North Carolina Spring trip - Planes, Buses and Trains, April 2024

Well, it was time for what has become my bi-annual (Spring and Fall) trip to NC to visit my son. We confirmed a range of dates that would work for him, and I initially started the planning thinking it would be fun to take the Capitol Limited from TOL-WAS and then take one of the possibilities out of there to either Raleigh, Cary, or Durham, all of which have excellent connecting GoTriangle and city bus service to a variety of destinations. The fares on the Cap were high, though, on the dates I checked, and the flights out of DTW were actually favorable for the same dates, so I could use my flight benefits and get there for nothing. The original plan was to leave on Friday evening and stay for a long weekend. But home circumstances being what they were, I wasn't able to leave Friday. Then, also not able to leave Saturday. I kept nervously checking flights and train fares, the situation stayed consistent with flight options being open, and the last minute trains expensive. Normally, Saturday flights are much better for using space available benefits, traditionally I avoid Sundays like the plague. This particular Sunday morning there were several options open out of DTW. (Provided one left on the earliest flights). I had decided to connect in PHL, destination being Raleigh, RDU airport. However, the connection out of PHL was not as favorable. Plus, the long layover time made it less appealing. So I listed for Charlotte (CLT), noting the CLT-RDU connections were also mostly full. CLT is a great option for its Amtrak connections, though, and I was arriving early enough at CLT that I could book the Piedmont to Durham. This does require about an hour of bus travel once you get to CLT, with a free transfer downtown, after doing this the first time it was not intimidating at all. And if you are 62 or over it is half fare! While I do recommend looking at the CATS website (Charlotte Area Transit) it is easier to navigate the system by riding it, in my opinion. Just be sure to allow time. For the Piedmont booking, a couple dollars more gives you the option to cancel without penalty (before departure time). Sunday must be a busy day for the NC services, there was only one seat left on the early afternoon train at time of booking, with trains mostly sold out until the evening departure. Plan in place, packed my bag Saturday night, set my alarm for 4 am and relished the 4 hours of sleep. Woke up in the dark and the Uber driver was there early. Got to DTW, boarded the flight to CLT and slept most of the way, in a window seat with an empty middle. It is less than 2 hours from gate to gate.
Upon arrival, CLT was super busy, granted it was a Sunday but it struck me how everything appeared to be at capacity; concessions, bathrooms, gate seating areas, hallways and walkways. It's still a very pleasant airport to fly in and out of. CLT makes great use of window space and the sunlight streaming in is always enjoyed by this Michigander. I found my way to the gate for the flight to RDU and got out my laptop. There were still seats available, so I went on the Amtrak app and cancelled the Piedmont. Very short flight later and I was in RDU, catching the airport shuttle.
Next: The trip back, which did not involve planes!

Had a very pleasant time, which flew by, and it was time to return. It is getting to be customary for me to arrive in NC not knowing how I will be getting home, so some additional travel planning was in order. I was not encouraged looking at flights back to DTW. Earlier, I had looked at Amtrak out of WAS and found the Cap to be quite expensive for my original return dates, so I was looking at waiting for open flights no matter what. But then, with the change in travel dates, Friday was available, with the Roomette and TOL bus connection at low bucket, $400 or so - I think 403, can't remember exactly. Booked that immediately and figured I'd find an open flight to get to WAS by Thursday. There was some weather on the Wednesday covering a fairly wide area, maybe that complicated things but wouldn't you know, the Amtrak Carolinian had seats available in both Coach and Business. I decided that Thursday could be both a travel day and a work-from-the-train day, with less stress and completely avoiding airports on the return. It also made me less sad leaving, having the train adventures to look forward to. So Wednesday morning, pulled up to the Durham train station cutting it a little too close, just a few minutes before departure time (Note to self: do not do that ever again) and there was not even time to go inside the station to wait. People were already lining up on the platform!

