# 2014 Adventure



## tonys96 (Dec 16, 2014)

We boarded the Texas Eagle on a Thursday, on time (!) at 3:40 in Dallas for our newest adventure. Margie had just had carpal tunnel surgery four weeks before this, and had meniscus surgery on her knee just the Monday before we left. However, her knee surgeon insisted that we go, he wanted her to be on her feet some and walking around, told her to use a cane to help her walk and get outta town. So we did!

We arrived at Roomette 20 in the transdorm. Our SCA (don’t remember his name) helped us get in, and that was the last we saw of him for most of the trip, which was OK. He did drop by to change the seats to beds around 10:00, and back in the morning. There was two bottles of water in the room, and he had more out by the coffee station in the regular sleeper. The LSA took our dinner rezzie right out of Dallas, and we ate when we arrived in Marshall. We both had the flat iron steak, I had baked potato, and Margie had veggies. Food was great. No salad offered. Desert was Blood Orange sherbet and cheesecake.

Returned to our roomette and I settled in with a book called “Groucho Marx, Private Eye” and Margie started playing Candy Crunch. Our room was in nighttime configuration and we just relaxed in “yin-yang” position until I crawled up top to sleep. Left her on bottom bunk due to her recent surgeries.

Woke up early on Friday morning and went to diner for breakfast right before arriving at St. Louis. She had oatmeal, I had RR French Toast and sausage. Mine was yummy, hers not so much, so she poached from my plate! We were glad to get to see the Arch while eating, got pix of it and Busch Stadium, along with the Mississippi River from the bridge as we crossed. We went to a siding on the bridge for a freight to pass us, so we had a lot of time to watch the activities on the river!

The Eagle lumbered it’s way north, and we just sat in our room and watched the world go by. It was the most relaxing time of the trip. Took photos of some of the stops, a really neat minor league baseball stadium, Silver Cross Field, and enjoyed our cozy and warm room as the mercury dropped outside. The temp control in the room actually worked!

As we arrived in Chicago, just about one hour late, we asked about a red cap, since Margie was a bit gimpy. At first all of the redcaps were gone when we got off, but we waited around a bit and one came back and got us and another couple, and off we went to the lounge. We got out two bags checked in, and the attendants were all just as nice as possible. We bundled up and took off to get some grub (we chose to bypass lunch on the train). We got info as to how to get out of Chicago Union Station, and when we got to the street it was COLD! The wind chill was 12 degrees! We went into Walgreens to get some Tums and a knit hat for Margie’s ears, and out again we went. Not being sure where Giordanos was, I went up to a guy who was freezing outside selling newspapers, gave him a dollar and asked how to find pizza, he pointed to it and we thanked him and trudged on through the cold. As we walked across the bridge over the river, we observed four morons and one nut. One of those flat bottom tourist boats came out from under the bridge with four pax and a driver/guide. In 12 degree wind chill, on the river. Hearty people or crazy people? We crossed the street and found the pizza place and got a table. Got a warm drink, and ordered a deep dish delight! When it arrived, we dug in. the Tejanita ate two slices, I ate three and we were stuffed! With warmth in our bellies we were off to go back to the train station. We would be there early, as we decided to forego a trip up the Willis Tower due to the bitter cold. Arriving at Union Station, we decided to explore a little. Walked the food court, spent some time admiring the Great Hall, and photographing it. What a wonderful room! Makes a person feel the history there, and become one with it. They were installing Christmas decorations and it was a hoot to watch! There were two guys on ladders putting big Christmas balls on the huge tree, with a lady telling them EXACLY where to put them. I mean EXACTLY. Made them move them no more than an inch a few times! Reminded me of my Mom doing that on a smaller scale on out old aluminum tree back in the early sixties! Dad just could not get them right where she wanted on the first or second tries.

We eventually made our way to the “Metro” and the Tejanita got herself a couple of happy hour drinks. Very enjoyable place, as we talked with another couple who lived there and were having after work on a Friday drinks before going home. It was the DJ’s birthday and there seemed to be a party atmosphere. We eventually made our way back to the lounge, and while waiting, along came six older Jewish folks who sat beside us. Three guys and three ladies, all waiting for the Lake Shore Limited, as were we. Now, Margie has not ever been around someone she cannot talk with, and these ladies were as outgoing as she is, so the floodgates of conversation were wide open! They were going home to Rochester, from Las Vegas. All were single, none under 75 years old, and were just a hilarious bunch. As I told you earlier, Margie was walking with a cane, as were four of these folks, so they formed a cane walking group, and shuffled around the lounge getting coffee, sodas and snacks, all while yakking and laughing so loud I was worried the attendants would come tell them to hush up.

