caravanman
Engineer
Hi Folks,
My autumn (fall) 2007 train trip was just over 12,000 miles. This is a brief personal record of that trip.
Arrived at Chicago Airport from London about 5pm, and took the blue line train into town. Staying at the youth hostel in Chicago was an experience.. 12 to a dorm, and both of my dormitories weirdo guys were going to be sleeping near my bunk. I guess I am just lucky like that..
Walked to the Union station and bought my rail pass, and booked the onward train for the next night, down to New Orleans, and the second train, New Orleans to Los Angeles, both with a sleeper roomette, as the roomettes were available at the lowest bucket rate.
Back to the hostel, almost sleepwalking by now, and so to bed..
Free breakfast and a view of the elevated railway passing the hostel windows.
Bought an all day pass CTA pass at the hostel reception, handed in a purse I found left by someone in the computer room, and departed, walking back to the station. Dumped my small bag in the lounge, and set off for a look around. I often buy an all day ticket in major cities, and just board random buses to sightsee, and this is what I did today. I was killing time and having fun. I ended up with a mix of buses and walking, mostly around the central area. I am a great fan of Chicago, and took many photo’s. From the Hancock tower on an earlier visit, I had seen what looked like a ship, aground, on the lakeshore. A longish walk to it proved it was a mock up, just a beach front shop and café, closed up.
I was impressed by an elderly gent who was walking towards me, all smartly dressed in black cowboy gear, with a big hat. I spoke and asked “I am not sure if you are a park ranger, or a cowboy?” (I was relying on my English accent to not cause any offence) He smiled and said “neither, it is all fake”…
I was impressed by the number of people jogging along and riding cycles by the lakeside, and there is an outdoor pavilion for chess players too, which looks very stylish, I was amazed to see that it was designed in the 1950’s. I am guessing this area is the north lakeshore, not the south.
I caught the bus back into the centre, visited some shops, and bought a spare memory card for my camera. A spot of lunch, bit more sightseeing, gawping at the buildings and it was soon time to head back to Union station. Spent a pleasant hour using my new laptop, connected to the internet, had a Macdonald’s before eventually boarding the train.
There were a couple of good humoured ladies in my sleeper car, both Scandinavian, with
excellent english. I had to ask one if she had been drinking, she was so “outgoing”.
Sadly for me, I was too tired to go for dinner, and so missed their entertaining company.
I was lucky to be able to move from the lower floor room that I was allocated, to an upper roomette, as someone wanted to exchange. I did have an interesting chat to a guy before moving upstairs, he was head of the car workers union, who had just finished a one day strike!
Two cups of tea, and off to sleep!
To Be Continued...
My autumn (fall) 2007 train trip was just over 12,000 miles. This is a brief personal record of that trip.
Arrived at Chicago Airport from London about 5pm, and took the blue line train into town. Staying at the youth hostel in Chicago was an experience.. 12 to a dorm, and both of my dormitories weirdo guys were going to be sleeping near my bunk. I guess I am just lucky like that..
Walked to the Union station and bought my rail pass, and booked the onward train for the next night, down to New Orleans, and the second train, New Orleans to Los Angeles, both with a sleeper roomette, as the roomettes were available at the lowest bucket rate.
Back to the hostel, almost sleepwalking by now, and so to bed..
Free breakfast and a view of the elevated railway passing the hostel windows.
Bought an all day pass CTA pass at the hostel reception, handed in a purse I found left by someone in the computer room, and departed, walking back to the station. Dumped my small bag in the lounge, and set off for a look around. I often buy an all day ticket in major cities, and just board random buses to sightsee, and this is what I did today. I was killing time and having fun. I ended up with a mix of buses and walking, mostly around the central area. I am a great fan of Chicago, and took many photo’s. From the Hancock tower on an earlier visit, I had seen what looked like a ship, aground, on the lakeshore. A longish walk to it proved it was a mock up, just a beach front shop and café, closed up.
I was impressed by an elderly gent who was walking towards me, all smartly dressed in black cowboy gear, with a big hat. I spoke and asked “I am not sure if you are a park ranger, or a cowboy?” (I was relying on my English accent to not cause any offence) He smiled and said “neither, it is all fake”…
I was impressed by the number of people jogging along and riding cycles by the lakeside, and there is an outdoor pavilion for chess players too, which looks very stylish, I was amazed to see that it was designed in the 1950’s. I am guessing this area is the north lakeshore, not the south.
I caught the bus back into the centre, visited some shops, and bought a spare memory card for my camera. A spot of lunch, bit more sightseeing, gawping at the buildings and it was soon time to head back to Union station. Spent a pleasant hour using my new laptop, connected to the internet, had a Macdonald’s before eventually boarding the train.
There were a couple of good humoured ladies in my sleeper car, both Scandinavian, with
excellent english. I had to ask one if she had been drinking, she was so “outgoing”.
Sadly for me, I was too tired to go for dinner, and so missed their entertaining company.
I was lucky to be able to move from the lower floor room that I was allocated, to an upper roomette, as someone wanted to exchange. I did have an interesting chat to a guy before moving upstairs, he was head of the car workers union, who had just finished a one day strike!
Two cups of tea, and off to sleep!
To Be Continued...
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