Monday, August 29, 2022

Vacation n+3

 

Amtrak has lovely new train cars!

I love riding the train.

Hadn't been on one since the start of the pandemic, but I screwed my courage to the sticking post for this vacation.


What's your favorite way to travel?

24 comments:

  1. Teleportation. As Puck says, I'll put a girdle 'round the earth in forty minutes.

    Isn't that how most writers do it, most of the time? We imagine ourselves there, and thinking makes it so.

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  2. I'm a bit of a homebody (pandemic or no pandemic), so I rarely go anywhere. But when I do leave the farm, I prefer to drive and I take the Blue Highways as much as possible. I love being able to stop whenever I spot a junque shop or an interesting small town to explore.

    A close friend, like my 2nd mom, recently had a medical emergency. She's in her 80s, lives alone, has no one nearby. So I packed up, drove the 4 hours to her place and tended her dogs while she was in the hospital for a week (poor Jim got saddled with all the chores here). Dear friend is now home and recovering. On my way back home, I stopped in Black Mountain, NC to walk around the little shops, and I found a terrific bookstore: Sassafras on Sutton.

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  3. I still enjoy a good road trip, the kind where the trip is as important as the destination.

    Second is sailboat travel.

    I haven't done a train, mainly because from here, you go to the Amtrak station downtown. Then they put you on a bus to Orlando, where you catch the train.

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  4. Since COVID it's been a car.

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  5. I love going by train as well. I will take train and ferry again when I go to Switzerland again (for Christmas 🎄).

    It is also the best way to travel for our planet and many more people need to do it.

    The 9€ monthly train ticket that was put in place in Germany during June July and August has improved the air quality and been purchased 52 million times 👌. There are about 82 million people in Germany.

    Glad you enjoyed your train trip, Janet, and well done for being brave. I hope all went well and that you stayed and will stay healthy. 🤞

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  6. Oh Katja you've reminded me of how much I love ferries, too!

    My favorite is  The Canby (Oregon) ferry


    It had a limit of four cars I think, and made for a lovely quiet interlude. And when I lived there, it was free!


    For anyone coming to NYC, the Staten Island ferry is still free, and is a wonderful way to see the lights of NYC at night.

    Plus you can sing the
    theme song from Working Girl!

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  7. I've only experienced a few train rides, but I've loved them. Same for ferries. When we had family visiting a few weeks ago, we took the gondola to the top of Alyeska for lunch. Does that count as travel?

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  8. I love the train! Ferry is okay as long as I can ride outside [less seasickness]. Hope you're having a great vacation!

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  9. These days car, because I'm not sharing the air with strangers - and I'm more in control of stops, route etc. But I love train and boat. Flying is fine. Bus is my least favourite.

    I

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  10. I love, love traveling by train. Especially in Europe. Can't wait to do it again. My daughter and I are planning a train trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains state side this Christmas. We are getting an airbnb in the mountains far from the waking world and I can't wait. That train looks so comfortable. I hope you enjoyed so much.

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  11. I vote for small-ship cruises. No packing/unpacking, visiting interesting cities just by stepping off the boat.

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  12. My favorite is to ride narrow gauge steam trains through mountains. It's fully the trip and getting there is a sad end to a great ride. This does nothing for the Earth but does help one relate to 19th century transportation.

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  13. When my kids were teens, we took a couple Amtrak rides from Twin Cities to Seattle (never quite to Oregon), then rented a car to head out to the ocean for a week.

    And almost every year, my family would drive 9 hours to stay with Mom's family for a long weekend in Illinois. I always loved entering IL via the Quad Cities and driving the curbed roads (mostly gone now) and through the little towns with their big front porches.

    KAClaytor, I've been on Scotland's CalMac many times but not in a storm of that magnitude (shudder). When I worked at Iona Abbey (Isle of Iona) for 2-years, I ended up stuck a handful of times one side or the other when a squall brewed and no ferries. The wind and waves and spray are amazing!

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  14. Here is the link to my 7-minute video of my ferry trip... err... ship 😆 trip from NYC to Southampton crossing the Atlantic. It took 7 nights and there is a LIBRARY on the ship (the Queen Mary 2).

    We took this ship as the last stage of #TheGrandReturnToEurope when we returned from Canada after two years living there.
    We came back all the way from Calgary to England without flying once. Just buses to Vancouver, then trains crossing the US (to Sacramento and then all across to the East Coast, omg it was amazing!), then the ship.

    The whole trip took 24 days and since we had no flat and no rent to pay during those days, it was affordable.

    The video has music.

    Janet, if you hurry, you can take the ferry... ship... and come over and we'll go for tea and scones. But just know that I'll be leaving the UK next February, so do hurry up. 🤣

    This ship leaves right outside your doorstep!

    Atlantic Crossing

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  15. I love the train, too! We'll be in Norway next spring and that's how we will get around. (After flying there, though.)

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  16. I've never gotten so much writing done as the times I've taken Amtrak from NYC to LA. If you've got the time (3 days!) it's just the laziest, most leisurely way to travel. For some reason seeing all different kinds of landscapes -- canyons, plains, plateaus, cities -- scrolling past the windows just opens up the imagination.

    However, I DO NOT recommend doing it unless you reserve a sleeping compartment. I've done it both ways and sitting up for 72 hours straight with people talking all around you and walking up & down the aisle, babies wailing, and the ever present schmuck with a guitar, is like being beaten to death in slow motion.

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  17. I'm a car girl. Give me four wheels, a tank of gas and I'm gone.

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  18. After catching up on your posts, ( I was away as well), let me just say,the mountains of western Mass are beautiful. Don't you agree?

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  19. Car travel used to be fun; not so much anymore. And planes are nice if you have a window seat, though getting to and from said seat (through the airport) is the not-so-awesome part. I love train and ferries, and as it happens, I AM in NYC right now. If I have time to hop on the Staten Island Ferry between now and departure day, I will do so. Working Girl is an all-time favorite!

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  20. That was you, KAClaytor? We still talk about it! I don't think the video went viral, so your secret is safe.

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  21. LOL! It was worth the fabrication to get the full-blown story.

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  22. Empty trains are my fave. We've had so much fun taking long train rides with the kids, playing endless card games. It's so much more relaxing travelling with small ones when the toilets are always accessible and getting off the seat to run about is a completely safe activity!

    Overcrowded trains are my least favourite, though. One particular experience with a breastfeeding infant I do NOT wish to repeat.

    I used to love planes but now I hate them. Might be something to do with the time Child 1 decided to scream for 12 hours straight on a flight. We did everything and nothing stopped the noise. Other passengers were trying to abduct her by the end. I never discovered why they thought that might help.

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  23. Update: I did take that ferry ride, but not to Staten Island. The birthday girl (oldest kid) suggested we catch the boat in Brooklyn, where she lives now, to Manhattan. She wanted to visit a place on the Lower East Side called the Museum at Eldridge Street, which turned out to be very cool. The ferry required a strong stomach and both hands on the railing, but it was a lot of fun!

    And for those who like transit + board games, our family loves Ticket to Ride and 10 Days in Asia. (There are multiple versions of both games, set in different locations.)

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