Atlanta to San Diego via Crecent - Capitol Limited - Southwest Chief - Surfliner
4 nights in roomettes
6 hour layover in Washington D.C. What should I do? Short tour? I've never been there. Can I store my bags at no charge at Club Accela?
6 hour layover in Chicago. What should I do? How far is the train meusem?
Is there a shullte from the Atlanta Airport to Amtrak Station?
notelvis Member # 3071
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You can store luggage in the first class lounges in both DC and Chicago.
Easiest thing to kill a layover in DC is a metro ride over to the mall (red line to Metro Center changing to Blue Line to Smithsonian) and visit one of the Smithsonian museums. Weather permitting a walk on the mall is good.....but if you go for the WWII Memorial or the Vietnam Wall allow yourself 30-40 minutes to walk it each way. Things in DC are farther apart than they appear.
If it's a weekday and you want to watch trains, I suggest a roundtrip on MARC (the Maryland commuter rail system) from DC up to the BWI Rail Station. The pedestrian bridge over the tracks there has benches to sit on and it's a rush to be there when an Acela passes through in excess of 100mph. You can do this on weekends too using Amtrak trains BUT the fares on MARC are about half of what Amtrak would charge for such a short 30 mile hop.
If the DC weather is really crappy (which it is sometimes) you might settle for a ride on the metro (the red line is above ground on either end, same for the orange line....others too) for sightseeing OR even catch a movie in the theatre at Union Station.
In Chicago I generally stay close to the station but a visit to the Skydeck in the Sears Tower a block east of Union Station is a good diversion if you've never been there.
Atlanta - You would need to do a little research BUT you can catch the MARTA train from the airport to a station in north downtown (I forget which but I bet it's along Peachtree St...) and connect to a city bus which will take you the rest of the way to the Amtrak station. It's not optimum but Atlanta is one of the few cities in the south where one change mass transit from airport to rail station is available.
Have a nice trip and come tell us about it after you've made it!
Doodlebug Member # 4564
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Room Service,
I agree with Notelvis that the mall is the place to see in Washington. Ninety percent of the government buildings, memorials, museums, landmarks and other points of interest people want to see in Washington are on the mall. But I'd suggest you start with the U.S. Capitol, which is straight ahead of you as you walk out the front entrance of Union Station.
The Capitol is elevated above the east end of the mall and its western steps give you a commanding view of the mall past the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial at the other end. There are many areas within the Capitol that you may tour yourself, but you must stand for a moment in the center of the rotunda, look at the dome far above your head and the important busts and statues surrounding you.
From the Capitol, if you walk down the left (southern) edge of the mall on Jefferson Drive, you will encounter these Smithsonian museums in order: American Indian Museum, National Air and Space Museum, Hirshhorn Museum (art), Arts and Industries (closed for renovation), Smithsonian Castle Information Center and Freer Gallery (art). At this point in your walk, the Smithsonian Metro station's mall entrance is on your right in the open mall, and the Washington Monument is about two blocks further walk. You are about 3/4 mile from the Capitol.
If you walk down the right (northern) edge of the mall on Madison Drive, you will encounter these Smithsonian museums in order: National Gallery of Art (east building), National Gallery of Art (west building), National Archives (not part of the Smithsonian but where you can see the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence), Natural History Museum and American History Museum. At this point in your walk, the Metro's Federal Triangle station is one block to your right and one block back, and the Washington Monument is about two blocks further walk. You are almost a mile from the Capitol.
Beyond either of these points, walking along the mall to see the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the White House and the Lincoln Memorial takes you farther from the Metro system. The Metro is the quickest and easiest way back to Union Station. I'd suggest familiarizing yourself with the Metro on the map at http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm and planning your itinerary based on it.
I'm not sure which train museum you're referring to in Chicago. However, I made the change from the Capitol Limited to the California Zephyr in 2003 (about the same connection time as you have to the Chief) and took a cab to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry during the layover. It has a huge HO scale layout of the BNSF line (Empire Builder) from Chicago to Seattle as well as the Pioneer Zephyr, the first streamlined train in the United States. Visit the museum's website at http://www.msichicago.org/ to plan just the highlights. If you lose track of time, you might be in there a week.
notelvis Member # 3071
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I concur with the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry!
