take your kids here: travel town museum

i have fond memories of trains as a kid. we had a park nearby with a train ride that would take you on two loops around for .25 cents. we have a lot of pictures on that ride, which is probably what makes the memory so vivid for me. the first time i saw the travel town museum at griffith park, i was hit with a wave of nastalgia. it was before the kids, when josh and i would go exploring griffith park. i didn't have much reason to go there then, but i knew someday i'd ride that train. since then we've made it here twice and it is always a good time. we like to ride our bikes here from a park just a few miles away but there is ample parking. also, admission is free! and man, my kids go bonkers for this place. it's great for josh and i too because they have made it pretty much childproof so we can just watch them roam free. it's almost... relaxing? yea, i won't go that far. a few photos from our last visit...

>> the travel town railroad. two loops around for two dollars. if you can get on when there isn't a ridiculous line then it's worth it. our kids could take or leave it. they prefer to run around :->

>> i still can't believe i wore a white dress to a train museum park and made it unstained. i didn't even need to wash it later. can you believe?! it may be the most shocking thing in all of 2015.

>> maxwell + knox love to walk on the tracks. i guess somehow they know it's something you are typically never supposed to do :->

>> the museum has a collection of 17 locomotives. a few you get to climb aboard! a real treat for the kids but makes for a huge clustercuss of parents trying to take pictures. myself included!