Dinner with a Rat & an OTOL Rail Fest
The second half of this southeastern U.S. adventure begins at the Orlando, Fl Amtrak Station. Our plan is to catch the Silver Star #92 on Sunday July 14th and travel to Cary, NC. From there we will ride a variety of steel wheels and one Amtrak bus, spend the night in Charlotte, NC, Norfolk, VA, and finally Washington D.C. Following a couple of days of sightseeing in D.C. we will climb on the Capitol Limited the following Sunday and make our way back to Chicago.
We arrive at Orlando Amtrak station where Penny is also waiting to board the Silver Star. Once on the train we meet Bill Magee who got on the train at Tampa. All four of us are heading north and will join up with the majority of the Atlantic Coast Rail Fest (ACRF) participants in Jacksonville as they finish up the first day of the fest. The Silver Star is on time and we make good time to Jacksonville. At this point we meet the boss, Kevin Korell, along with Alan, his mother Grace and several other participants. Kevin put the ACRF together, as he does many train fests for the On Track On Line group. Our itinerary is fairly complicated but Kevin prides himself in his attention to detail, so his planning goes off without a hitch, at least any hitches that are not caused by delayed trains!! We travel through the night and arrive in Cary, NC about midmorning.
Cary is a beautiful little town. Most of the homes that were within our walking distance could easily be on the Historic Register. Our walk wasn't just to see beautiful homes. We were scouting for a lunch joint! Near the end of our walk, we happened on the Train Station Pub and Grill. The name alone lured us in! We had a great lunch. I ordered the meatloaf and gravy sandwich with slaw - it was delicious and way more than I could eat. JoeG went for the patty melt and potato salad. It was great homemade southern potato salad - just like you dream about. This grill is just across the street from the station and right along the tracks. If you are waiting for a connection in Cary, this is an excellent place to grab a bite (and a cold adult beverage, of course).
Our next train is the Piedmont #75 to Charlotte. We arrive at our hotel, do a quick check in, and head over to the local rail station to ride the LYNX light rail. Following the rail tour, 8 of the group end up at McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood restaurant. This is a very nice place and you may recognize the name in a city near you. JoeG talks me into trying something new; the Miso Chilean Sea Bass with Udon noodles and ginger-miso broth. I find it is worth listening to Joe's recommendations as he knows what is tasty and this fish was tender and had wonderful flavor. JoeG started with a nice wedge salad and then ordered a parmesan crusted flounder, green beans and orzo pasta. The flounder was excellent and the parmesan crust was an extra special treat.
The next morning we left bright and early on the northbound Carolinian #80 with an eventual destination of Norfolk but first we needed to change trains in Richmond. During the layover in Richmond we found a hidden gem, the LaCabana Taqueria. You know you are about to eat some authentic food when everything in the place, including the flyers taped to the walls is written in Spanish and we were not disappointed. Our first big break was that it was Dollar Taco Wednesday, so we ordered four each: the carnita, the nopalitos (cactus leaf) and queso, the papas and chorizo, and the birria (a Mexican meat stew). It was hard to pick a favorite, they were all delicious. At one point JoeG thought he had a small bone in his mouth but then he realized there was a cactus thorn stuck in the roof of his mouth. SO BEWARE, there are some hazards to eating cactus! Four tacos and some kind of fruit drink we couldn't pronounce and we were out of there for under $5!! We made our way back to the station and awaited our next ride.
Northeast Regional #125 now runs thru Petersburg directly to Norfolk so we were all excited to see some new track where they have tied this in to accommodate southbound traffic. The #125 was running late so most of the new track occurred during darkness but it was a very nice ride. We stayed in a hotel that had a very nice breakfast buffet in a dining room that looked right out on the shipbuilding yards so we dallied over coffee and enjoyed watching the busy waterfront area. Next we rode the TIDE light rail and got a good look at the metropolitan area of Norfolk. We stopped by a seafood house called Kincaids for lunch. I had an out of this world bowl of New England clam chowder (in Virginia!). JoeG selected the crab melt and homemade potato chips. We were fortified enough now to continue the journey.
We boarded an Amtrak Thruway Bus to Newport News and then transferred to the Northeast Regional #66 to Washington D.C. We got to WAS Union Station on time and made our way to the hotel. The ACRF was not quite complete, they were riding to Fredericksburg on Friday but JoeG had some business to take care of so we said our goodbyes to the group on Thursday night. For those of you used to the AU Gatherings, the philosophy of the OTOL Fests is different, there are several hotel changes rather than a “home” base but it is an excellent way to see a lot of the country by rail. I highly recommend you check into the OTOL web site from time to time and join up with this group if they are going somewhere that has been on your bucket list for a while. And I can guarantee that with Kevin's organizational skills, you will get the maximum mileage on steel wheels for the time spent.
Our rail travel for the next three days is all on the Metro, Washington's local rail system. We preordered the Metro SmarTrip card so we avoided the $1 surcharge for each trip and got a lot of bang for our buck. With a little planning, you can get around the city using the Metro exclusively. At least we did!! Friday night we ate at a fancy joint close to the hotel called Bibiana Oysteria-Enoteca. Tough to pronounce and tougher to pay for dinner! Anyway I ordered Grigliata Mista. Translation: some grilled fish, shrimp and oysters on a bed of broccoli. JoeG had Cavatelli al Grano Arso. Translation: burnt wheat cavatelli, black kale, coffee-fennel sausage, chili, and pecorino. Simpler translation: pasta and sausage with some cheese on top. Both of these entrees were OK but not completely satisfying. Luckily JoeG got an appetizer of calamari with pickled chili peppers and a delicious dipping sauce. We both snacked on this appetizer. It pretty much saved the night. Following dinner we figured out we were only three blocks from the White House. It was a beautiful evening, so we decided to walk off dinner and the memory of paying for it with a stroll around the White House. Neither of us had been there since Pennsylvania Ave was shut down to vehicle traffic and the increased security in the area. The White House is a beautiful, iconic building with more security than any bank or prison.
We spent Saturday and Sunday doing tourist stuff. Washington D.C. is more than just the seat of government. The city is packed with national treasures and history; monuments, museums, churches, cemeteries, cultural centers. I don't think you can make too many trips here to enjoy the wonders that our forefathers have bestowed on us. Saturday afternoon we got back into our comfort zone for eateries. We took the Metro green line up to U Street to enjoy some great hot dogs at Ben's Chili Bowl. The place is a D.C. landmark in a neat neighborhood close to Howard University. There is usually a line down the block waiting to get in but we were here on a weekend and in the middle of the afternoon. We not only got right in but we got a table where we could watch all of the action. Ordering was easy. We both ordered the most popular dog called a 1/2 smoked jumbo. It is a 1/4 pound 1/2 pork and 1/2 beef smoked sausage cooked on a flat grill, served in a warm steamed bun with mustard, onions, and spicy chili sauce. Oh yeah, and we both had a heaping helping of chili/cheese fries. Put this joint on your bucket list!
We checked out of the hotel late morning on Sunday and took our last Metro ride over to Union Station. We stored our bags at the Acela Lounge and spent some time walking up the hill on 1st St just “window shopping” the congressional office buildings, the Supreme Court building, the Library of Congress, and of course, the Capitol. It was a glorious Sunday and the view from the Capitol steps looking down the National Mall was spectacular. On the way back to the train station we dropped in Kelly's Irish Times for a little refreshment before our train ride. JoeG also ordered a Pork Slap sandwich, a generous portion of shaved pork on a pretzel bun and an equally generous portion of jalapeno peppers. That sandwich will get your attention!
The time came to board the Capitol Limited back to Chicago. The westbound journey had none of the delays and excitement of the eastbound adventure! We arrived in Chicago in a timely manner and had a few hours to do a points run up to Glenview and back, then grab a little lunch before heading our separate ways. Our plan was to go to the French Market and eat a healthy lunch but as we walked north on Canal St we were ambushed by a new restaurant. Just that day, The Burger Joint had opened. We went in to take a look and try an adult beverage. The burgers that others had ordered looked delicious but we both went with different versions of french fries. I got fries with a Canadian bent. They were called Poutine fries served with mozzarella, provolone, and brown gravy. JoeG ordered the Spicy feta fries topped with feta cheese and hot giardiniera. Both orders were huge and covered lunch and dinner!
We were both looking forward to our next train segment. My trip home on the Pere Marquette and JoeG's ride on the Illini were going to put us both over the TQP limit for AGR Select Executive. This all started in January when everyone was learning about the new AGR point level and a few Amtrak bloggers were making statements that nobody but riders in the Northeast would make the Executive level. We are a couple of Midwest country boys and took that as a challenge and planned our first trip. We also figured that a lot of the northeast “commuters” would easily make the new level but how much fun would that be to ride from point A to point B five days a week? So we decided to incorporate enjoying joints, dives, and a few nicer restaurants along the way that can be reached by Amtrak. I think we both figured the “new” would wear off of this little venture after a while. As it turned out planning the trips was a lot of fun, writing about them was also fun and, of course, riding around the country on the train eating good food and having a few adult beverages was just frosting on the cake. We hope you have enjoyed reading about these trips; and now the 2 Joe’s Gastronomic Adventures have come to an end! Now we have this whole pile of AGR points to burn up and lots of bonus points to earn between now and March 2015 so we are thinking we may need to come up with another theme. Our idea remains the same - promote Amtrak travel as an adventure visiting many different venues and destinations - any suggestions?
Say it ain't so Joe! Hate to see the Series come to an end when there are still so Many Places to Go, Joints to Discover and Good Food and Adult beverages to enjoy! (And if ya'll have excess Points you want to Burn, have Backpack, Will Travel! :giggle:
