across the street where you just have to run the same drill in ordering. It’s a Philly thing and despite the intimidation factor, the people there are nice. Go for the unique experience and the delicious sandwich.

Across the street from our hotel is a station for the SEPTA commuter train. The next morning we leave the car behind and take the train into the city. At the Reading Station, we get breakfast at the adjacent Reading Market which is an expansive indoor market with produce sellers, butchers, meats, and more…kind of like an updated Italian Market. They have an Amish themed “Pennsylvania Dutch” section where we have some unbelievably good soft pretzels.

One more stop on the line puts us at Independence National Historical Park. Here is where you go to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

At the visitor’s center, we pick up our free tickets for a tour of Independence Hall. We have about an hour to wait (each ticket is good for a specific time), so we head across the street to Christ Church Burial Ground to find the grave of Benjamin Franklin. There are also four other signers of the Declaration of Independence buried here. We pay the $5 admission to get in, only to find that Franklin’s grave is right next to the fence…we didn’t need to go in to see it. It is covered with pennies from people who toss them on as a tribute to him…a penny saved is a penny earned.

Franklin's Grave

Wandering through the cemetery, I notice a fresh grave. I ask the caretaker if they still bury people here. Yes they do, although it is just for people who have already bought plots. They are selling no more but he said they’d make an exception if someone notable like a U.S. president wanted to be buried here.

It’s time, so we head over to Independence Hall for our tour. There is a security point manned by some very nice and patient people who go through every nook and cranny of your bags before passing you through the metal detector.

This is Where It Happened

Inside, we are lead by a ranger on a tour of the old courtroom which is across the hall from the meeting room where the Continental Congress met, drafted, and signed the Declaration of Independence. Of course, you can just feel the history oozing throughout even though most of the room is recreated. George Washington’s Sun chair at the top of the podium is the real deal though.

The tour continues upstairs and Letty goes on up while Tim and I wait below due to the inaccessibility. We are shown a photo album of what is upstairs while a ranger explains it to us.

When the tour is over, we wander around the shady grounds for a bit and explore the surrounding historic neighborhood. It is still hot and humid and I can imagine how our founding fathers must have felt without air conditioning in the beginning of summer.

Across the street, we go and see the Liberty Bell, which is in its own display building. Another security point must be negotiated before you see this but it requires no tickets or advance notice to see.

Our afternoon of history over, we wander over to the Delaware River, separating us from New Jersey, and find a Belgian pub with some great, refreshing brews to help cool us off before going back to our hotel.

And with that, we’re done with Philadelphia. Part 2 follows below and we travel to the land time forgot, Lancaster and Amish country.

-Darryl
Copyright 2010 - Darryl Musick

TRANSIT REPORT - Los Angeles 2018

There's been some big moves in Los Angeles public transit since we last took a look.  See the updates below, in red.

UPDATE: January 2018

Does Los Angeles now have the most extensive, wheelchair accessible rail system in the USA? Let's do a little comparison (stats below do not include inter-urban commuter rail)...

New York has 651 miles of rail transit with 96 accessible stations out of 425, or a little less than 1 out of every 4.

Boston has 78 miles of rail transit with 97 accessible stations out of 133, or about 3 out of every 4.

Chicago has 102 miles of rail transit with 99 stations out of 148, or about 2 out of every 3.

Los Angeles has 105 miles of rail transit with 93 stations, all accessible. Plus, there is another rapid bus line that runs just like rail transit on it's own right of way for 18 miles with 29 accessible stations.

Maybe New York can make the claim but, otherwise, it sure looks like L.A. has the most extensive, accessible system.

Since our last update, the Expo Line has opened up connecting downtown Los Angeles with the beach at Santa Monica. This is the second line that has connected to an oceanfront area as the Blue Line connects to Long Beach. Soon, the Crenshaw Line will open up, making a connection between the Expo and Green Lines, with a connection to a new people mover to Los Angeles International Airport finally making rail service into LAX a reality and construction just started on another 12 mile extension to the Gold Line that will take it to the edge of San Bernardino County in Montclair.

Angels Flight is back in service with a dollar fare (50 cents for TAP card holders).

UPDATED: March 2016 - see red section, below.

Watch the Video!

Just a touch over six years ago, we wrote the following on the last day of operation for the old El Monte bus station:

This week marked the end of the original El Monte Bus Station.  Built in 1973 and looking like a flying saucer, it was the first modern public transit structure to be built since the end of the trolley days here in Southern California.  It anchored the El Monte - Los Angeles busway...a dedicated lane for buses along Interstate 10.  Riders came here and used it much like a subway station to catch express buses into Los Angeles, bypassing the traffic jams on the San Bernardino Freeway.

The station is set to be demolished and replaced with a new station, opening next year.

(See photo of the new station, below)

The station is round and has its own roadway onto the busway.  Riders entered from below and used stairs, an escalator, or an elevator to get to the upper level.  Originally, there were 10 berth were buses could pickup and discharge passengers.  This was later reduced to 8 when Foothill Transit started the Silver Streak line, using longer articulated buses that needed longer platforms.  The final nail in the coffin was Metro's introduction of the Silver Line, which also used buses that were longer than the platform.



