Road Trip: South - i95 trip
Day 2: Friday, November 11, 2011 - Train travel
For lunch, Marcello treated us to lunch at Panera.
After looking at some furniture, we made our way toward Lorton, VA for the train. The train was three-quarters of a mile long - the longest passenger train in the U.S. There were 16 people cars (including the lounge and dining cars), and 25 auto carriers.
Rear half from the platform (cell phone pic).
Front half from the platform.
Our cubby hole - though better than two seats, was small. Really small.
It was private too, which was nice. And it was diagonally across the hall from the restroom (which really wasn't
as bad as it sounds). When we checked in, the clerk suggested we go right to the wine tasting. When we were
boarding, the attendant told us that he'd be by to tell us about the processes of that night and the next day.
So we waited. After watching three different sets of people pass us going to the dining car and
back, we decided to go ourselves. We returned in time and, in fact, had half our wine and snack gone before
Mr. Attendant - Nate - finally stopped by.
We got the low-down and did a crossword puzzle. Then, it was dinner time. Already. Well, we did have the 5:00
seating, after all. Which was better than the alternative we had when we checked in: 9:00. So glad we didn't get that
one. We made our way to the dining car and sat at a table with a snowbird couple. She ordered the fish, as did Linda,
and he ordered the chicken, as didn't I - I got the beef toranadoes (but it wasn't fish). The two of them had white
wine, we had red. They had ice cream for dessert, we had cheese cake. The meal was tasty and satisfying.
Beef toranadoes
Strawberry cheesecake
After eating, we made our way back to our room. We turned on some music and proceeded to play some
Dominion (the image is obviously
a little out of focus - thank the phone for that, or the movement of the train - but you get the idea).
After we each won a hand, we played a third tie-breaker. However, as luck would have it, we tied! Thus we "rejoiced in our shared victory." Admittedly, Linda rejoiced a little more than I did simply because I didn't win...
Time for some Fluxx. We only played one hand.
We did some reading, and before long it was time for bed.
While laying in bed, before dozing off, I looked at my digital watch. I waited a few minutes and before long, it was 11:11:11 on 11/11/11.