I had never been to New York during the Christmas season and I had never ridden the Acela. So this year, I decided that I wanted my husband to go with me to NY on the Acela for my birthday which is in a few weeks. As it turned out, about the only time he could go was the day after Thanksgiving and we really could only do a day trip. It was a long day, but lots of fun.
We left our home at 5:30 a.m. and drove the 2.5 hour trip to WAS. We had a terrible time trying to find the entrance to the parking garage behind WAS because of all the construction going on around the station. The entrance was not well marked, at all. Anyway, after going around the station a couple of times, we finally made it in the parking garage and printed our tickets at a quiktrack machine. We had just about 20 minutes to wait before we boarded our train.
The ride up to New York was fairly nice and they had an attendant pushing the cart up and down the aisle for purchasing drinks and beverages. I noticed that he really didn't get much business. The passenger load to NYP was fairly heavy with lots of families traveling together for the holiday.
We had a great day in the City. The weather was beautiful and crowds, while large, were cheerful. We enjoyed the window displays and did a little shopping. We headed back to NYP and relaxed in the station until it was ready to head back home. We were originally booked on the 6 p.m. train which would have been perfect, but it had been canceled a week ago and we were rebooked on the 7 p.m. train. The passenger load on the 7p train was extremely light. We were on time in both directions with no problems.
My thoughts on the Acela: I felt like I was riding on the Washington Metro, only nicer seats. It definitely had a comuter feel to it and I definitely prefer the long distance trains. The ride on the Acela was extremely rough and bumpy, too, which surprised me. Finally, I really HATE the lighting on the Acela, especially when riding after dark. The lighting is extremely harsh and glaring. It is impossible to try to sleep with such bright lights and you cannot look out the window, either, as the bright lights inside the Acela make it impossible to see anything outside. For me, I am sticking with the Regionals and pocket the extra money the Acela costs.
Oh, and I really like boarding at NYP much better than WAS. You can figure out which track your train will be on and head there early. I even beat the redcaps to our Acela. No way can you do this in WAS.
We left our home at 5:30 a.m. and drove the 2.5 hour trip to WAS. We had a terrible time trying to find the entrance to the parking garage behind WAS because of all the construction going on around the station. The entrance was not well marked, at all. Anyway, after going around the station a couple of times, we finally made it in the parking garage and printed our tickets at a quiktrack machine. We had just about 20 minutes to wait before we boarded our train.
The ride up to New York was fairly nice and they had an attendant pushing the cart up and down the aisle for purchasing drinks and beverages. I noticed that he really didn't get much business. The passenger load to NYP was fairly heavy with lots of families traveling together for the holiday.
We had a great day in the City. The weather was beautiful and crowds, while large, were cheerful. We enjoyed the window displays and did a little shopping. We headed back to NYP and relaxed in the station until it was ready to head back home. We were originally booked on the 6 p.m. train which would have been perfect, but it had been canceled a week ago and we were rebooked on the 7 p.m. train. The passenger load on the 7p train was extremely light. We were on time in both directions with no problems.
My thoughts on the Acela: I felt like I was riding on the Washington Metro, only nicer seats. It definitely had a comuter feel to it and I definitely prefer the long distance trains. The ride on the Acela was extremely rough and bumpy, too, which surprised me. Finally, I really HATE the lighting on the Acela, especially when riding after dark. The lighting is extremely harsh and glaring. It is impossible to try to sleep with such bright lights and you cannot look out the window, either, as the bright lights inside the Acela make it impossible to see anything outside. For me, I am sticking with the Regionals and pocket the extra money the Acela costs.
Oh, and I really like boarding at NYP much better than WAS. You can figure out which track your train will be on and head there early. I even beat the redcaps to our Acela. No way can you do this in WAS.
