Honeymoon on Amtrak

I'm fortunate to be engaged to someone with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for the unexpected, so today I'll probably be booking our tickets for a week-long trip from Dallas to Detroit, stopping overnight in Chicago twice, and taking Amtrak the whole way. If we could get to the Upper Peninsula, it would have been perfect... but as it is, I think it'll be a great trip.

The big day is Saturday 10/1. After the wedding, we're planning to drive out of Dallas to Mineola, the next stop north on the Texas Eagle, and stay at one of the town's many Bed & Breakfast establishments. That's where we'll start our trip -- in MIN, not DAL. The folks at the Mineola Chamber of Commerce say we're welcome to park our car at their Amtrak station, no problem. (I didn't check with the folks at Dallas Union Station...)



Sunday afternoon, we'll catch the 5pm Texas Eagle to Chicago. It'll be coach all the way -- we can't see spending twice the price for a small sleeping compartment.



We'll get to Chicago around 2pm Monday. We're not going to catch the next Wolverine Express to Detroit, though, for a couple of reasons. One: I'm expecting unexpected delays, and I don't think four hours is enough time to be certain of making the connection. Two: the 6pm-ish train arrives in Detroit right around midnight... my fiancée is from Detroit, and she suggests that wouldn't be the best time to wander around the city.



So we'll just include Chicago in our honeymoon plans! We'll eat some pizza, visit the Loop, check out the lakeshore. I've still got to find a hotel on the Chicago Metra system -- any suggestions would be welcome! Note that I'd really like to keep it in the $100 range, if that's possible, but someplace within walking distance of the lake would be worth a premium.



Then Tuesday, we'll catch the 12:15pm train to Detroit. Or actually, one station *past* Detroit -- Royal Oak is closer to my fiancée's family. And for some strange reason, it costs about $20 *less* to go to Royal Oak than it does to go to Detroit. (Any explanation for that crazy situation? Something to do with buckets, I suppose?)



A side note: it took a lot of poking on that user-unfriendly amtrak.com "Route Atlas" to even see that there even *were* stops besides Detroit and Pontiac. I love maps, but a non-road/railgeek would likely just give up and fly into town. I can definitely see why the services of the folks at traintravelconsulting.com would be a good idea for someone who doesn't enjoy shuffling timetables around.



Wednesday and Thursday, we'll just do whatever! We might borrow a car and drive to the UP, or we may just hang out with her family.



Friday, we'll catch the 11am train from Royal Oak to Chicago, get there a bit after 4pm, and repeat the pizza & motel process. The only way to avoid the overnight stay would be to catch a train at 6:30 in the morning, a wakeup time which does not fit into our low-stress honeymoon plans. Even then, there would only be two hours before the Texas Eagle leaves -- not worth the worry.



Finally, on Saturday, we'll catch the 1:15pm Texas Eagle and wake up in Mineola at 9:30am Sunday.



I think I've thought of most everything! But I've only ridden Amtrak once (a great trip from Dallas to Austin for the Texas Democratic Convention), so most of my information comes from sites like this one. Any hints, corrections, or suggestions would be happily received!

Congrats! Ill only address the Texas Eagle part of your Post!( We have a couple of members that took their Honeymoons on LD Trains, Google up the trip Reports, Ryan is one of them, cant remember the other???)

Let me URGE, PLEAD and BEG yall to Book at Least a Roomette, prefably a Bedroom, for the Train from Texas to Chicago! Its a Once (Hopefully! :lol: )in a Lifetime Thing,and youll be able to have Dinner in the Diner, Breakfast in St. Louis and Lunch in the Cornfields of Illinois Rolling Up the Rails! You will also have access to a Shower, your Sleeping Car will have Juice/Coffee/Ice etc. and Remember the flat Bed with Privacy!!!! (the Bedroom has Lots more room and a Private Bath/Shower/Sink)and the Meals are for Two along with the Room. All your Fiance has to pay is the Rail fare and with a Sleeper you Both will pay the Lowest Coach fare! Dont even think about not Booking a Room, Youll BE Glad You Did!! :excl: :excl: :excl:

Thanks for remembering my trip, Jim - it was a GREAT honeymoon.

Here's the trip report I wrote, but there were several planning threads that preceeded this one - I went from Washington DC to Chicago to Portland to Astoria to Seattle to LA, and then back to Chicago and DC. 2 weeks in total, and the trip of a lifetime:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/32113-just-married/

I completely concur with Jim - GET A ROOM. It's your honeymoon, you'll remember it for the rest of your life.

