had8ley
Engineer
My 11 year old grand daughter and I could not have picked a better nor a worse day (Saturday the 19th) to travel from Slidell, LA to Atlanta on # 20 and return the next day (Sunday) on #19. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. on the day of out trip to our house shaking from lightning and pounding rain torrents. I was hoping that the torrential rains would cease before we departed for Slidell at 6:45 a.m.; but the rain only seemed to get worse. We rode through lightning strikes that seemed to light the sky the entire way. We pulled up to the Amtrak station hoping to put the baggage inside and than I could drive around to the parking lot. Unfortunately, whether by design or accident, someone removed the handle from the front door of the station. The Slidell waiting room is in the middle of a very nicely renovated ex-Southern brick depot. It is very long and houses a beignet (donut) shop on the south end and a thriving hamburger chain called the Times on the north end.
We pulled into the parking lot and ran the 50 yards or so to the waiting room. Needless to say, we got drenched. I was very surprised when the southbound signal went yellow on the main track at 7:50 a.m. as I was almost certain that the weather would hold #20 up. We were hoping that #20 would make a double spot to pick us up as we were in the sleeper on the head end of the train. No such luck on this day. We trudged 5 car lengths to the sleeper. At Slidell the asphalt ends at the end of the depot. The sleepers usually stop three cars north of the depot. What I did not realize was we had to walk through six inches of mud and water. When we got to the sleeper door the attendant Marci was there to greet us. She told me later she was 67 and wasn't about to miss a trip. I wish we had more Marcis! She had a newspaper on the couch; water in the receptacles and pillows laid out. She even called my grand daughter by name and was very congenial to her. We felt warm just getting to see her smiling face. The only question I asked her was one that I should have probaly known better not to ask; "Is the diner open yet", to which I got the standard reply, "No, not yet but I'll come get you." Sure enough, as we were pulling into Picayune she came through with first call to breakfast. (Bear in mind Picayune is over an hour away from New Orleans and breakfast wasn't called until 8:30 a.m.)
This was the only negative part of our trip. I wish I could forget about it but it did happen. We were met at the door of the diner by the LSA who pointed to two seats at the first table in the diner. Mind you, we don't mind community seating, but the LSA had the door propped open in 30 degree weather. I tried closing it and he just re-opened it which should have been fair warning. The diner was one of the ones that had escaped a face lift so we were technically in the lounge section of an old diner lounge almost sitting in the vestibule (or as close as one can get sitting at table 11.) I tried to plea that I was wet to my pants kness and that my grand daughter was soaked and that we did not want to sit next to an open door. His response was a very surly, "Sit there or you don't get service. " We sat down and introduced ourselves to two wonderful ladies who had treated themselves to a New Orleans vacation and were headed back to Birmingham. They also told us that the LSA was also rude and arrogant when they were seated. I watched as few people showed up for breakfast; the LSA sat on the kitchen end on his cell phone while the lone SA walked the entire length of the car to serve breakfast. After a little tete to tete we came to an agreement about just where we would prefer to sit for lunch. Enough about that.
The new menu is FANTASTIC! The apple filled chicken links are to die for and I mean it. We tried everything on the menu, save the Continental, which is the standard cereal, banana, yogurt and croissant or biscuit. The omelets and egg selections were superb and I dare say hotel restaurant quality. The French Toast was good as was the Belgian waffle. The only thing we did not try was a "Breakfast Pizza." We saw one and were half-heartedly glad we skipped it. Reading over the menu I could not wait until lunch. What happened next blew us away...it started snowing south of Hattiesburg which is about a once in 10 year experience. What we did not realize that the wet snow was caking up on the bottom of the train. We set off two hot box machines with "dragging equipment" indications. I felt sorry for the train crew as they tried to remove some of the packed snow hoping they wouldn't have to walk the train again. We arrived in Meridian (a crew change point) to a driving snow storm. The station sign was coated with snow so much so that you could not read the town name. My grand daughter did manage to get off a couple of snow balls in my direction before the familiar toot-toot put us back on board.
Lunch had appetizers of chicken wings (with celery and dressing) and chips and salsa. There is a "Build your own Burger~ beef, vegetarian or turkey. There is a salad that my grand-daughter said was OK on #20 but fantastic on #19. I guess the chef makes a big difference as the food on the return trip definitely had some added flair. The desserts made all the difference in the world. There was an ice cream cheese cake that was coated with a creme brule coating that I have never experienced before. It was probably the best that I have ever tasted. The ice cream (both vanilla and chocolate) was indeed Haagen-Dazs but at four ounces to a very small cup it was just enough to tease your palate.
We returned to our warm room and finished drying our clothes. It was wonderful to see all the pines bending towards the ground almost begging for relief from the mounds of wet snow on their fronds. I caught up on some reading while the younger set caught up on a movie on her DVD player. Unfortunately the snow completely stopped before we got to Birmingham. We saw some on the ground but nothing to compare to what we saw in Mississippi.
