Ride The Rails

Image via Wikipedia

A few years ago, son and I decided to ride the Amtrak to see some friends. We traveled from just below the Florida line near Jacksonville and rode all the way to a small town in Mississippi. It was a remarkable experience. We could have driven the trip in eight hours but going on the train was the experience of a life time. I would not trade it for anything.

We loaded up at a little station that had no depot. It just had a covered place for you to sit. The train stopped and the men got out and put some steps up for us to get inside. It was a double-decker train that looked something like this.

image from From Wikipedia

We were actually surprised at how nice the seats were and comfortable. We were lucky that not many were on the train when we got on.

We loaded up and the train headed off. I was watching everything. I was thrilled that the restrooms were at the end of our compartment. We opted to sleep in the reclining chairs rather than the expense of a sleeping berth or a bedroom suite.

Amtrak has several sleeping compartments. One day I want the family one and travel all over the country, never stepping off the train. 🙂

image from amtrak.com

I was so tickled cause the Conductor really does stand outside and yell “ALL ABOARD”  and everyone gets on the train.

Then he comes around to punch everyone’s tickets.

I was so fortunate in that they are handicap accessible and the porter came through after helping with bags and he would take my order for the meal and bring it down to me in the handicap car. He was such a sweet man.

Son walked all over the train and took pictures. This was one car as he entered it on the way to the dining car. The double-decker sways enough that I would never have been able to keep my balance but he brought me back pictures to see the dining car and the viewing car with huge windows and comfortable chairs facing the side so you could watch the scenery.

The Dining Car was just as nice as movies show with the table cloths and fancy napkins. And talk about good food. Oh my goodness, they had the best food I have ever eaten on that train.

Son said the scenic viewing room was really nice and I could have gotten great pictures. The sad thing was that this trip was months after Katrina hit and we were traveling so close we could see the ocean and all the damage and all the houses with blue tarps on their roof.

Amtrak still runs all over the USA. One day I want to take a vacation just riding on the Amtrak. My godfather did that from MA to CA and he said he was really awesome.

This is son checking on me with that “you ok mom?”
look

 The Routes of the Amtrak from amtrak.com

image from amtrak.com

St. Louis - Burlington Zephyr Dining Car (Photo credit: roger4336)