If you don't mind my asking, Lion, what depressed you about Vegas? I want to live there
And, it's time for the last installment, to wind up the Great SW Chief Excursion of 2014. We are arriving into Chicago, and the topic of discussion is whether or not we can wait in the Metropolitan Lounge. We are not connecting TO a sleeper, but we arrived on one. MI kids think I have nothing to lose by asking the attendants inside, so we go in with our tickets. It turns out that sleeper car accommodations are eligible to spend the layover in the Lounge, even if we are not connecting to another FC service. So we set up shop there, it was not at all crowded as the LD trains had all left for the afternoon. We have only an hour and a half to go out and find food for dinner, and son wants to take advantage of the internet access to email everyone in his study groups and so on, rather than go out into the city. He said just get him any type of packaged roast beef or turkey sandwich and a banana or apple and a drink. Us girls leave him in the lounge, on his computer, with all the luggage and we head out into a beautful warm Chicago afternoon. Relying on memory here, pretty sure there was a Walgreen's on Madison going east a couple blocks. While that isn't where I would normally look for food, I'd noticed that recently the chain has introduced some semi "fresh" to go offerings such as salads,sandwiches and other snacks including fruit, yogurt parfaits and so on. Plus I thought we could pick up some milk, lemonade and maybe an adult beverage
We walked over the Chicago river and after some second-guessing, spotted the Walgreens on Madison and sprinted across the street. It was closed. ***? On a Saturday afternoon? I looked at my watch - it was exactly 5 pm. Well, maybe they closed at 5 on Saturdays, which seemed odd in the big city, a sentiment echoed by someone else who walked up behind us and tried the door. No matter. It's a big city, we'll find another one. We didn't want to venture too far away though, knowing they would board that Wolverine at 530 and that it would be difficult to get seats together. So we turned to head back west and saw a CVS across the street. We ran up and found it, too, was closed. No matter, we pressed on, and circled back to the CVS that was kitty corner from the station. According to the sign it was never open on weekends at all.
Wow. To look at the positive side, we just had a brisk combination walk/sprint around Chicago on a beautiful day, and after being on vacation we needed the exercise. on the negative side, we had a strapping 6 foot lanky teen who had not eaten much that day and who wanted something other than train food. We figured at least we could go back to the station and get something there, so we walked/jogged back and looked around. It was only a few minutes away from boarding time by then. What places were open had dreadful lines (Mickey D/s) or were sold out of everything (Corner Bakery) or didn't have anything that either kid was interested in. Relay's the convenience store had prepackaged sandwiches, so I grabbed one of those, a couple bananas, chocolate milk and we were on our way back to the lounge. At checkin the attendant said there would be snacks available but in reality each time a basket of chips was brought out, it was emptied with lighting speed and I asked if I could have just one for my daughter, whereupon the nice attendant set out another basket. We took a bag of chips for her and collected our belongings in anticipation of the boarding call. The attendant called us to the front of the lounge then changed her mind upon seeing the congestion, taking us around the back way, through the same door that was used to board the LD trains. She kindly directed us towards our track and we joined the queue, with boarding already well underway. As with previous trips, there was a conductor who appeared to be directing people to the cars where they wanted people to board. When we got to the front of the line, a passenger on the adjacent track claimed his attention and he stepped away to help him. So we waited. After a few seconds, certainly less than a minute, a woman tapped my shoulder aggressively and asked us to keep moving. I replied that we were waiting for the conductor to let us know which car to board. Based on over a decade of Wolverine travel, they always had specific cars for specific stops. The woman said, in a very condescending tone, "That has never mattered before." Well, yes it has and I told her as much. She frowned and stepped back for a moment, while my son, looking over his shoulder at the crowd and at the man who was occupying the conductor's attention, said, "Mom, that person seems like they have a major problem. Let's just get on." So we walked up a couple of cars, and then saw the other conductor, who, when asked where we should board, said, 'It doesn't matter on weekends." OK, never heard this before but whatever. We climb the stairs and get on. The car is full. I'm thinking I'd like to sit next to my little girl even though son is fine by himself. We walk all the way through the train a couple of times and find nothing. Finally a conductor (the one who was helping a passenger on the next train over) moved a couple of single passengers so "this little girl can sit with her mother" and my son sat a couple rows away with another young man, and we roll out of Chicago on our way home. I really do not remember when the last time I took a Saturday night Wolverine out of Chicago (that wasn't in BC) but this is another one of those experiences not to be repeated. We were apparently in the Kzoo car, with apologies to Sarah but it was unbearable. Loud drunks, lots of weird smelling food and people standing in the aisles, carrying on, loud screeching converations and laughter. It's fine that people were enjoying themselves but there was no break in the volume, in fact even listening to music or a movie with earbuds was impossible Each time the female conductor came through, I thought for sure she would say something, but she merely kept going. I have seen her before on other trips, and have also learned that if you get the odd conductor who gives every indication that they hate both people and their job, they aren't going to change, and the only thing to do is to smile and minimize contact with them. Actually you can forego the smile and they won't miss it, having lost the ability to respond in kind. I'm really not sure what it is about the Wolverine, maybe it's the consistent sold out crowds, maybe some other reason but there is a 50/50 chance your onboard crew look like they hate humanity. The noise level, not to mention the smells (my son's seating companion opined that one of the worst examples detrained at Niles, although the car retained the smell of body odor for some time afterward) and the erratic service all make this an example of a service to avoid. Many years ago, MI Mom's ex husband used to take Amtrak from Detroit to Ann Arbor and back and he used to ask the staff if the train was on time. His favorite response was, "It's today, isn't it?" Sadly all these years later and the Wolverine is as erratic as ever. We lost a little time enroute, announced with the perfuctory, meaningless apology and then then when we finally left Jackson, thinking we'd only be a half hour late home. But just then an announcement was made that due to a "signal problem" the train would only be able to go 15 ("that's one-five") miles an hour, and that "they were looking at the problem" and they would let us know if "it was fixed." Well I tell you what, I'd trade 6 million useless apologies if they had just followed up with anything. That was the first and last description of the problem. We had moved from the crazy loud obnoxious car, to another car where there were a couple empty seats, which was slightly more relaxing, but also had a family with babies that apparently didn't know how to dispose of diapers so the smell didn't pervade the entire car. Really people it's not that difficult. Wrap them up and then put them in plastic bags, tied up tightly and then put them in the trash. But at least the noise level was down, except for when the ladies from that one car went to the cafe car and back. Never heard such loud consistent conversation. The train crawls along, and I think the short distance from Jackson to Ann Arbor was covered in something close to 2 hours. Signal problem? Speed restriction? Whatever it is, it sure doesn't make sense to most passengers. I usually try to find a silver lining, which in this case, it got us over missing our vacation time, and looking forward to getting home and cleaned up and into bed. There are several people I know professionally who now drive between Ann Arbor or Detroit and Chicago on business, who will not take the train. After this experience I can no longer in good conscience advocate anything differently, and recently one of them had said to me, "There is nothing you could say to change my mind." I'm still hopeful for the future of train travel and for more and better Michigan-Chicago services. But this segment on the Wolverine was comparable to the Greyhound ride across the desert..... minus the rest stop and scenery. It was definitely an adventure, and overall, I know my kids had a great vacation, and we made some memories in the process. Thanks for reading and for the comments, enjoyed those more than the writing!
MM