Thanks for the suggestion! We'll have to discuss it together. I'll certainly point her to this site and thread for information.

If I make the reservation online now, in coach, can I upgrade it later to a roomette? I keep reading about buckets filling up, and I like the prices I saw when I was trying it out yesterday ($222 for each Texas Eagle leg, $66 for each Chicago-Royal Oak leg).

Yes - just like voting in Chicago, book early and book frequently!!!!

One other bit of advice - I would SERIOUSLY consider waiting until Monday to leave. We got married on Saturday and left the train station at 11:00 AM on Sunday and it added a good bit of stress. In addition to the last minute wedding preps and ramp up, we needed to also basically be packed and ready to leave on the trip. After the long, stressful day of the wedding (a good stress, but still exhausting) a day to be lazy and really prepare for the trip would have been MUCH appreciated.

Another plus to the room or roomette. It will drop the rail fare to the lowest bucket for that portion of the trip. So it may be like a discount off the published room/roomette rate if you paid more then the bottom bucket.

I concur... For your honeymoon DEFINATELY get a room or roomette. The privacy, flat beds, comfort, meals, non alc. beverages etc etc

Ryan said:

One other bit of advice - I would SERIOUSLY consider waiting until Monday to leave. We got married on Saturday and left the train station at 11:00 AM on Sunday and it added a good bit of stress. In addition to the last minute wedding preps and ramp up, we needed to also basically be packed and ready to leave on the trip. After the long, stressful day of the wedding (a good stress, but still exhausting) a day to be lazy and really prepare for the trip would have been MUCH appreciated.

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I totally agree with Ryan on this. And, to give you the female bride perspective - I was so stressed out from the planning and wanting to be sure everything went off without a hitch - that I was SOO happy we didn't leave for our honeymoon until Monday (we got married on a Saturday). I think your bride will appreciate having a day to decompress if she is like most brides.

Have a great time!

Just bite the bullet and buy your new wife a roomette. It's the ONLY way to travel Amtrak overnite plus the daytime travel gets you a private room and you can avoid all the kids and babies running all over the coach. The whole room thing is the BEST. Meals, coffee, juice, newspaper, privacy, showers, extra pillows, ice, byob, seating time for meals, and more.

Best wishes on the upcoming wedding! One thought I'd toss out, there are a number of very nice hotels in downtown Chicago, I'd hit Expedia and see what comes up for a reasonable price. My last trip there, I stayed at the Holiday Inn at the Merchandise Mart. This hotel is located on the upper floors of the Chicago Sun Times building, and some rooms have views of the station and Metra operations. Reasonable walk to the "Magnificant Mile" for shopping, a short cab ride or even walk from CUS to the hotel, and good bus connections.

Weekday rates in downtown Chicago can be a challenge, but maybe by trying early out like you are now, you may be able to snag a deal. That's just one option, I know there are many more. When in Expedia, try the "locate by address" option and it'll give you hotels within a specified distance of a given address like CUS, a given Metra stop, or other street address.

Final note, do splurge for the sleeper! Showers and meals are nice, and you may hit low bucket this far out.

Robert,

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and train honeymoon!! I hope all goes well for you

and your bride.

If you want additional info on the Royal Oak, MI train station and area, amtrakwolverine

on this forum lives nearby and may be able to provide you local information.

Have a good trip.

Well, it looks like it's unanimous, so we'll take the sleeper on the way to Chicago! And we'll start a day later -- excellent advice from amamba and Ryan!

Even better news... looks like the buckets are in our favor today. Starting a day later, the Roomette to Chicago is just $151 extra instead of $250+. (No change on the base rate -- I think I'm already in the lowest Coach bucket.) I'm gonna book it, and then we'll start figuring out hotels (MikeM gave a place to start, thanks!). I'll keep posting details here -- so that I'll have somewhere I can look when I forget.

Excellent on both counts! I agree, it looked like you were in the lowest coach bucket when I looked at prices for you.

RobertB said:

Well, it looks like it's unanimous, so we'll take the sleeper on the way to Chicago! And we'll start a day later -- excellent advice from amamba and Ryan! Even better news... looks like the buckets are in our favor today. Starting a day later, the Roomette to Chicago is just $151 extra instead of $250+. I'll keep posting details here -- so that I'll have somewhere I can look when I forget.

