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Sorry I have been too swamped to post, but here is my report on my trip to New Orleans, the long way:
The trip began with my friend and I catching a very early Empire Service train to NYC, a beautiful trip, though a bit misty this morning. The train was crowded too! We reached NYC on time and changed for a Regional to DC (we had to book this as a multitrip because we left only 50 minutes between trains). We were on time into DC too, and caught a taxi to our hotel, the Harrington, recommended here--a tourist hotel, rooms a bit scruffy but perfectly comfortable, fantastic location, and the price was right! After dumping our luggage in our room, we headed out for lunch at a Penn Quarter tapas place and a walkabout the mall, with museum visit to the Freer, a stop at the Washington Monument and WWII memorial, and general enjoyment of the lovely day. I'd have walked more (you know me) but my friend was tired, so we taxied to the ADams Morgan neighborhood for dinner in an Ethiopian restaurant, not necessarily the greatest cuisine but lots of local color (Washington DC has more people from Ethiopia than any other city outside Ethiopia, including almost all the cab drivers, but this one time our cab driver to the restaurant was NOT Ethiopian!!!) We walked around in Adams Morgan a bit before and after dinner--it's a fun neighborhood, kind of collegey, lots of goofy stores, pubs, etc. . . .
Day 2: We woke reasonably early and headed for Union Station, where we dropped our luggage at the ACELA Lounge and partook of the coffee and pastries for a (free) breakfast. Our goal was to get to the Capitol for our tour, arranged via Congressman; excellently done, and I quite liked the new visitor center. We then walked up Independence into the attractive more residential part of Capitol Hill to one of my very favorite lunch places, Market Lunch in Eastern Market, in a tent across the street since the Great Fire burned the lovely old market down (it is being rebuilt and looked quite good, I am thinking maybe will reopen this summer?) You can say what you want about all the great food in New Orleans, but the Maryland crabcake sandwich at Market Lunch was still one of the very best meals I had on the trip . . . at least, to our taste! . . . and quite a bargain! After lunch we returned to the Mall and visited the National Gallery, where my friend enjoyed (and I re-enjoyed) some of the Old Masters & where we saw some wonderful special exhibits as well. After that, my friend was tired so we went to Union STation with more than enough time to catch our 4 PM (about) Cap Ltd.
The sleeper was fine, and my friend (who has only been on one Viewliner and no other l-d train ever) quite enjoyed the observation car. Dinner was fairly good--we both had the half chicken, baked potatoes, and the tasty chocolate cake-thingie (almost like a pie) dessert. Our room was somewhat overly hot so we actually kept the door open part of the night.
We arrived in Chicago ON TIME and had virtually the whole day before we'd catch our City of NEw Orleans south--if you are wondering why we went the long way via Chicago, it was because (a) we were stopping in Jackson and (b) I have never been on the City of New Orleans! My friend had never been to Chicago except to change planes at O'Hare, so I showed her some of the city, though it was quite a bit chillier than DC had been! We went down Wacker to Washington (I think), past Marshall Fields to the Cultural Center (former Chi public library), a gorgeous building, where I showed my friend the glorious third floor Tiffany dome etc . . . and there we encountered classical music being rehearsed and stayed for some time. WE then went over to Millennium Park, where I showed her the Gehry thingie and we crossed the bridge for a view of the lake. We then returned past Michigan and Wacker, where there is currently a giant Grant Wood thing, very goofy (makes a great picture). Then we headed down to the lower level of Illinois and over to Clark for a lunch of appetizers and Dos Equis at the Frontera Grill (cellphoning first, as it's very busy--but we got seats at the tables near the bar), with its delicious haute Mexican food. WE then headed back to Michigan & the Art Institute, where we enjoyed the regular exhibits but also made the mistake of visiting the Edvard Munch special exhibit, which was DEPRESSING (and IMO not so great, though a few pix are good, they are the ones one knows).
We arrived back at the Metropolitan Lounge with plenty of time to board the City of NEw Orleans. We had a lovely dinner including drinks and a grand old time with a couple from Natchez. The train left on time. Our sleeping car attendant was rather excellent, better than the Capitol Ltd one, even had some sucking candy on display for guests. And the food on this train was good--I had the gumbo! and the bourbon pecan pie was one of the best Amtrak desserts ever. But the seats in the Cross-Country Diner were goofy, some facing in, and too far from the tables, and there was NO OBSERVATION CAR, which upset my friend even more than me, since she had so enjoyed her first taste of it on the Cap Ltd. We slept better this 2nd night, room temp was good too.