As it became time to board the LSL, we just went to grab a red cap as a bunch. The redcaps were too smart for that, though and broke up our little group into three groups, all with other pax to minimize the shenanigans. Alas, when we boarded and were met at the door by our attendant, Mike, it happened that two of the ladies were right across from us, and the revelry started all over again. One lady wanted coffee; Mike told us we would have to go to the Club car, six cars away. SO, one of the ladies and I trudged our way there, only to arrive before it was open. We joined about 10 others and waited for the attendant to open, and the lady with me decided she wanted me to get her change for a twenty while there, and to get her a soda. So we waited, and waited, and entertained ourselves talking with the others who were waiting, and just having a fine time, until the counter was open. In the confusion and after waiting so long (about twenty minutes) we got ourselves sodas and change and made the trudge six cars back to our sleeper. Arriving there, we discovered that Margie had broken out her six mini bottles of wine, and she and the other lady had drunk four of them, while waiting for us. It was then that we realized we had forgotten the coffee! Oh, well, they all decided wine was better anyway, and they laughed and BS’ed for a couple more hours while I read more of “Groucho Marx, Private Eye” ( a great book, btw) There was only one other passenger in our car at that time, a Filipino lady who just invited herself to the party and helped finish the last two mini bottles of wine, so the attendant, Mike, just decided to let the party go on until it died on it’s own, which it did around one in the morning.

This was my first trip in a Viewliner sleeper, and I liked it. We made good use of the “cubby” and I helped the ladies across the hall make use of it also. I, again, took the top bunk, but it was so much easier to crawl up and down than in a Superliner. Also a LOT more room and the window was great!

We took on more pax in Toledo, and it had just started to snow there, but the snow became more intense along the way. We lost some time between Toledo and Cleveland, and we had breakfast in Cleveland, as the train was 70 minutes late arriving there. The snow was coming down really nicely, and was about six inches deep. I had the RR French Toast again, the Tejanita had an omelet. Both were good and filling. We departed Cleveland two hours down and by the time we got to Erie, Pa the snow was thick. Big, wet flakes were being blown horizontal by the wind. The vestibules have snow in them, but it was not a bitter cold outside. We got out in Buffalo to toss snowballs, and the snow was about a foot deep and falling, but it had let up some since Erie. The Border Patrol got on the train while we were outside, and Margie mentioned that it was nice that they did not even take a second look at her as they passed her by, since being Mexican, she got sideward glances from Border Patrol in her home city in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, but here they seemed to be not too worried about a Hispanic woman. We took two snowballs back on the train and tossed them lightly at the ladies across the hall, getting giggles and admonishments in real colorful language for doing so. Mike the attendant laughed so hard I thought he was going to pee his pants!

The ladies got off the train in Rochester, much to the chagrin of most of our car, as they were a real hoot! The Filipino girl got off in Schenectady and that just left us and a couple from England who we ate lunch with, in our car. We had gotten to talking with them while outside at Buffalo. They were visiting family in Poughkeepsie, and had been on a trip to California returning on the CZ to Chicago and the LSL back to their son in Poughkeepsie. Very nice couple. They shared a drink with Margie after lunch and we watched the snow continue to fall all the way to Albany, where the train split very quickly, and we left Albany only one hour late! After Albany, the snow stopped. Completely. When we arrived at Poughkeepsie, our English friends who shared out table at lunch (we all four had good burgers) departed with hugs and good wishes, as we saw them off the train, grabbing some fresh air outside. The Tejanita and I made our way back to an empty car, save for us and Mike. Mike was a great attendant. Always smiling and there to help. He allowed all of in the car to enjoy our trip, turning his back on our shenanigans sometimes, joining in them others. As we continued on into New York Penn Station, he came and sat in the room the ladies had occupied and chatted with us. He was off the extra board, lived in Queens, and was helping his mother out with her house payment. A really nice kid who seemed to enjoy his job. He was quick with ideas and suggestions for Margie and I about NYC, and Penn Station, and logistics about what to do when we arrived. He pointed out the George Washington Bridge to us, and grabbed he last two Diet Pepsi cans from the diner for us. As we moved on into NYC, just an hour late, Mike said this was the closest to on time the LSL had been in quite a while, he said four to five hours late was the norm, and we were close to on time, even with all the snow.

As we arrived and got off the train, Mike waited with us and pointed out the redcap he wanted us to use. He called him over, introduced us and wished us well on our visit. Mike got tipped very well, hugged Margie and we left with a handshake and good wishes for him and his Mom.

The redcap, Tony, walked us to baggage pick up, waited with us for a while and got antsy, took my baggage claim tickets and off he went. He came back in ten minutes with our bags, before anyone else on our train had gotten theirs, and told us to follow him, he would get us a cab. So we did. Tony flagged a cab who saw our luggage and told Tony that he did not have room for it, for us to get a SUV. Tony would have none of that, telling me that was why Uber was kicking the cabbie’s asses, and just started putting our small carry ons in the cab. The cabbie finally opened the trunk and there was lots of space! We tipped Tony and were off to our hotel in the City That Never Sleeps, just about 11:45 pm.