Gave the Lyft driver a 50% tip and hurried over to the platform. You can access it either through the station building or outside from the parking lot and back door. Oh, there's a bus to the Durham train station but I decided the extra sleep was worth the cost of the rideshare. It was partly cloudy, on the chilly side but nice with a jacket. The platform is very long at Durham; incomprehensible announcements were coming over the PA about where to wait for what destination. Twice other passengers asked me where they should wait, I had to admit I had no idea. The signage didn't make sense. Usually BC is at the end of the train so I waited there, with others, figuring there's safety in numbers and the train isn't going to leave a crowd even if we are at the wrong door. Well, as is also my custom, I guessed incorrectly, and when the Carolinian pulled up, the Conductor directed me to the opposite end of the train. Almost everyone was boarded so I made haste down that platform, suitcase in tow. I was the last to board the BC car and made my way to assigned seat 13C, almost the last row but not quite. The very last 2 rows are 4 seaters with a table, both were occupied by 2 couples. Nice feature. The car itself was not full, in fact, most single riders, including myself, had an empty seat next to them. The train was rolling as I started to get settled in. The ride to DC was lovely, save for a couple of interesting interactions with other passengers, which I will recount below.
For today, the plan was to attend 3 meetings, via Zoom, in listen-only mode. I didn't have to speak at all (beyond hello and bye for one of them). I cleaned the tray table and got out my laptop, pushing the curtain forward to find the outlet. This prompted one of those interactions. The man seated in front of me immediately yelled "HEY HEY HEY!" at me. Confused, I said, "But you pushed the curtain back into my space, I was looking for the outlet." This didn't diffuse the situation at all; in fact, he got angrier, and said even louder that it was HIS SPACE. There was not any further conversation, I could see right away there would be no point, and he also promptly reclined his seat back all the way, no doubt to teach me a lesson, and kept it there the entire trip, even for the times he was away from his seat. This made it awkward to have my laptop on the tray table, nothing that couldn't be managed, but unnecessary meanness on his part. When he was out of his seat, I got up and took a look at his row. The curtain was broken, which was part of the problem, and he had a smaller window, which meant the broken curtain did obscure more of his view. If it was a flub on my part, no excuse for his reaction, regardless. He was inconsiderate in other ways, too, such as standing in the aisle to sneeze into the open air, and talking loudly on his cell phone. I learned a few things about his negative interactions in a health care setting. My sympathy to whoever dealt with him there. At least he didn't have it on speakerphone so that the other party wasn't being broadcast without their knowledge. I also suspect he went and asked a conductor to check my ticket, although they change conductors on that route so I'm not positive, but the circumstances for that were suspicious. Oh well, enough about him. After texting all these details to our family group chat, I watched the NC scenery for a while before going to get a cup of coffee. The attendant gave me both a water bottle and the coffee. It's one of life's joys to enjoy that piping hot cup looking out of a train window, but I had lost track of time and my 1100 meeting was about to start. There was nowhere to safely park the coffee so I went back to the restroom to pour it out in the sink. A man walking behind me provided the second unpleasant interaction. Both bathroom doors were open and I reached into the first one to pour out the drink and he said, "There is a garbage can right there!" pointing to the wall. This was confusing, the cup would leak liquid into the trash? Then he added, "I was going into the bathroom!" I wanted to say, "I wasn't stopping you!" but I decided to say nothing other than a perfunctory apology. Besides, it was almost 11 and I had to hurry back to my seat. I plugged in my headphones and connected to the meeting. The internet worked very well for almost the entire trip, only becoming unstable a couple of times. There was one meeting where I had the camera on, and one of the other attendees commented that it looked like I was on a train, with the scenery going by I tell you what, it might be a 7 hour journey but it really did not feel like it. Between working, meetings, and just plain watching the world outside, 4:30 pm soon arrived and we were approaching Washington. It was time to pack up. All I had to account for was my laptop, cord, phone, and the water bottle.

And here we are in Washington! Having been here not that long ago, this time I remembered how to find the Metro station and buy the ticket. My hotel was a Crowne Plaza in College Park, which was booked in points and cash, as one of the only affordable options I could find, and it wasn't what you would call close to the Metro, but there was a connecting bus at the Greenbelt station that stopped near the hotel.

There was not time for sightseeing, it was already evening when I arrived at the hotel, and I had brought a sandwich for dinner from the Pret store in the train station. After that the plan was getting cleaned up and a good night's sleep. There were several events going on at the hotel and the elevator was crowded but once settled in for the night I didn't hear anything and the room was heavenly. In the morning I had breakfast in the hotel and checked out close to the normal departure time of 11:00. Since it was quite nice outside, I skipped the bus connection and walked to the Greenbelt Metro. Apple Maps called it 1.2 miles, seemed about right, with a twisting sidewalk that included a pedestrian bridge. I enjoyed the walk, with only a fairly light wheeled suitcase, but it wouldn't be practical with a lot of luggage or in inclement weather.

It was a beautiful day in Washington. I checked in at the Metro lounge and stored my bag in the room behind the front counter. This being Saturday, I had no worries about accessing email. I stayed in the lounge for a few minutes, they have all the niceties including a fancy coffee machine and a carbonated water dispenser, as well as various treats. The Redcaps move through the lounge prior to each departure to pre-board those needing assistance, very well organized. I was ready to go out on a long walk prior to being on a long train trip!

