Travel Town

Travel Town in Griffith Park has been on our to-do list for awhile. With Ez's train themed birthday party right around the corner, plus all the countless hours he demands we spend on the floor playing trains, we decided it was finally time to cross this one off our list. 

A few things about Travel Town: 

1 - It's free! Unless you decide to ride the train, which of course you will if you go with a train-loving toddler, then expect to pay $2.75 per person (including anyone over 18 months). 

2 - Some of the trains have "do not climb" signs - that does not mean you can't climb on any of the trains, only the ones that explicitly say so. 

3 - It's got a ton of great picnic spots. We kinda wish we'd planned ahead and brought some lunch. Next time...

Ok, so onto our day. When we walked across the bridge to enter Travel Town, Ez literally stopped walking just to stare in awe. We tried to take his hand and keep walking toward the trains, but ultimately we had to give the boy a minute to take it all in. So many real life trains all in one place...it's a toddler wonderland, I tell you. See for yourself:

Once he was composed enough to continue walking, we went straight to the nearest train and examined it from all angles while Ez pointed and said "tra-aah!" (train). Then he noticed the second most exciting aspect of Travel Town: little rocks everywhere. Actually, that may have been tied for first most exciting thing. Once both hands were holding as many rocks as he could manage, we continued down the tracks to some of the other trains that we could actually climb on.

We had to pause to wave to the little train driving passengers around the park. It makes a satisfying "choo choo!" sound, so Ez was pretty mesmerized.

Ez thought it was super cool to be on an actual train. Until he realized Daddy was standing down on the ground to take a picture, then he had to get down too.

I thought Ez would be stoked to ride the train, but he actually freaked out a little in the beginning and wanted off, which is especially weird because it wasn't his first train ride. Once it got going though he was loving it. We'll just chalk that up to typical fickle toddler behavior.

Ez also got this little penny souvenir, which he clung to for the entire train ride. As far as mementos go, you're not gonna find anything cheaper than $0.51 in the gift shop (trust me, we looked). 

Final verdict on Travel Town? Ez loved it and we'll definitely be back. If you live in the So Cal area and know a train-lover it's great for an inexpensive hour or two of fun.