We got to our hotel just a few blocks from Penn Station (Mike had told us about the area, called it the Fashion District) and after checking in pretty quickly and dropping our gear, and putting on warmer togs, we walked out into a very chilly night to find some dinner, since there was no food after lunch on the LSL. We walked a couple of blocks down and one block up and found a pizza by the slice place open. The pizza guy and all of the customers were speaking Spanish, so Margie took over the reins and ordered us two slices, and a Diet Pepsi. Damned pizza was good! Real good. Margie liked it better than Giordanos. I didn't like it THAT much, but we got two more slices before we left. As we trudged our way back, we passed Lord and Taylor store which was all decked out for the Holidays. Beautiful. We got back to our room and wound down a bit and looked out the window to see the Empire State Building right out our window, two blocks away. Great view.

Sunday, we saw a show, “Love Letters” starring Alan Alda and Candice Bergen. Just the two of them sitting at a table reading from notebooks. The story was them reading letters between two people from age 5 till the death of one of them. Very funny, poignant, and interesting. It was certainly a rare medium very well done. After the play, we walked into a family ran Italian place that had, maybe 20 tables, and had some excellent ravioli and lasagna.

Next day, we had planned to go see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, but it was raining hard and bitter cold, so we opted to just get out whenever the rain slowed down, and we went to Bryant Park and the Public Library only. Had Mexican for dinner, and while walking back, we got about 20 minutes of impromptu live theater when a guy came running out of a Times Square store with 8 NYC Police chasing him. They tripped him and sat on him until he stopped resisting, all the while the guy’s “sister” was yelling, screaming, and videotaping the whole escapade. After handcuffing the guy, they tried to get him into a golf cart type gizmo, but he was having none of that and finally two police cars arrived with 4 more cops who finally got the guy into a cruiser for his trip to jail, with the “sister” screaming and cussing all the time until the cruiser left. The crowd then applauded the cops, and dispersed.

Flew home the next afternoon from LaGuardia, which is a really small airport for such a large city.


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## bobnjulie (Dec 16, 2014)

Great report! Thanks for sharing! Saddest part was the flying home last


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## tonys96 (Dec 17, 2014)

bobnjulie said:


> Great report! Thanks for sharing! Saddest part was the flying home last


So true.......


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## Bob Dylan (Dec 17, 2014)

Nice trip Tony! And how was the Mexican food in the Apple? For years folks in the NE looked forward to trips home to Texas and New Mexico for fixes since the Mexican joints were really bad! ( think Taco Bell with High Prices!)


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## tonys96 (Dec 17, 2014)

jimhudson said:


> Nice trip Tony! And how was the Mexican food in the Apple? For years folks in the NE looked forward to trips home to Texas and New Mexico for fixes since the Mexican joints were really bad! ( think Taco Bell with High Prices!)


Not good. As you know, Margie is Mexican, so the bar is pretty high, but they weren't close. I had a sliver of metal in my rice. Server took it and said it was a piece of the scraper used to clean pots. Gave us a free flan, which was surprisingly good.


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## Railroad Bill (Dec 17, 2014)

Enjoyed your trip report, especially your Chicago experiences and those on the LSL and in NY. We did those trips last year and thoroughly enjoyed the train ride and our tour of NYC. Your Tejanita sounds like a fun lady..


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## tonys96 (Dec 17, 2014)

Railroad Bill said:


> Enjoyed your trip report, especially your Chicago experiences and those on the LSL and in NY. We did those trips last year and thoroughly enjoyed the train ride and our tour of NYC. Your Tejanita sounds like a fun lady..


Gracias. The Tejanita is a hoot!


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## Bob Dylan (Dec 17, 2014)

Those of us who met Margie @ the Dallas AU Mini-Gathering a couple of years ago totally agree and think that Tony is dating up!! LOL


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## caravanman (Dec 18, 2014)

A very enjoyable read. You seem to be able to make the best of things, looking on the bright side, so refreshing to get an upbeat trip report!

Amusing to imagine the older folks creating mayhem on the train too!

Cheers,

Ed.


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## OlympianHiawatha (Dec 18, 2014)

Such a great article about what had to have been a really fun trip. This is one I need to keep on hand to show to folks who express no interest in being stuck on a boring train for days on end.


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## tonys96 (Dec 19, 2014)

caravanman said:


> A very enjoyable read. You seem to be able to make the best of things, looking on the bright side, so refreshing to get an upbeat trip report!
> 
> Amusing to imagine the older folks creating mayhem on the train too!
> 
> ...


Thanks! We do try to enjoy life!


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## tonys96 (Dec 19, 2014)

OlympianHiawatha said:


> Such a great article about what had to have been a really fun trip. This is one I need to keep on hand to show to folks who express no interest in being stuck on a boring train for days on end.


It was fun. Looking forward to our 2015 adventure. Whatever that may be.


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