California Science Center by Rail

Yesterday M, Baby S and I rode the Los Angeles Metro from La Cienega / Jefferson to the California Science Center.  Up until now our trips on the metro have always been more about the novelty of riding the train and less about transportation but that all changed with the opening of the new Expo line on April 28th, 2012.  Yes, we still need to drive about 15 minutes from our home to the metro stop, but once at the station it is an easy trip to the museum.  Easier, in fact, than driving up the 10 freeway, paying $9 to park and then trekking across the giant Exposition Park parking lot.  The metro stop has free covered parking and the train dropped us off right in front of the Rose Garden, just a short, pleasant walk to the museum entrance. I didn't even bring the stroller!  Trains run every 10 minutes and at 10:30am on Friday my kids and I had our pick of seats.   The 20 minute ride was just the right amount of time to entertain the kids.  We spent about 2 hours at the museum, had lunch and came back home in time for Baby S's nap.

I am actually not a huge fan of the CA Science Center (it's always a madhouse and too many broken exhibits) but I am a big fan of budget friendly outings and this one was hard to beat.  There is no charge for the CA Science Center and kids ride the metro for free so our only expenses were $3 for my metro ticket ($1.50 each way) and the 51 cents we spent for a pressed penny at the museum.   Not bad for a morning full of activity.