a super-fun disney day in downtown la

Today was super-fun! Three of my pals and I signed up a month ago to take the always sold-out Charles Phoenix Disneyland Tour of Downtown LA and it did not disappoint! 

We took the metro to Union Station to meet up with Charles, a humorist, author and "ambassador of Americana," who I've seen leading tours around Downtown LA multiple times on my weekend downtown adventures. But today, we were part of the group following the guy in Mickey ears with a megaphone. And while I'd already been to a lot of places on the tour, today I saw them in a whole new light... looking through the layers of history surrounding us daily if we just take the time to look at them (to paraphrase a certain tour guide :)

The tour began at Union Station, where we admired the architecture and got to go into the closed-for-eons restaurant to the left of the terminal (that could finally re-open soon as a gastro pub!).

Next we took the gold line one stop north to Chinatown, where I haven't been in years. We threw pennies in the wishing well (think Snow White's well at Disneyland), had egg rolls at Hop Louie, and saw the just-reopened, frozen-in-time office of the first Chinese lawyer in LA, You Chung Hong.

From Chinatown we hopped on our tour bus and went to El Pueblo de Los Angeles to walk through Plaza Fire House No. 1, the first firehouse in LA, which is now a museum showcasing an old horse-drawn fire engine and other historic equipment. This made me think of my grandpa....

From the fire house we walked across the square to Olvera Street. I've eaten there twice and browsed the shopping stalls. But today we went into Avila Adobe, the oldest existing house in Los Angeles, went up on a roof to view the recently restored, controversial "La America Tropical" mural, and had an amazing taquito at Cielito Lindo.

After taquitos, it was time for lunch (ha!). We walked down the street to Philippe the Original, where I (and many others) believe the french dip sandwich originated. I had a beef french dip, potato salad and a bite of blueberry pie. Delish!

 From Philippe's we took the bus up to the Bradbury Building, a national landmark, which for years was called the only important piece of architecture in Los Angeles. Numerous movies have been filmed there, including Blade Runner. And I've been there before thanks to my friend Cwennen, whose office used to be located there, and walked around it as a bustling office building. Today, it was very quiet and museum-like.

After the Bradbury Building, we walked across the street through the Grand Central Market (note: at 3pm the Eggslut line was not that bad), then walked UP the stairs next to Angel's Flight, since the rail cars are currently shut down. Then we walked through California Plaza and down the street to Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Then it was back on the bus to visit the neighborhood Charles says would be a block behind Main Street USA, Carroll Avenue in nearby Echo Park. It was one of the first neighborhoods in Los Angeles and is also home to the largest concentration of Victorian houses in LA, including the house where Michael Jackson's Thriller video was filmed (below, lower right).

After hearing about the historic homes, we drove down the hill and around the corner a bit to the Bob Baker Marionette Theater. We saw about a fifth of their current show Fiesta, then had ice cream and cake in the party room.

Then it was back on the bus to return to Union Station where our tour ended... but not before taking a photo with our tour guide. Here's to super-fun, photo-filled Sunday fun-days! :)