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I'm not normally a cheerleader for sleeper compartments, but in the context of a honeymoon journey I must concur with the rest of the forum's suggestion that a sleeper would probably be worth the extra expense in order to provide you a far more romantic and memorable experience. Seeing that you're getting a roomette for much more reasonable $151 seals the deal IMO.

RobertB said:

I'm fortunate to be engaged to someone with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for the unexpected, so today I'll probably be booking our tickets for a week-long trip from Dallas to Detroit, stopping overnight in Chicago twice, and taking Amtrak the whole way. If we could get to the Upper Peninsula, it would have been perfect... but as it is, I think it'll be a great trip.

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The funny thing about trips is that it's not always where you go, but often who you travel with, that has the most impact on the outcome. ^_^

RobertB said:

The folks at the Mineola Chamber of Commerce say we're welcome to park our car at their Amtrak station, no problem.

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I have no reason to doubt them, but keep in mind that should your car should be towed for any reason the fees are often exorbitant. I had to pay $250 for a few hours of impound fees the last time my car was towed. I wasn't in a red zone or any other off-limits marking. I eventually managed to get some of my money back after a lot of hassle, but it still left me rather sore to the whole experience. Be as sure as possible that there is no chance your car will be towed. Get it in writing if you can.

RobertB said:

So we'll just include Chicago in our honeymoon plans! We'll eat some pizza, visit the Loop, check out the lakeshore. I've still got to find a hotel on the Chicago Metra system -- any suggestions would be welcome! Note that I'd really like to keep it in the $100 range, if that's possible, but someplace within walking distance of the lake would be worth a premium.

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The Metra system is a heavy rail network serving commuters from the suburbs. As a tourist all you'll need to worry about are the elevated subways and metro buses managed by the CTA. They're pretty easy to figure out and any hotel concierge can help you find the best route. Chicago can be pricy if you want to stay in the downtown area near the lake but you can always use Priceline or Hotwire to get a great deal and then use some of the savings to take the elevated subway or a bus or a taxi to wherever else you want to go.

Thanks for a wealth of helpful info, daxomni! Most of the links in your sig are in my "Vacation" bookmarks folder now.

Do the roomette ! Just do it ! This is a one time shot. Hopefuly, you only get one honymoon. :wub: When you look back on this many years form now, the extra money will seem like pocket change.

I am so glad you took us up on the advice - particularly to leave one day later. You are going to have such a nice trip!

By all means get a bedroom, not a roomette!!!!!!!!!

We made a similar trip on a similar occasion, going Hattiesburg MS to Washington DC. At that time two people in a roometter was not an option. On this particular occasion it should not be for you, either. You will definitely be glad you have the extra space. Don't know what the moon's stage will be, but watching an about 3/4 moon over the hills in the Carolinas snuggled up together in the lower bunk was a truly lovely experience remembered. After all the stress and activity leading up to the wedding, it was a most wonderful and relaxing trip.

Makes me want to repeat it on our 40th in a a couple years.

Won't be quite the same. Age has made a few differences, and it is now Amtrak, not Southern Railway. No dome on the back, either.

Found a cool, inexpensive place to stay in Chicago (thanks to the hotel listing at the Museum of Science and Industry site): Chicago Getaway Hostel. A quick Brown Line ride from Union Station, and they have bike rentals that would be perfect for me and my fiancée. $99 for a room with full bath, $85 with a half bath, or $69 with a shared bath. They also offer free netbook and guitar use -- sounds intriguing.

Anyone have any experience with this place? It seems like the sort of alternative lodging (though common anywhere but the US) that would appeal to fans of alternative transportation (though common anywhere but the US).

RobertB said:

Found a cool, inexpensive place to stay in Chicago (thanks to the hotel listing at the Museum of Science and Industry site): Chicago Getaway Hostel. A quick Brown Line ride from Union Station, and they have bike rentals that would be perfect for me and my fiancée. $99 for a room with full bath, $85 with a half bath, or $69 with a shared bath. They also offer free netbook and guitar use -- sounds intriguing. Anyone have any experience with this place? It seems like the sort of alternative lodging (though common anywhere but the US) that would appeal to fans of alternative transportation (though common anywhere but the US).

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I don't have any information on this place but I just figured I'd point out that at the $85-100 price point you might be able to snag a 3/4 star hotel through Priceline or Hotwire. That could land you a mid-range business hotel like the Club Quarters or even a full-service landmark like the Palmer House. If you need help understanding the opaque reservation systems just ask. I don't have anything against hostels but you might like what you get this way better if you're not picky about specific brands or locations.