Summary of a trip to Boston.
I’m a bit late on this but the summary will tell you all about the trip. Pat got through his eye surgery and after it healed up he called me about taking the trip. We looked at a few dates and September 21st through the 23rd seemed to work out best for both of us. I ordered the tickets. The only thing I did different than originally planned was a business upgrade from Boston to Washington. It cost us about $40 each but it gave us more room and it was supposed to be a bit quieter.
On September 20th we headed toward Cincinnati around midnight so that we could have plenty of time to catch the train a little after 3:15 AM. It gave us some extra time incase there was a wreck or some construction along the way that might slow us down. When we got to Cincinnati we were in the wrong lane and we missed the turn we needed to get to the station. Lucky for us, the dome on the station is pretty tall and you can see it from all over that area. We got to the station, unloaded the luggage and went into the station to find out about our tickets and the parking arrangements. The station master printed our tickets for us. For $4.00 a day you get to park in the museum parking lot. You fill out some information on an envelope and give it to the station master and he turns it over to the museum. I parked the van and we waited about an hour for the train to arrive.
The train was about 5 minutes late arriving and there were quite a few people boarding and departing. The normal 15 minutes of time built into the schedule at Cincinnati should allow them to make up the 5 minutes but with all the people getting on, off, and the handling of luggage, we were 5 minutes late leaving. It was a busy stop. I think the station master said he had 33 people getting on that night. Some were going to sleepers, others had to get on other coaches since Amtrak tries to group people together that are all going to the same destination. It’s easier to sort them properly when they get on than it is to go through a train and pick them out, scattered through 5 or 6 coaches.
We watched the lights go by as we went through parts of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. Eventually we dozed off, waking up every now and then but basically sleeping pretty well. We watched the trees and the river roll past as we went through Virginia and West Virginia. Later we enjoyed the hills and grass lands and small town along the way. We had breakfast in the diner and just sort of snacked the rest of the day. Breakfast was great. We sat across the table from a couple that were celebrating the wedding anniversary with a trip without the kids. We eventually arrived at DC and we were pretty close to on time, maybe a few minutes late. We checked our bags in and had enough time to eat, walk out in front of the station, and explore the station. The station in Washington was refurbished about 20 years ago and is a real show place. It had fallen into disrepair during the ’60 and ’70 when everyone was taking the planes.
We boarded Regional train 66 for New York and Boston. About 20 or 30 minutes out of DC, I noticed that we were moving along at a pretty good clip. I ask Pat how fast he thought we were going. “About 80,” he guessed. I told him I thought we were doing a bit more than that because there were no cars on the road that were keeping up with us. I pulled the GPS out and it said 113MPH. We fell asleep somewhere before we got to Baltimore and didn’t wake up until we had stopped at New York “Pennsylvania Station.”
We woke up the next morning to a foggy coast line with sail boats and coastal homes. It was like a picture you might see in a travel advertisement. We eventually arrived in Boston. After a breakfast in the station we headed out on the Freedom Trail. We spent most of the day touring places we had heard about in a history class, a bunch of years ago. We eventually went to the Boston Navy Yard. We toured the USS Constitution, it’s museum, and the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer. That part was interesting to me because it had been a part of the invasion forces at Okinawa where I spent two years while in the Army.
We were pretty tired after all of that and about 2 miles from the station. Pat had never been on a subway so we got a couple of “Charlie Tickets” and rode the BMTA, or “the M” back to the station. (Google the “Charlie MTA song” and listen to the Kingston Trio version. Then read the story about the song.) It was an interesting ride. Someone got on with some really stinky fish and the ride was rather “breath taking.”
At the station we ask someone about some places to eat. We had Applebees or O’Charlies, or something in that range. They sent us to Chinatown and some real dives. After searching through the streets that zig-zag around and never go straight for over 100 feet, we got back to the station and settled on something from the golden arches. About an hour later we boarded train 67 for DC. The business class coach was much nicer then the regular coaches. It was roomy and the seats were arranges 2 on one side and 1 on the other side. People tried to sneak in but the attendant would quickly check the tickets and send them to another coach. No one was using cell phones and it was quieter… at least until we go close to New York. One of the passenger had too much “lubricant” and he treated us to a version of “Amazing Grace” that I had never heard. The coach attendant tried to keep him out of the business class section but he made his way in there anyway. When we arrived at Penn Station there was a 5 man welcome crew waiting for him. We didn’t have any other problems.
Shortly after daybreak we arrived in DC, checked our bags, and headed for the subway. Pat agreed that the DC subway is much nicer than the “M” is in Boston. We took a train a few miles, debarked and went to the Vietnam Memorial. I found the 4 names that I knew on the wall. We then went to the WWII memorial. I had never been there before and wanted to see it. After a quick visit we headed back to the subway (METRO) and back to Union Station. We got something to eat and it was about time to catch the train back to Cincinnati.
Another nice trip. There were two or three places I thought the train had taken a dirt road but most of it was fairly smooth. We had departed Washington about 10 minutes late due to another train being late getting out of DC but we were able to make up the time and most of the trip was pretty much on time. We arrived in Cincinnati on time, and headed to the van where I thought we were in trouble. I couldn’t find my keys. I always put them in my right pocket but when we went through security at the Boston Navy Yard, I hastily put them in the left pocket. What a relief when I found them.
Overall, it was a great trip. Pat got to take a 2108 mile trip on Amtrak. He got to ride two subway systems, and we saw some nice scenery along the way. I ran into a conductor that I had met on the Kentucky Cardinal a few years before. The weather was nice and we were tired by the time we got home.
Posted by john at October 10, 2007 12:38 AM