My Amtrak adventure

So, I am cheating this week to try and catch back up to my once-per-week posting goal. I have blogged my train trip (this does not include the meeting that I attended.) I really enjoyed traveling by train, even though it was a long trip and I'm still in recovery. Most of this was written "live" while riding the rails; I've taken the liberty of updating slightly. I can do that because it's my blog :-)

8 a.m. Friday, March 5: Eastbound, Broadford PA. I have seen some interesting sights by night. Ann Arbor is lovely at night but it's sort of pedestrian. I've seen it before, after all. There was Dearborn. Parts I've never seen, including the Mayor Guido Theater building, next to the Amtrak Station. My first surprise of my adventure was that I was actually not taking a train from Ann Arbor to Toledo--it was a bus. If I'd read carefully enough I probably would have realized that from the beginning. However, it was a decent travel bus, not a Greyhound, and my ride was comfortable. The windows however reflected stuff from the opposite side of the road so it was sort of disorienting.

Even by night, Detroit is depressing. I saw the lit-up "Golden Tower of the Fisher Building," but other than that things looked pretty bleak. The Amktrak station in downtown Detroit, on the corner of Woodward and Baltimore, is a very plain, tiny, building. I thought maybe it wasn't even a train station until I saw the small Amtrak sign on the upper corner of the building. A huge train station in downtown Detroit is abandoned, and this unremarkable building now serves what was once a beautiful city. Even Toledo's station is much prettier, inside and out. At least you know it is a train station.

The Capitol Limited left Toledo pretty much on time and we were on our way.

Got to Cleveland at some ungodly hour, after a couple of other brief stops I don't know where--Sandusky, maybe? And somewhere on the western outskirts of the city (have since learned it was Elyria). Cleveland was beautiful by night. Gorgeous buildings with plenty of lights showcasing the architectural details.

Woke up at some point early on Friday morning, realizing that we weren't moving. Finally found the rest rooms, which are pretty quaint. Hey, they work. I'm on the upper level of the train which has its perks and its drawbacks. I like sitting up high, but until just now I didn't have a window seat, because we were sort of assigned seats when we got on.

Now it’s 7:04 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. Eastbound, somewhere in western Maryland. I lost power to my laptop on Friday morning and my cord was buried in my stashed bag. Another lesson learned—make sure the power cord is in the same bag as the laptop. Now it’s just gotten dark, and I'm in the lower level of the lounge car. I got scammed by the bartender when he asked me if I wanted a glass ($5.75, and it's actually one of those serving-size bottles) or a half-bottle ($13). I asked for a glass and inquired what kind he had. Cabernet, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio. I opted for the Grigio and he started opening this cute little half-bottle. Rang me up at $13, and I said, oh, I really only wanted a glass. He said, “I only have chardonnay in single serve bottles.” Hmm. Funny he didn’t say that when I aksed for a single serving. Oh well, it’s giving me a chance to sit in the lounge car, do a little people watching, and sipping my expensive Pinot Grigio. Gonna have to drink a lot of three-buck Chuck in the coming weeks, to make up for this one.

There is, in fact, a lot of “aksing” going on on this train. As our hostess, Octavia, announces each seating in the dining car she aks us to remember at this time, to wait to be greeted by the staff to be seated at this time. Same script each time she announces it. I wonder how many times she will read it before she realizes she has said "at this time" three times during the same sentence.

As I was saying before I was power-interrupted, the Amtrak ride is quite pleasant. As I write we are about to stop in Cumberland, Maryland, where the smokers on board will have a 10-minute break to “put another nail in their coffin,” as my lounge-car companion so aptly put it. The ride is comfortable, there would be plenty of great scenery to see if it wasn’t dark, and there is plenty to do. Of course in the coach car I had to listen to a lot of cell phone conversations. Going through the mountains, however, the service is spotty and you can’t count on being able to talk to anyone for more than a couple minutes at a time. Ditto for texting--try to send while you have a bar or two because by the time you get another mile or two down the tracks, your service may be gone.

I brought some books, and the train provides ample opportunity to do some reading—either in your own seat, or in the upper level of the lounge car. Some passengers are watching movies on a laptop or portable DVD player. iPods seem to be standard issue for those riding the train. And of course, there’s the wine.

One disturbing thing that I noticed today was the lady in front of me in the coach car. I didn’t realize at first that she had a young baby with her—probably under a year old. But at one point, she stood up and the little one was sleeping soundly on her shoulder, patting her on the back as she slept. It was adorable. All of a sudden, I noticed the mom was gone. Then, as I stood up to grab something out of hte overhead compartment and I realized that the baby was still there—sleeping soundly, with a bottle propped in his mouth. Shortly thereafter, she returned from the lounge car with food and a Corona. Hmm.

Oh, well, not my problem. Just glad there were no sudden stops and the baby didn't roll over.

I had good luck with my train connections this week, also. Arrived in DC about an hour late, and headed for the information and ticket counter to make a MARC connection to Baltimore (BWI). I should add here that everyone I met who worked for Amtrak was very, very friendly and helpful. The guy at the Info desk at Union Station helped me get my MARC ticket at the kiosk and let me know that there was a MARC train boarding at that very moment at track 15. “If you run, you might make it.” So I ran.

Picture this aging, somewhat overweight lady dragging 50 pounds or so worth of baggage at full gallop down track 15 in Washington, DC. It’s the stuff that comedy skits are made of. I made it, even though it took me most of the 20-minute commuter trip to catch my breath. Probably should acknowledge the even older lady using a cane who thankfuly kept the train from leaving before I got there.

I don’t know if it’s the wine or the weather but it is darned hot in this lounge tonight. There is a heater on, even though the temps reached mid-50s in Baltimore today. Someone should tell these people who spent all day inside the train.

In a while I’m going to shut down my computer, go grab my scrub pants and slip into some more comfortable clothes for the rest of the ride. And try to sleep.

9 a.m. Tuesday, March 9: I am eternally grateful to Alyssa and Noah who arrived promptly to pick me up at the rather dreadful hour of 5:08 a.m., even though they probably assumed I would be late. Fortunately, I was early. We actually arrived in Toledo at roughly 4:45 a.m. A good breakfast got my day started and I was home before 7:30 a.m., and working by 9:45.

Thank goodness for hot showers. And lots of Diet Pepsi. And, at the end of a long day, a comfortable bed.