The upper level consisted mainly of walkways that increasingly got crowded.  The lower level had a big plaza that was pretty much unused.  

Greyhound had a ticket office on the lonely lower level.

September 12, 2010, marked the last day of operations here.  One of the last Silver Line buses awaits departure.

UPDATE: Sunday, October 14, 2012, marked the debut of the new El Monte Bus Station. Certified LEED for energy efficiency, the new station loads buses on two levels and increases daily passenger capacity from 22,000 to 40,000...now they need to work on getting parking space for those 40,000 passengers. 

The station is the main point for Silver express service to downtown Los Angeles and beyond.  New is the fare sharing for both of the Silvers...Foothill Transit's Silver Streak and Metro's Silver Line will both use the same fare, $2.45. Either lines passes will also be honored on the other. 

Note for handicapped passengers: Foothill does not have disabled discounts during rush hours...use the Silver Line instead if you want to use a discount.

If you’re in a wheelchair, and heading to Los Angeles, your transit options got a big boost last fall. The Silver Line express bus service incorporates accessible buses that travel, for the most part, on their own dedicated roadways along the center of the 10 and 110 freeways, from the El Monte Station to Torrance. The line leaves the busways in downtown Los Angeles for several local street stops including Union Station (home to several rail lines), 7th Street Station (start of the LA-Long Beach Blue Line light rail), Staples Center, Disney Hall, Grand Central Market, and more. Full fare is $2.45. Disabled discounts are available but Metro has been criticized lately for ignoring disabled passengers needs, such as securing wheelchairs with tie-downs.

MARCH 15, 2010 UPDATE:  L.A.'s oldest public transportation, Angel's Flight, resumed service on March 15, 2010.  It was originally built in 1901, the little orange funicular tranported residents of Bunker Hill down to the shops of Downtown Los Angeles.  It was removed in 1969 when Bunker Hill was redeveloped into high-rise office buildings and put in storage.  It opened again in 1996 just south of the original site, at the back entrance to the Grand Central Market and now connects the market to the Water Court on top of Bunker Hill.  A fatal accident closed it again in 2001.  Since then, reconstruction has replaced what was faulty back then and 9 years later, here we are again.  One car is accessible.  Cost is a quarter each way.

March 2014 UPDATE: Again, Angel's Flight is down. one car derailed last fall and extremely shoddy maintenance and operation practices were revealed, including staff taking a branch from a nearby tree and disabling the emergency stop with it. Repairs have been made and the funicular is in testing mode now but not currently open.

The similarly named and routed Silver Streak runs basically the same route from the El Monte Station to downtown where it terminates. However, the Silver Streak…run not by Metro but by Foothill Transit instead…starts in Montclair, about 30 miles east of El Monte. The Silver Streak uses 60 passenger articulating, low-floor buses with two wheelchair anchor points on each coach. Foothill is usually a little nicer with cleaner coaches and less crowding. Full fare is $2.50 and no disabled discounts are given during rush hours.

In November, the Gold Line light rail line was extended from Union Station to the eastern edge of East LA. You now have a one-ride option from the east side of Pasadena through to East LA. Several nice areas can be accessed through this line…Old Town Pasadena, Pasadena City College, South Pasadena, downtown Highland Park, Chinatown, Union Station (with Olvera Street and Phillipe’s adjacent), Little Tokyo, Mariachi Plaza, and the many fine Mexican restaurants of East LA.


The Expo Line is now open on its first segment from downtown to Culver City, going by USC and Exposition Park along the way. The next phase of the Gold Line, extending it from Pasadena to Azusa, broke ground in June (personal note, back when Tim was on the radio he got to interview the CEO of the Gold Line Foothill extension who was none to pleased with the MTA's foot-dragging in building this line).

The Gold Line Extension is now open, going east to Glendora at Citrus College with stations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale, and Azusa in between.

On May 20, the Expo Line will open its next segment terminating at Santa Monica Pier (the western terminus of Route 66) marking the first light rail or subway line to reach the beach in the modern era.

These join the existing Red Line subway… going from Union Station to North Hollywood via Hollywood and Universal Studios, the Purple Line subway…Union Station to Wilshire Bl. and Western Ave. (home of the Wiltern Theater), the Blue Line light rail…from downtown to Long Beach, the Orange Line busway…running from Woodland Hills to the North Hollywood Red Line terminus (note: the Orange Line has been extended to Chatsworth), and the Green Line light rail running from Norwalk to Redondo Beach via the median of the 105 freeway.

Metrolink also runs several commuter rail lines converging on Union Station from San Bernardino, Oxnard, Oceanside, Riverside, and Palmdale.  Metrolink has had its issues too, but in general, they are very accessible and responsive to wheelchair needs.


All of Los Angeles' rail lines, stations, and bus lines are wheelchair accessible.

Next time you visit, try some of the areas transportation options.  LA’s still not a transit paradise but we’re taking baby steps out of the car and onto the rails. 


Darryl

Copyright 2009 - Darryl Musick
Pictures courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Port of Authority
Alossic under CC-BY license
Foothill Transit under CC-SA license

Justin N under CC-SA license