Recent content by Old MM

As always, these comments are very much appreciated. I try to "give back" as I have greatly enjoyed the reports from others for years. The travelogues posted by other AUers have been one of my favorite hobbies, and have resulted in the train adventures enjoyed with my children when they were...

And soon, that alarm went off. I wanted to be awake before the SCA (Tim??) came around so I could get coffee. Upon leaving DC, there was a full pot of fresh coffee in our car; which is probably nice for crew members starting their work day. Sure as heck I avoid caffeine after late morning...

The friendly SCA, Tim, soon came around to take dinner orders. We were given the option of having dinner in the lounge, and maybe I should do that more but it seems as if the SCAs and LSAs have developed systems that work so I just go with the flow. It is also perfectly nice to enjoy dinner in...

I had a water bottle from the lounge and a Kind bar to enjoy during an unstructured hike around the vicinity of the station. It was a beautiful day! At one point, it being me, I got a little lost trying to find a workaround avoiding a bridge that was going to close, and found a security guard...

It was a beautiful day in Washington. I checked in at the Metro lounge and stored my bag in the room behind the front counter. This being Saturday, I had no worries about accessing email. I stayed in the lounge for a few minutes, they have all the niceties including a fancy coffee machine and...

There was not time for sightseeing, it was already evening when I arrived at the hotel, and I had brought a sandwich for dinner from the Pret store in the train station. After that the plan was getting cleaned up and a good night's sleep. There were several events going on at the hotel and the...

And here we are in Washington! Having been here not that long ago, this time I remembered how to find the Metro station and buy the ticket. My hotel was a Crowne Plaza in College Park, which was booked in points and cash, as one of the only affordable options I could find, and it wasn't what you...

Gave the Lyft driver a 50% tip and hurried over to the platform. You can access it either through the station building or outside from the parking lot and back door. Oh, there's a bus to the Durham train station but I decided the extra sleep was worth the cost of the rideshare. It was partly...

Had a very pleasant time, which flew by, and it was time to return. It is getting to be customary for me to arrive in NC not knowing how I will be getting home, so some additional travel planning was in order. I was not encouraged looking at flights back to DTW. Earlier, I had looked at Amtrak...

Well, it was time for what has become my bi-annual (Spring and Fall) trip to NC to visit my son. We confirmed a range of dates that would work for him, and I initially started the planning thinking it would be fun to take the Capitol Limited from TOL-WAS and then take one of the possibilities...

Nice report!

Which version do you and Pat like the most? While Audrey Hepburn singing it in the movie was magical, I give a slight edge to Andy Williams.

Another, minor point on LCCs is that in some cases, by the time you add on the extras to a bare-bones ticket, the cost might be roughly equivalent to a major. There can be a lot of variation depending on which carriers being compared and city pairs, but I recently saw Delta fares out of Detroit...

Love your report, you had some adventures! Never heard of Canopy, is that nearby the train station? Lovely pics too... now I have to find one of those portable tea kettles.

Thanks Caravanman, that is the intention! I try to emulate the style of reports that take you along, and I'm so happy you got that feeling. New Orleans was a welcome discovery and I agree wholeheartedly, the train is the best way to arrive and depart from there. Eric and Pat, thank you as...