Trains #1 and #2

see all photos »

We slept in this morning and then laze around since our train isn’t until 2:00. We have a nice buffet breakfast and just relax. There are Yankees fans everywhere, since that’s who the Orioles are playing this weekend. Camden Yards is just a couple blocks from our hotel.

Around 11:30, we leave the hotel for the airport to return our car. The Amtrak station is not right at the airport terminal, but there is a shuttle from the airport. (It’s only about 10 minutes away, back toward the rental car place.) We get to the station very early, and our train is running a half hour late, so we wait around, read, and look at all the people who are taking trains somewhere

The train station at BWI (or near it anyway)
see all photos »

It takes less than 30 minutes to get from Baltimore to DC on the first train. We don’t have much time between trains, but go inside to Union Station, which is beautiful. I’d been there with my mom years ago, but it’s changed. The building and the architecture are still as nice as ever, but now there are so many restaurants and shops. It’s like a mall. You could have fun spending a few hours there.

We board our next train at about 4. This one is the Capitol Ltd, which is a double-decker train. It will take us all the way to Chicago, stopping along the way at Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, and a few other places. The seats are very comfortable, somewhat larger than airplane seats. The motion of the train is smooth and relaxing. After a pretty intense week of work, it’s nice to just sit and look out the window and not have to do anything else. I like hearing the soft train whistle as we come through various towns.

Our first train to DC
see all photos »

The scenery in West Virginia is very pretty. It is so green, and there are many picturesque streams and rivers. We see 10+ deer as evening approached. We visited the observation car before dinner, which has glass all the way up and over half the ceiling.

We eat dinner in the dining car. I have cheese tortellini, and Brad had braised beef, which he says is very good. We sit at a table with an older woman who is taking the train from Connecticut where her daughter lived to Dearborn, MI, which is her home. We had wondered earlier why so many people take the train. It isn’t really cheaper than flying, and it takes a lot longer. We had supposed people either liked trains (like us) or didn’t like flying. When we ask her she says she took the train because she wanted to have “the experience” – but she doesn’t seem to be enjoying it much. She seems like the kind of person who probably complains about everything.

see all photos »

By 9:00, I am tired, so we go to sleep somewhere in Pennsylvania.