We reached Jackson on time, and the weather had improved since Memphis (where it had been pouring). WE stayed in a very nice inn downtown which offered a fantastic southern lunch--shrimp n grits, the best I've had since Charleston, and some nice bread pudding. I then headed off to my tour of the capitol, after which I visited the old capitol and saw the governor's mansion (though it was too late to go in). Jackson is not a tourist town by any means, but all of this worked out fine--I even saw a session of the legislature, which is the first time in more than 25 capitol visits!!! Since our lunch was so tasty, and the inn also offered wine and cheese in the late afternoon, we had no room to go to the Mayflower restaraunt recommended here some time back! (maybe next time). . . .
Next day, in pouring rain, we returned to Jackson station, this time going coach to NEw Orleans. I had a veggie burger for lunch--quite tasty--and my friend had the gumbo again! But getting lunch seating is hard from coach on the busy, too-small-with-no-lounge-car train; many brought food back to coach seats, and the seafood gumbo was pretty smelly there!
We arrived on time at NEw Orleans Union Station (not as I'd pictured it!) and caught a United taxi to our hotel near the Canal St end of the French Quarter. The rain had stopped, though this was to be one of the few times it did while we were in New ORleans!!! We got our rooms, which were nice (and surprisingly quiet, all things considered!!!), then went out and about, checking out Jackson Square and whatnot and winding up hearing Steamboat Willie in a small park on Bourbon Street near Bienville . .. nothing like the rest of Bourbon Street, which was not to my taste, this music and park were excellent, and the music, old jazz trio, really nice!!!
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Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by sojourner: ....to the Cultural Center (former Chi public library), a gorgeous building, where I showed my friend the glorious third floor Tiffany dome etc . . . and there we encountered classical music being rehearsed and stayed for some time.
If you were here on a Wednesday, this is what you likely came into at the Cultural Center:
I often listen to these concerts on WFMT 98.7 and have come in for one or two. Hey, free concert (it's about $110 to see and hear the "real deal' a few doors down Michigan), free train ride...can't beat that!!
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Yes, Mr Norman, this was the concert we heard rehearsing (we did not stay for the actual concert, as we'd already heard the runthrough). It was lovely, and in such a lovely setting.
continuing the trip report: The Steamboat Willie performance was in front of a Cafe Beignet, where we had something to eat--I had some disappointing jamabalaya--and drink--no disappointment there, in fact, my gin n tonic was so strong I had to go back for more tonic! We hung out for a long time here before returning to our hotel.
Next morning it was misty but not raining when we headed down to the Jackson Square area and signed up for a walking tour of the St Louis No 1 Cemetery (a place I'm told one should visit only on a tour) after a stop at the National Park Service site (from where they can no longer give free tours of the French Quarter). Our cemetery tour group headed toward Rampart, first passing Louis Armstrong Park and stopping at the former Basin St Station, a lovely refurbished building now a visitor center (too bad it's not in use as a train station!) and then to the cemetery itself. Just around when we were looking at Marie Laveaux's (perhaps) tomb, it started to pour!!! We had a curtailed tour and got very wet indeed getting back. We had to go back to our hotel to change; we also stopped at Felix's for po'boys, but I had the recommended oyster and was disappointed (all breading, no oyster!).
The rain continued on and off all day, though never quite as much of a downpour, so we dropped plans for a boat ride on the Steamboat Natchez. Had 1/2 mufaleta at Central Grocery for dinner--this was quite good, though similar to Italian heroes in NYC--fun place to sit down along the bench/tables too. We were interested in going to the Preservation Hall that night, but it was closed for a special function, so early evening we headed to Frenchmen Street (this is just outside the Quarter in the Faubourg Marigny), where there was lots of live music. We heard a cool blues performer on washboard, a bad singer-songwriter, and a more modern jazz trio (not as much fun as Steamboat Willie) before heading back.
The next morning it was still raining a bit, so we went to the MArdi Gras Museum on Jackson Square--very interesting--and stopped at the church as well. I had in advance made a reservation for Sunday jazz brunch at a big brunch at Mr B's--delicious--I had gumbo yaya and fried green tomatoes, both off the appetizer menu, and bread pudding. Afterward we bought an all-day pass for the streetcars & caught the St Charles streetcar and headed through the Garden District. This was the highlight of New Orleans for me--I loved seeing all the gorgeous homes in the Garden District, and going all the way to the end, where they change the direction of the bench seat backs. We got off at the area around the Camellia Diner, where the sun came out briefly and where we stopped in the MAdeline for cookies to eat later; then we got off again at the Audubon Park, from where we planned to walk around Garden District and take pictures. But it started to rain heavily again, so we headed back to the French Quarter. Then it stopped raining so we went down Canal to the aquarium area and walked down the river toward Jackson Square. Then we took a taxi to Tipitina's, a place I'd always wanted to go, but since I was not with my husband and could not try the Cajun dancing, it was probably foolish! We did dance a little . . . it was fun . . . but the cab fares were really high to get here!!! We never ate again, other than the cookies we'd bought at Madeline--we'd had enough food.