I had a water bottle from the lounge and a Kind bar to enjoy during an unstructured hike around the vicinity of the station. It was a beautiful day! At one point, it being me, I got a little lost trying to find a workaround avoiding a bridge that was going to close, and found a security guard who directed me to a different entrance off to the side of the station, it was interesting as it was a main entrance for the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) with an escalator off to the left side that connected to the station via a short walkway. It was approximately an hour before departure so still okay time-wise. Collecting my bag, I saw the Redcaps were already taking their customers out to the Capitol, and the attendant shortly called us for boarding. We all walked out along the track and the SCAs were waiting at the doors for us. My room was in the Transdorm at the very end, and this time, the car was clean and tidy (by Amtrak standards, I still disinfect the surfaces). We were soon rolling out of DC, right on time.

The friendly SCA, Tim, soon came around to take dinner orders. We were given the option of having dinner in the lounge, and maybe I should do that more but it seems as if the SCAs and LSAs have developed systems that work so I just go with the flow. It is also perfectly nice to enjoy dinner in the roomette. I'm not vegan/vegetarian but sometimes the meatless options on the menu are good to try, and they are more apt to run out of the beef and chicken in my experience. The vegetarian kabobs were exceptionally tasty and probably loaded with additives but I didn't bring anything and you know, it was just one processed meal. A light meal was in order anyway with a 430 wakeup time. The early morning bus connection out of Toledo to the Michigan cities is not a lark, but it is a cost savings compared to going to Chicago, and offers a further advantage of arriving in Detroit, Ann Arbor or Lansing early in the day which can save having to burn a vacation day if everything is on time. After dinner I got cleaned up for bed, the bathrooms in our car were clean and mostly functional. Mostly. At one point the SCA advised us to not use the toilet in one of them as the flushing mechanism had stopped working; but the rest of the toilets in our car were unaffected. I got the bed ready without help, and set my phone alarm. It's not quite as relaxing knowing you have to be up so early, it was still a typical lovely Amtrak night in a roomette, waking occasionally to see different stations. Here is Cleveland at 3 o clock in the morning...

And soon, that alarm went off. I wanted to be awake before the SCA (Tim??) came around so I could get coffee. Upon leaving DC, there was a full pot of fresh coffee in our car; which is probably nice for crew members starting their work day. Sure as heck I avoid caffeine after late morning! This early, there was not one ready in our car, so I went to the next sleeper and got a cup there. I had packed up what little there was to pack and just sat back on the bed sipping the coffee, until Tim notified us we would be arriving Toledo in 25 minutes and right on time. There was a good number of us who disembarked there and went inside the station to wait for the connecting bus. Toledo has that spacious waiting room with sufficient seating every time I've been there. The Lake Shore Limited also offers a connection to the same bus, so arriving on that train you have a bit less wait time, and a bit more sleep time. The bus is set up to depart a half hour after the LSL gets to TOL. Amtrak appears to contract with a variety of bus operators for this service; it used to always be Indian Trails. This time, the driver thanked us for riding Miller Transport services. In any case, I was so happy to have had another opportunity to take a Superliner trip on a low bucket fare. Incidentally, the double points promotion made this even better of a deal. This will probably be it for train travel for the spring/summer, as the fares go up once school is out, thanks for reading and I look forward to reading about your adventures too!

Michigan Mom,

Once again, thank you so much for another fascinating trip report. Unlike you, we’re not at all clever in coming up with travel arrangements at the last minute. Nor are we brave enough to undertake a trip to a distant city without knowing for sure how we will be getting home. The fact that you take this in stride and are ultimately able to reach your intended destination and then make it back home safely continues to amaze us. (Even with confirmed reservations and guaranteed connections, traveling long-distance via Amtrak is enough to create feelings of excitement, tension (and sometimes anxiety) within the average person!)

We were sorry to hear that you had to contend with a few mean-spirited, boorish people but, you apparently didn’t let it ruin your trip.

Again, thank you sharing your experiences with the rest of us.

Eric & Pat

As always, your trip reports are enjoyable and well written.

Have a great Spring and Summer up there in Pure Michigan, which is wonderful to visit in the Summer!

As always, these comments are very much appreciated. I try to "give back" as I have greatly enjoyed the reports from others for years. The travelogues posted by other AUers have been one of my favorite hobbies, and have resulted in the train adventures enjoyed with my children when they were young, and even now as they are adults, and even by myself.

Another great and thorough report!

IMHO, a well-written trip report that is up front in describing all that happened (including how one had to deal with some of the not-so-nice aspects of the trip) is more likely to be believed by the average person than any Amtrak advertisement dreamed up by Madison Avenue flacks who would probably never consider traveling by train themselves. The enthusiasm that we all feel for being able to travel by train usually shines though in the trip reports that are posted here. If Amtrak could somehow find a way to make these trip reports available to its potential customers, these reports could prove to be a powerful motivation to at least consider the train as a possible travel option.