I neglected to mention that in Chicago I generally stay close to Union Station because USUALLY my layover between trains in Chicago is a couple of hours shorter (due to late trains) than I originally expected!
palmland Member # 4344
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If the Crescent is running late and/or it is too nasty to venture to the mall area, the station has been wonderfully restored and worth some time to soak it up.
It has good restaurants, and shops. Movies too but it would be a shame to be in DC and sit in a movie. Next door is the old Post Office building. In the basement is a good postal museum complete with an RPO car and the exhibits showing the history of mail delivery in the U.S. Very worthwhile.
In Chicago, the Art Institute is a good spot for a rainy day if you don't make it out to the museum of Science and Industry. For lunch, Sojourner recommended the Walnut Room in the top floor of Marshall Field department store (now shamefully renamed Macy's).
My wife and I loved it. Great food and reminded you of old time department stores where all the well dressed ladies went for lunch.
Room Service Member # 2405
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Thanks a lot for all the information. I'm not sure when I'll go but I'm looking forward to my first overnight in a Viewliner Roomette!
sojourner Member # 3134
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Your trip will be similar to my recent cross-country ventures, except that I take regional trains to DC. I love getting in to DC before lunch and having a few hours to walk around, bop in and out of a few museums (they are free so you can bop in and out quickly); I also have lunch (usually eat in Chinatown, walking distance for me from Union Station; the Penn Quarter, with some excellent restaurants, is also nearby). I also like it when I have time to do a walkabout in Chicago, which I have in all but one trip so far (and always have on the return trip).
As a sleeper passenger you can leave your luggage for free in the ACELA lounge in DC and the Metropolitan Lounge in Chicago. Just don't leave any real valuables, like your money or tickets, in it!
The main thing I advise is that you go for a nice walk. It's a long trip cross country and you will feel much better if you get some exercise when you can.
In DC I usually dump my luggage in the ACELA Lounge, go out the main door and take a right on Massachusetts Av, cross the highway and hang an angled left onto H St, go down a few blocks (one street a tad sleazy; might be deserted on a Sunday but I never go on Sunday, the regional fares are too high!!!) past 7th to Eat First (upstairs; have Singapore chow fun fat noodle dish) or Burma around the corner and also upstairs (ask for mango chicken even if it's not on the menu) (there's another busy popular Chinese place on this street I hear is good), have a quick lunch, then cut down 7th to the Mall and go across to the lovely gardens by the Smithsonian Castle building and around the (still closed) Arts and Sciences building. That's plenty walking already! I then walk down the mall, taking in view of the Capitol, to the botanical gardens and go around the outside things (I don't go in the hothouse because you have to check bags). Then I cut across the Mall, maybe check out the sculpture garden, and head to the National Gallery, where I spend 1/2 hour seeing one current exhibit, the small one in the newer building; last time it was Rousseau, Jungles of Paris, really fine! And it's free . . . After that I head back toward Union Station, stop in either the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery and quickly bop in to see the unbelievably impressive interior of the National Buildings Museum on the way. There is also the memorial to fallen police near Judiciary Square, the post office museum just across from Union Station, not to mention seeing a bit of the impressive part of Union Station itself . . . all depends how much time you have. If Capitol Ltd leaves as now, I think you need to be back by 3:15, so this may all be more than you can do, depends on how late your Crescent is. But the walking and gardens for me are de rigeuer. I am a walker though, and walk quickly. . . .
In Chicago I generally dump my luggage in the Metropolitan Lounge (follow signs or ask to get there quickly; it's a little tricky), go out to Adams, hang a right, take a left down Wacker and either go to the water and curl around to Michigan Ave OR detour to Marshall Fields (now tragically renamed Macys I gather) for a quick lunch on their lovely 7th floor (don't miss the Frango ice cream and/or cobbler) and then continue to Michigan but either way, cut through Millenium Park to the Lake, then walk along there, then walk back to Union Station (by Adams). Or one time (Tuesday, when it's free!) I just went down Adams all the way to Michigan and a quick stop in the Chicago Institute of Art (see Grant Wood, Seurat, Renoir, Night Hawks, the armory). . . . Anyway, be sure to save a little time to see the old part of Chicago Union Station too, when you get back.
Whatever you do, though, don't miss your trains!!!
Palmland, my recommend from the Walnut Room came from others here before me--a wonderful tip I think from Vicki or Dee or Dilly . . . well, anyway, I'm sorry I've forgotten, who but it's a lovely place, isn't it? And I think it's open weekends too.
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