It has always been a dream
of mine to drive cross-country to see what the entire USA has to offer. Well,
that dream is becoming a reality by way of trains, planes and automobiles.
There is an actual reason why I’m traveling, but I’ll get to that part of the
story later on. To be honest, my travels have been so-so; I’ve traveled far
north as Quebec, far east to London & Dublin and south towards the usual
Disney World, Florida, and of course, different parts in between North and
South. However, my travels out west haven’t been the greatest journeys- do
western Massachusetts, North Adams count as being ‘out west’? Well, thanks to
this amazing vacation I’m currently having, my ventures out west will now
include; Chicago, Denver, possibly Santa Fe, Arizona and final destination of
Nogales, AZ. And, yes, like the title says, I’ll be getting there by plans,
trains and automobiles…and I’ll be accompanied by my wonderful travel
partner/boyfriend, Peter.
Day 1
We stared out travels out
west via Amtrak Train on the Lakeshore Limited from Boston to Chicago, IL. We
booked one of those ‘sleeper bedrooms’ and as you can imagine, or prefer not
to, the bedrooms are of adequate size for a train, but nowhere near where they
once were during the Golden Ages of the early 20th century where everyone traveled via
the train system. However, for our train ride, it did just fine! (Better than
being in a coach seat and having to sit for almost 22 hours!) LaShondra was our
‘concierge’ Sleeper Attendant who assisted us with all our needs and gave us
some knowledgeable advice about riding the train.
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Our Sleeper Room &
saying 'goodbye to Boston!'
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Our Sleeper Room &
saying 'goodbye to Boston!'
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Our Sleeper Room &
saying 'goodbye to Boston!'
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We boarded the train at
South Station at 12pm and set off for Chicago. Along the
way, we had about 10
or so stops to make in between to let people off and on.
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| Lunch aboard Amtrak! Wraps & Cheesecake & Brownies! |
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| Lunch aboard Amtrak! Wraps & Cheesecake & Brownies! |
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| Lunch aboard Amtrak! Wraps & Cheesecake & Brownies! |
One stop we made was
in Albany, NY, where we had a two-hour layover before we started back on our
destination again. We decided to get out of our bedroom, stretch our legs and
explore for a bit. We didn’t have to go that far to explore…mainly because
there really wasn’t anything at the train station…but we did find an old fire
station that was converted into a lounge to have a couple of drinks.
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June's Restaurant at Albany Amtrak Stop
Yuengling Larger Beer from PA
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June's Restaurant at Albany Amtrak Stop
Yuengling Larger Beer from PA
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| New England Scenery |
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| New England Scenery |
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| New England Scenery |
Once we boarded again, it
was almost time for our dinner reservation, (one very nice perk of having being
a ‘Sleeper Passenger’ is that all of your food is complimentary, you get to sit
in the nicer dining car and all your dining reservations are made for you). We
sat with an older couple that was just coming back from their vacation of New England
and we discussed all about each other’s vacation plans. They gave us some great
advice when we were to stop at Chicago for our 4 hour layover before the next
train: as soon as we get to Union Station in Chicago, head towards the Adams
St. side and head towards Michigan Ave., there we would be able to see Lake
Michigan.
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| Dinner with couple from Wisconsin |
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| Dinner with couple from Wisconsin |
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| Dinner with couple from Wisconsin |
To my surprise, not only
was the conversation great with this couple, but the food was quite delicious,
as well. We stared with heated rolls and a small salad, followed by our entrees-
I got the vegetarian pasta, Pete go the half chicken- and for dessert, Pete got
a scrumptious New York Cheesecake and I got a chocolate chip brownie (warm, of
course!)
After dinner, we settled
back in to our bedroom, where LaShondra showed us how to maneuver our bunk
bed…and show us the apparent “seat belt” that went with it. Needless to say, we
decided to sleep in the bottom bunk together.
Well, that concludes Day 1
of our trip… yes, it seems a little stale…but I promise to have some better
updates each day. I plan on blogging my entire vacation each day, so I hope
you’ll join me and continue on with me on what will be, a vacation to never
forget!!
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