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Having noted the monumental unpleasantness of North American Airports and air travel throughout the summer, and with the horrors of "holiday travel" in the not too far distance. I brought up the "Vacations to Go" travel matrices, and emerged with the following working hypothesis:
Amtrak sleeper, Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale.Celebrity's Infinity to San Francisco via the Panama Canal (16 days).The California Zephyr, Sleeper to ChicagoThe "Capitol Limited", Sleeper to Washington.Local train back to Baltimore.
It can be done, and the total Amtrak first-class fares, to include meals, turned out to be quite reasonable.
Just think, I can travel without taking my shoes off, and stay out of the ^&*~@$ Airports!
I have already made my train reservations..as sleepers are hard to come by.
And yes, Brits, "sleepers" are railway cars in which one can assume the recumbent position for rest, and are also your term for "crossties."
On one of my trips I road the rails from Salisbury NC to Raleigh-Jacksonville-LA, then picked up the GALAXY for a 12-night cruise to Alaska that ended in Vancouver (2-night post cruise) then took AMTRAK Vancouver-Seattle-CHI-DC-Salisbury NC.
I have also done several cross-country excursons on the same trip and cruised in the middle (Charlotte-DC-CHI-Seattle-San Diego-LA (cruise)LA-San Fran-Chicago-Seattle-Vancouver-Seattle-Chicago-DC-Charlotte) included a 4-night on the ECSTASY.
AMTRAK's California Zephyr is arguably the most scenic regular passenger rail service in the country and s wonderful in the winter as you climb into the Sierra Nevada mountains (best views out the left), travel thru the magnificent canyons and tunnels crossing the Rockies (best views out the right), and hit the flat plains of the midwest. The Capital Limited is great thru the Cumberland Valley and Potomoc River in the panhandle of Maryland. The Silver Service has limited scenery but is intersting none the less. I love the Double Decker cars of the Zephyr and Limited so you can get exercise walking to and from all the cars and up and down stairs and the views from the Dome Cars are great. Silver Service is single height cars and somewhat restricts your movement except to and from the diner and snack car. The food on AMTRAK is quite good although not Celebrity-quality.
My next cruise is going to be out of NY taking the train from Pittsburg-NY Penn Station then a quick taxi to the ship. Trains are indeed a great way to travel to the ports of embarkation, most if not all ports are serviced by AMTRAK, and the train stations are right downtown where as most airports are outside of town.
Do allow a buffer as some of the Long Distance trains do arrive late, up to 12 hours. The Crescent from New Orleans-NYC hit a car in Greer SC this past Tuesday and delayed the arrival by 7 hours into NY.
www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2007-10-16-0006.html
[ 10-18-2007: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]
I have not visited SFO since 1953! I am aiming for a meal at Fisherman's Wharf. Any recommendations?
quote:Originally posted by Cambodge:I am allowing a one night hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, and two night Hotel in San Francisco. That puts enough slack into the system to be prudent. I have not visited SFO since 1953! I am aiming for a meal at Fisherman's Wharf. Any recommendations?
Cambodge,
Henlery is a good hotel.Fisherman's Warf is a trite tourist trap. North Beach is known for the restaurants. SOMA is trendy but not so safe at night.The Haight Ashbury has gentrified.Union Square is still beautiful.Golden Gate Park has a luscious Japanese tea garden. Tenderloin is a dangerous area.
quote:Originally posted by Cambodge:And yes, Brits, "sleepers" are railway cars in which one can assume the recumbent position for rest, and are also your term for "crossties."
quote:Originally posted by Cambodge:I have not visited SFO since 1953! I am aiming for a meal at Fisherman's Wharf. Any recommendations?
San Francisco is one of the best "food" cities in the US (maybe the world) but I won't make any specific recommendations as I haven't been there for about three years.
Anyhow, it was explained to me that the line had acquired some new lightweight cars, of which they were very proud. But the old heavy cars gave a smooth ride on the bad track, while the new lightweight cars spent as much time going from side to side as they did going forward.
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