We decided on an early dinner to insure that we were able to try the "New" Flat Iron steak. We were not disappointed. The steak melted in our mouths and the baked potato was actually of a size larger that used to be served with the New York strips of yesteryear. The Roast game Hen looked very inviting. The one entree we did not see was the fish; it was talapia and we thought that we could do better with fish at home. The "Build your own burger" was also on the evening menu for those who did not want to stomach the $21 for the steak. The salads are actually mixed greens and very tasty; a welcome change from the old wilted iceburg lettuce with a cherry tomato thrown in for color. The cake selections were the most fantastic since the New York Central used to bake pies on board. There was a red velvet cake with non parells that was truly amazing. They also offered the cheese cake and a lemon totre which I tried and enjoyed. For the first time in many trips we passed on the ice cream. More on the return trip later...
We pulled into the parking lot and ran the 50 yards or so to the waiting room. Needless to say, we got drenched. I was very surprised when the southbound signal went yellow on the main track at 7:50 a.m. as I was almost certain that the weather would hold #20 up. We were hoping that #20 would make a double spot to pick us up as we were in the sleeper on the head end of the train. No such luck on this day. We trudged 5 car lengths to the sleeper. At Slidell the asphalt ends at the end of the depot. The sleepers usually stop three cars north of the depot. What I did not realize was we had to walk through six inches of mud and water. When we got to the sleeper door the attendant Marci was there to greet us. She told me later she was 67 and wasn't about to miss a trip. I wish we had more Marcis! She had a newspaper on the couch; water in the receptacles and pillows laid out. She even called my grand daughter by name and was very congenial to her. We felt warm just getting to see her smiling face. The only question I asked her was one that I should have probaly known better not to ask; "Is the diner open yet", to which I got the standard reply, "No, not yet but I'll come get you." Sure enough, as we were pulling into Picayune she came through with first call to breakfast. (Bear in mind Picayune is over an hour away from New Orleans and breakfast wasn't called until 8:30 a.m.)
This was the only negative part of our trip. I wish I could forget about it but it did happen. We were met at the door of the diner by the LSA who pointed to two seats at the first table in the diner. Mind you, we don't mind community seating, but the LSA had the door propped open in 30 degree weather. I tried closing it and he just re-opened it which should have been fair warning. The diner was one of the ones that had escaped a face lift so we were technically in the lounge section of an old diner lounge almost sitting in the vestibule (or as close as one can get sitting at table 11.) I tried to plea that I was wet to my pants kness and that my grand daughter was soaked and that we did not want to sit next to an open door. His response was a very surly, "Sit there or you don't get service. " We sat down and introduced ourselves to two wonderful ladies who had treated themselves to a New Orleans vacation and were headed back to Birmingham. They also told us that the LSA was also rude and arrogant when they were seated. I watched as few people showed up for breakfast; the LSA sat on the kitchen end on his cell phone while the lone SA walked the entire length of the car to serve breakfast. After a little tete to tete we came to an agreement about just where we would prefer to sit for lunch. Enough about that.
The new menu is FANTASTIC! The apple filled chicken links are to die for and I mean it. We tried everything on the menu, save the Continental, which is the standard cereal, banana, yogurt and croissant or biscuit. The omelets and egg selections were superb and I dare say hotel restaurant quality. The French Toast was good as was the Belgian waffle. The only thing we did not try was a "Breakfast Pizza." We saw one and were half-heartedly glad we skipped it. Reading over the menu I could not wait until lunch. What happened next blew us away...it started snowing south of Hattiesburg which is about a once in 10 year experience. What we did not realize that the wet snow was caking up on the bottom of the train. We set off two hot box machines with "dragging equipment" indications. I felt sorry for the train crew as they tried to remove some of the packed snow hoping they wouldn't have to walk the train again. We arrived in Meridian (a crew change point) to a driving snow storm. The station sign was coated with snow so much so that you could not read the town name. My grand daughter did manage to get off a couple of snow balls in my direction before the familiar toot-toot put us back on board.
Lunch had appetizers of chicken wings (with celery and dressing) and chips and salsa. There is a "Build your own Burger~ beef, vegetarian or turkey. There is a salad that my grand-daughter said was OK on #20 but fantastic on #19. I guess the chef makes a big difference as the food on the return trip definitely had some added flair. The desserts made all the difference in the world. There was an ice cream cheese cake that was coated with a creme brule coating that I have never experienced before. It was probably the best that I have ever tasted. The ice cream (both vanilla and chocolate) was indeed Haagen-Dazs but at four ounces to a very small cup it was just enough to tease your palate.
We returned to our warm room and finished drying our clothes. It was wonderful to see all the pines bending towards the ground almost begging for relief from the mounds of wet snow on their fronds. I caught up on some reading while the younger set caught up on a movie on her DVD player. Unfortunately the snow completely stopped before we got to Birmingham. We saw some on the ground but nothing to compare to what we saw in Mississippi.
We decided on an early dinner to insure that we were able to try the "New" Flat Iron steak. We were not disappointed. The steak melted in our mouths and the baked potato was actually of a size larger that used to be served with the New York strips of yesteryear. The Roast game Hen looked very inviting. The one entree we did not see was the fish; it was talapia and we thought that we could do better with fish at home. The "Build your own burger" was also on the evening menu for those who did not want to stomach the $21 for the steak. The salads are actually mixed greens and very tasty; a welcome change from the old wilted iceburg lettuce with a cherry tomato thrown in for color. The cake selections were the most fantastic since the New York Central used to bake pies on board. There was a red velvet cake with non parells that was truly amazing. They also offered the cheese cake and a lemon totre which I tried and enjoyed. For the first time in many trips we passed on the ice cream. More on the return trip later...