All in all, New Orleans was fun, but the weather was cruddy.
Because of the economy and some logistical problems, we'd cancelled plans to go to Baton Rouge and were leaving earlier than I'd originally planned--and taking the CONO and LSL home because the Crescent had no sleepers! Anyway, we spent Monday morning tooling around the French Quarter, chatting up fortunetellers, buying gifts etc., before heading to Union Station. The staff at Union Station was extremely nice, and the Magnolia Lounge was fine but could use some supervision (I think people in there were not taking sleepers; some were even taking Greyhound, I suspect!). I must say.
Our City of New Orleans left on time and the trip was uneventful. We had the same fine crew as we had when we went left from Chicago the week before. I again enjoyed going through the bayou (should have mentioned that coming in), though sad to see some of the hurricane damage. There was no large sleeper--we had to share a small one--which was interesting to say the least! We once again missed having an observation car--the dining car-cum-lounge just isn't enough for such a busy train. They could easily have sold another sleeper too--it was full! For a meal, I had the crackcake special, which was tasty enough (though nothing like the DC crabcake, of course). Alas, they were out of bourbon pecan pie, but having eaten my fill in the past few days, that was probably just as well!
We arrived in Chicago on time to glorious weather. With a whole day ahead of us before we caught our LSL home, we left our luggage at the Metropolitan Lounge and decided to take the Metra to Oak Park to see all the Frank Lloyd Wright and Hemingway stuff. This was cool--including the two-story Metra train, I'd never ridden one before. We toured the Wright home--very good tour, though pricey--and bought a map to see some of the other buildings (but did not purchase the self-guided walk thing, the map was enough for us) on Forest Av etc. We also had an unmemorable lunch in Oak Park, visited the Hemingway home, nice guide, but alas, there is very little there of Hemingway's; and stopped at the Hemingway Museum before heading back to Chicago and Union Station in the evening. We though about going to Greek Town for dinner but I was really stuff, so my friend just bought a hot dog at the famous place in Union Station before we boarded our train (around 8:30) for the wine and cheese. It was a full day, very pleasant.
Our LSL was very comfortable--we had a B room--thought we'd sleep well, but the door rattled in the night no matter what we stuck in it! We had a fine breakfast and were on time until we reached Erie, when Border Patrol delayed the train over half an hour and took someone off, we don't know why. But we made up the time after Buffalo and wound up coming into Albany 1/2 hour early.
All in all, the trip was fine, except for the weather in New Orleans. And the trains were fine too--all on time except for the departure from Jackson, and the food better than last year. I wish only there were an observation car on the CONO.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Sounds like a fun and memorable trip. I doubt I'll get east of Chicago on the trains for several more years, so I vicariously enjoy those reports even more than those on routes I've travelled.
Posts: 406 | From: La Grange, CA | Registered: Sep 2007
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TB, I am not the best one to ask about the roadbed, since as you have probably noticed I am pig ignorant about the mechanics of railroads, despite my love of trains and train travel, and since I notice bad rail beds only sporadically, mainly when I'm going between cars. I did notice some choppiness then, but no more so than I've encountered on other trains on occasion. The spilt seafood gumbo (which happened north of Jackson, where we re-boarded soundbound, traveling coach) could be a further testament to some choppiness. OTOH, what with the first-day excitement of the outbound Cap Ltd and the terrible racket of the door on the LSL Bedroom B, I definitely slept best on my nighttimes on the CONO in both directions!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Nice trip report, Sojouurner. You always manage to pack so much into your visits.
Sorry about the rain in New Orleans but sounds like it was still a good trip.
Your comments on the CONO cafe-diner-lounge seemed to confirm my thoughts from reading about it. Why doesn't Amtrak understand that most people want to look out the window when eating to see the sights. Even though they revised the design of these cars, it sounds like they still didn't get it right.
A diner-lounge is not a bad idea, but why not stick to the tried and true formula - seating for 4 at tables next to windows in the diner section, and a separate lounge section with comfortable chairs for viewing the scenery and socializing.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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