for only $16 per person.Actually, I don't think they intended for it to be private, but it just about was. The upper deck of the car we rode out on could seat 80 and had 3 when we left Irvine. One of those got off in Orange and somewhere during the trip 2 people got on, and one of those left the train in handcuffs. Yes, it was an interesting ride.
I expected the train to be less crowded since most commuters would have been going the other way, but I didn't expect it to be empty. It was pretty nice.
Metrolink does not have train conductors like you'll find on Amtrak. Metrolink is run by the County of Los Angeles, and even though we never got close to Los Angeles County, it is patrolled by LA County Sheriff's Deputies who act as the ticket checkers. You usually only see them once during a lengthy trip, and on the way home we never saw them at all. We could have ridden for free if we wanted to take the chance.
After we left the Corona station the deputy came through to check the 4 people in our car, and after he left us I heard some conversation back behind me between the deputy and a young black guy who apparently didn't have a ticket.
That apparently wasn't all of his problems. It sounded like the deputy was checking his criminal record and must have come up with something, because before long a second deputy was back there and they were putting handcuffs on the guy (pictured above). They took him off where we got off and were last seen sitting and waiting for a car to come pick him up. Do they take him all the way back to Los Angeles County? Got me, but that's a long trip.The station in Riverside is very, very busy, not only with Metrolink and Amtrak trains, but several times an hour a lengthy freight train passes through the area. If you're a train buff you could just hang out there all day and see all the trains you want.
The Mission Inn is about a 15-20 minute walk from the train station, and with the exception of crossing a freeway on and off ramp, it's pretty easy and pretty safe. Along the way we passed a vine-covered pergola which we later found was part of the original covered walkway which ran from the old train station right to the front door of the hotel. The guy that built the hotel was a real self-promoter.
He was also a big fan of bells and throughout the hotel there are still something like 400 bells (out of a collection that once numbered over 800 and still contains the oldest bell in existence with a date stamped on it - 1247).
Altogether 10 presidents have visited the hotel at some point in their lives (they weren't necessarily president at the time they were there). They include Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt (the first president to stay there), William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon (who was married there), Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Only one Democrat in the bunch - a pretty good list.When President Taft visited for a banquet in October of 1909, the hotel owner had a special chair built for his 350 pound size. The president was actually a little put out about the whole thing and at first refused to sit in it. He did finally use it but wouldn't allow any pictures. Here I am in the President Taft chair (and yes, I have better legs than Taft).
We signed up for the 1:30 guided tour and headed off to lunch at a favorite restaurant:
We usually go to the one in Newport Beach, and as we were eating I remembered that I had eaten in the Riverside store exactly 14 years ago today. My quartet was recording an slbum in a studio in Riverside, and after spending the night on the couch in the recording studio, we broke for lunch at this same restaurant. I don't think we'll wait another 14 years before we go there again.The tour lasted 75 minutes and was very informative, but they don't allow photos, so we saw a lot of neat stuff that I can't show you here. The St. Francis chapel is amazing, with eight Tiffany stained glass windows that are simply priceless. They were originally built for a church in Madison Square in New York City. The massive altar screen (26' x 16') was originally in the home of a mining company owner in Mexico. It's hand-carved wood covered in gold leaf. Amazing.
If you get to visit the hotel, make sure you take the tour. They will take you into a lot of areas that are not open to the general public and it's worth the $12 to go.
The ride home was uneventful and the train nearly as empty, though we could see dozens of people waiting for northbound trains in Orange and Santa Ana. I'm glad we were going the other way.
All in all, a very good day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment