chuljin
Lead Service Attendant
Pictures from this part are here.
From here on out, my memories and the notes I took are assisted by the footprints on Twitter my obsessive use of FourSquare left.
(Check it out if you want, it takes a certain type to enjoy it...among AUers, I can almost imagine Stephen M (LTR) alone liking it, and even then, he's far enough from NYC to make it less fun. )
On Friday, Oct 30, the first official day of the Gathering, I woke (what I thought was) early, and went down to find Winnie already enjoying our hotel's complimentary (but continental) breakfast, and we were soon joined by Betty (EveryDayMatters), who paid me for her third of cab fare from the night before in dollar coins. This was great, as it got me three new presidential dollars that I didn't have before. We took the handy shuttle over to the JFK/UMass station to await the group, coming from points south. I at first panicked; We got to the station around 8:50, and Betty'd mentioned '8:45' the night before, and I was convinced 8:45 was the time our intended train would stop at the station. Turns out it had been suggested we get there by 8:45, to meet the group on a 9:10 train. So I tried to use the extra time to pre-buy an 8-zone round-trip ticket for our impending MBTA commuter trip. The first machine wouldn't read my credit card, and an unhelpfully nasty MBTA employee said 'so use the other machine!' So I did. When she saw I was getting commuter tickets, she asked 'where are you going?' I said 'commuter eventually', and she said 'well, you don't need to get offended!' I didn't think I was acting offended, but even if I had, it would be offense at not what she asked, but how she asked it. Eventually the rest of the 'southern' part of the group came along, and we made our way, after switching to Orange at Downtown crossing, to North Station, where I finally got to meet (in some cases, for the first time) what by now was almost the whole group.
Soon enough, we boarded MBTA train 113 to Rockport. This passed through some pretty and surprisingly rural scenery. On the way I took a now-famous strange picture of myself as follows: I saw something I wanted to photo, so turned on the camera, and saw on the screen the preview image cropped by diagonal black bars. I turned the camera around and discovered that the reason was the plastic bits, that cover the lens when the camera is off, had not fully opened. I thought turning it off and back on would help, but I absent-mindedly pressed the shutter button instead. I passed the camera around to share the resulting picture, to most people's delight. The trip was great fun, as always when we gather. At Rockport, one of us accidentally discovered a Dunkin Donuts facing away from the station, and until it was time to go back to Boston, we were back and forth between the Dunkin Donuts and the station like a colony of ants who've discovered a discarded apple core. Then off on MBTA 120 back to BON, whence Orange/Red to BOS.
At this point, I don't remember whether it was before or after the ClubAcela tour mentioned below, but we had a little free time, so I went out to take a few pictures of the station and surrounding area. A special treat for me was that right across the street was the Federal Reserve Bank, designed by the other of my two equally-favorite architects you've never heard of, Hugh Stubbins.. His most famous building is probably the Citigroup center in NYC (the one with the slanted roof).
At BOS, we were given a brief tour of the ClubAcela by the thoughtful Mr. Dennis Graham, who does sales and marketing for Amtrak for New England and upstate New York. For me and many others, it was the first visit to one. Mr. Graham answered a lot of our questions about things in his expertise, and someone from operations for the area answered a lot of more technical questions. While we were here, Winnie's sharp eyes noticed a mousetrap behind a podium or counter, and she excitedly pointed it out to me.
They thoughtfully preboarded us for the Acela, and off we went. Again, for me as well as perhaps others, it was my first Acela ride. AAARGH! had his GPS with him, and it indicated that, for a short distance, we did, in fact, achieve 150mph. It had a certain thrill. Surprisingly, it didn't really feel that fast, probably due to the tilting and the well-maintained tracks. The consist (now correct thanks to Alan's sharp eyes) was 2023, 3404, 3535, 3311, 3501, 3521, 3201, 2025 (i.e. 'set 18').
At PVD, we were met by the_traveler, who'd brought a box full of small containers of Rhode Island chowder, which was excellent. I'm no chowder expert, but the principal difference I noticed from the more familiar New England kind is that the broth is more translucent than opaque white.
I went outside for a bit and was pleased to discover that the attractive RI state Capitol is right across the hall from the station, so I was taking a few pictures when Micah and his mom came out, and he graciously offered to take some pictures of me and the Capitol, with his better camera and knowledge of what makes a good picture. He variously stood and knelt, and asked me to move back and forth, turn this way and that, etc., and I was vaguely aware of him having taken perhaps five pictures. He proudly announced that he'd taken seventy-five. This shows the difference between users of very good vs consumer-level cameras like mine: They'll take 75 pictures and keep 5; I'll take 6 pictures and keep 5.
Then it was MBTA 822 back only as far as BBY, whence a very short walk to dinner, at Joe's American Bar and Grill. I quite enjoyed this restaurant...well-decorated, fun but not raucously loud, and...er...attractive waiters. One of the specials was an excellent ravioli, which I, AAARGH!, and several others nearby had. Butternut squash ravioli, in a cream sauce with prosciutto and candied walnuts. Very tasty.
It was during dinner that I discovered that I was dumb in booking the Downeaster in business, because I'd be alone. AAARGH! volunteered to go with me at least on the way up, partially as a reward for the upgrade coupon I was going to give him. (I'd brought my S+ four with me, intending to give them to whomever, as Surfliner upgrades are relatively cheap). No, he didn't use the coupon to upgrade the Downeaster...that would be an absurd use of one. No, he was leaving BOS on Sunday on 2255, and was going to upgrade that. I happened not to have any with me, so what he, saxman, and I worked out was that saxman would give AAARGH! one of the ones he had on his person, which I'd replace the next day. saxman also needed to retrieve his luggage and diesteldorf's from BOS, so the three of us went over there together after dinner. As we were leaving, I panicked as I realized I didn't know whether Betty and Winnie knew how to get back to the hotel. This panic ended when I finally realized they weren't even at dinner with us. The ride to BOS was good in that instead of Orange/Red, we did Green/Red, giving me at least a token short ride on the Green Line.
The left-/checked-luggage area is in a surprisingly remote place near track 13. After we'd gotten the luggage, and AAARGH! upgraded his Acela ticket with the coupon, and his Downeaster ticket with cash, we all parted to go sleep.
Next in Part 5: the Downeaster.
From here on out, my memories and the notes I took are assisted by the footprints on Twitter my obsessive use of FourSquare left.
(Check it out if you want, it takes a certain type to enjoy it...among AUers, I can almost imagine Stephen M (LTR) alone liking it, and even then, he's far enough from NYC to make it less fun. )On Friday, Oct 30, the first official day of the Gathering, I woke (what I thought was) early, and went down to find Winnie already enjoying our hotel's complimentary (but continental) breakfast, and we were soon joined by Betty (EveryDayMatters), who paid me for her third of cab fare from the night before in dollar coins. This was great, as it got me three new presidential dollars that I didn't have before. We took the handy shuttle over to the JFK/UMass station to await the group, coming from points south. I at first panicked; We got to the station around 8:50, and Betty'd mentioned '8:45' the night before, and I was convinced 8:45 was the time our intended train would stop at the station. Turns out it had been suggested we get there by 8:45, to meet the group on a 9:10 train. So I tried to use the extra time to pre-buy an 8-zone round-trip ticket for our impending MBTA commuter trip. The first machine wouldn't read my credit card, and an unhelpfully nasty MBTA employee said 'so use the other machine!' So I did. When she saw I was getting commuter tickets, she asked 'where are you going?' I said 'commuter eventually', and she said 'well, you don't need to get offended!' I didn't think I was acting offended, but even if I had, it would be offense at not what she asked, but how she asked it. Eventually the rest of the 'southern' part of the group came along, and we made our way, after switching to Orange at Downtown crossing, to North Station, where I finally got to meet (in some cases, for the first time) what by now was almost the whole group.
Soon enough, we boarded MBTA train 113 to Rockport. This passed through some pretty and surprisingly rural scenery. On the way I took a now-famous strange picture of myself as follows: I saw something I wanted to photo, so turned on the camera, and saw on the screen the preview image cropped by diagonal black bars. I turned the camera around and discovered that the reason was the plastic bits, that cover the lens when the camera is off, had not fully opened. I thought turning it off and back on would help, but I absent-mindedly pressed the shutter button instead.
I passed the camera around to share the resulting picture, to most people's delight. The trip was great fun, as always when we gather. At Rockport, one of us accidentally discovered a Dunkin Donuts facing away from the station, and until it was time to go back to Boston, we were back and forth between the Dunkin Donuts and the station like a colony of ants who've discovered a discarded apple core. Then off on MBTA 120 back to BON, whence Orange/Red to BOS.At this point, I don't remember whether it was before or after the ClubAcela tour mentioned below, but we had a little free time, so I went out to take a few pictures of the station and surrounding area. A special treat for me was that right across the street was the Federal Reserve Bank, designed by the other of my two equally-favorite architects you've never heard of, Hugh Stubbins.. His most famous building is probably the Citigroup center in NYC (the one with the slanted roof).
At BOS, we were given a brief tour of the ClubAcela by the thoughtful Mr. Dennis Graham, who does sales and marketing for Amtrak for New England and upstate New York. For me and many others, it was the first visit to one. Mr. Graham answered a lot of our questions about things in his expertise, and someone from operations for the area answered a lot of more technical questions. While we were here, Winnie's sharp eyes noticed a mousetrap behind a podium or counter, and she excitedly pointed it out to me.
They thoughtfully preboarded us for the Acela, and off we went. Again, for me as well as perhaps others, it was my first Acela ride. AAARGH! had his GPS with him, and it indicated that, for a short distance, we did, in fact, achieve 150mph. It had a certain thrill. Surprisingly, it didn't really feel that fast, probably due to the tilting and the well-maintained tracks. The consist (now correct thanks to Alan's sharp eyes) was 2023, 3404, 3535, 3311, 3501, 3521, 3201, 2025 (i.e. 'set 18').
At PVD, we were met by the_traveler, who'd brought a box full of small containers of Rhode Island chowder, which was excellent. I'm no chowder expert, but the principal difference I noticed from the more familiar New England kind is that the broth is more translucent than opaque white.
I went outside for a bit and was pleased to discover that the attractive RI state Capitol is right across the hall from the station, so I was taking a few pictures when Micah and his mom came out, and he graciously offered to take some pictures of me and the Capitol, with his better camera and knowledge of what makes a good picture. He variously stood and knelt, and asked me to move back and forth, turn this way and that, etc., and I was vaguely aware of him having taken perhaps five pictures. He proudly announced that he'd taken seventy-five. This shows the difference between users of very good vs consumer-level cameras like mine: They'll take 75 pictures and keep 5; I'll take 6 pictures and keep 5.
Then it was MBTA 822 back only as far as BBY, whence a very short walk to dinner, at Joe's American Bar and Grill. I quite enjoyed this restaurant...well-decorated, fun but not raucously loud, and...er...attractive waiters. One of the specials was an excellent ravioli, which I, AAARGH!, and several others nearby had. Butternut squash ravioli, in a cream sauce with prosciutto and candied walnuts. Very tasty.
It was during dinner that I discovered that I was dumb in booking the Downeaster in business, because I'd be alone. AAARGH! volunteered to go with me at least on the way up, partially as a reward for the upgrade coupon I was going to give him. (I'd brought my S+ four with me, intending to give them to whomever, as Surfliner upgrades are relatively cheap). No, he didn't use the coupon to upgrade the Downeaster...that would be an absurd use of one. No, he was leaving BOS on Sunday on 2255, and was going to upgrade that. I happened not to have any with me, so what he, saxman, and I worked out was that saxman would give AAARGH! one of the ones he had on his person, which I'd replace the next day. saxman also needed to retrieve his luggage and diesteldorf's from BOS, so the three of us went over there together after dinner. As we were leaving, I panicked as I realized I didn't know whether Betty and Winnie knew how to get back to the hotel. This panic ended when I finally realized they weren't even at dinner with us.
The ride to BOS was good in that instead of Orange/Red, we did Green/Red, giving me at least a token short ride on the Green Line.The left-/checked-luggage area is in a surprisingly remote place near track 13. After we'd gotten the luggage, and AAARGH! upgraded his Acela ticket with the coupon, and his Downeaster ticket with cash, we all parted to go sleep.
Next in Part 5: the Downeaster.
Last edited by a moderator:
