Even though our winter here in Baltimore had been mild this year, we decided we wanted to get a head start on summer by going down to Florida for a few days. We had a good time visiting Miami Beach eight year ago, and thought we'd try it again. Last time we went down on the Silver Meteor, but the transfers to the rental car facilities at the Miami Airport were a bit cumbersome. So this time we decided to try the Auto Train. OK, so Google Maps says it's a 4 hour drive from Sanford to Miami Beach, it can't be that bad, can it? And we wouldn't have to pay for a rental car. Oh yes, it was that bad. The traffic in southern Florida needs to be seen to believed. Much worse than it was 8 years ago, and it was pretty bad then. And even in central Florida, where the traffic was more manageable, some of the local driving habits, mostly involving driving more aggressively than anything I've ever experienced in New York City, took a little getting used to. But it was nice to be able to go swimming in March, and we always enjoy the international vibe of Miami Beach, which is almost like taking an overseas vacation without leaving the country.
If we did it again, though, I think we'd just take the SIlver meteor or Star to Miami, dispense with the rental car, and take a cab or rideshare directly to our hotel. The we'd spend our time on the beach or using ride share or a bus to get to places in Miami Beach. Any trips to any outlying areas would be done with either a short-term car rental or a bus tour, like the trip we took to Key West the last time. Hopefully we would be able to leave the Miami area early enough and return late enough to avoid the traffic.
We left Baltimore on a nice sunny day at about 11:00. We figured it would take us about an hour and a half to get to Lorton, and then we wanted to eat lunch before checking in. It turns out there is a newsstand at the station that sells some light refreshments, but I'm glad we had a regular lunch at a Panera's around the corner from the entrance to the station. We checked in at about 1:15 so we had about 2 hours to wait in the station until they boarded the train at 3:30 PM. When you check in they give you a number (with a little corresponding magnetized plate for the car). The you check in at the ticket counter where you pick your dinner seating (5, 7, and 9 PM) and you get a paper boarding pass and tickets for dinner. You need these to get on the train and get fed. Keep them safe.
Given that lots of people spend time waiting a couple of hours both before departure and after arrival (you have to wait until they unload your car), I'm surprised that Amtrak didn't put more attention to having comfortable seating in the waiting room, maybe something more on the order of a Metropolitan lounge; even if there's no need for free food, a nice comfy seat would definitely be appreciated. In any even, I got up walked outside (fortunately it was in the 50s) checked out the trains and was entertained by watching the locomotives back into the front.
It was finally time to board. Our adult daughter was coming down with us (though flying back early on her won), so I reserved a bedroom and a roomette. When we made the reservation the roomette was in a different car than the bedroom, but, without our knowledge until we checked in, they moved the roomette to be in the same car. We were in room B, which was fine. My daughter was happy with the roomette, and despite the tight clearances, she had the upper berth set up so she could sleep above and sit during the evening, which is what I do on a Viewliner, but wouldn't bother in a Superliner because of the lack of windows and tight spaces. My daughter said she liked it and called the arrangement "cozy." I was glad I picked the more spacious bedroom.
At dinner we enjoyed the only traditional dining west of the Mississippi (if you don't count the couple of miles that the Sunset Limited runs on the east side of the river while going into New Orleans). The train was much more crowded than any Amtrak long-distance train I've ever ridden, something like 500 passengers on board, split about half and half between sleepers and coaches. There train was carrying about 250 cars, and the train length was somewhere about 30 cars long. When it rounded a curve, you could see the seemingly endless line of autoracks trailing behind us making us look more like a PSR freight train than a passenger train. The dinner wasn't bad, but pretty basic. Only 4 menu choices, plus a small salad and a dessert. The desserts were great. I had the Meyer Lemon cake on the way down and the chocolate toffee mousse on the way back. Apparently, there's a white chocolate blueberry cheesecake that's popular among regulars, but that was out of stock, news that was greeted with general disappointment. To compensate, on the southbound trip, the crew offered unlimited refills on wine, which seems to have eased the pain a little.
Breakfast was a more simplified affair. They put out on each table a banana, a coffee crumb cake (good), cereal (Raisin Bran, Special K, or Cheerios), and Orange juice. They brought you a breakfast sandwich (egg and cheese or egg, sausage and cheese) and coffee. They also had a grab and go of the same items available in the sleeper lounge. I didn't really use the sleeper lounge, as I had a private stock of spirits which I enjoyed in my room. Most of the sleepers had ice available from a pull-out drawer.
We finished breakfast as we rolled past Jacksonville, and arrived in Sanford about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. When the train arrives, you have to stay in your car for a bot, as they need to disconnect the autoracks, and separate the coaches form the sleepers. The coaches are then pulled to another track, as the platform isn't long enough for all the passenger cars. They finally let you off, and then it's time for sitting around waiting for them to call the number of your car. When they do, you've got to go out promptly, load your stuff in, and drive away pretty quickly so the space is cleared for the next car. We ended up waiitng about 45 minutes for our car, and then we were called. Out we went, enjoying the nice sunny 75 degree weather, and then we were driving off waiting for our Florida adventure.
If we did it again, though, I think we'd just take the SIlver meteor or Star to Miami, dispense with the rental car, and take a cab or rideshare directly to our hotel. The we'd spend our time on the beach or using ride share or a bus to get to places in Miami Beach. Any trips to any outlying areas would be done with either a short-term car rental or a bus tour, like the trip we took to Key West the last time. Hopefully we would be able to leave the Miami area early enough and return late enough to avoid the traffic.
We left Baltimore on a nice sunny day at about 11:00. We figured it would take us about an hour and a half to get to Lorton, and then we wanted to eat lunch before checking in. It turns out there is a newsstand at the station that sells some light refreshments, but I'm glad we had a regular lunch at a Panera's around the corner from the entrance to the station. We checked in at about 1:15 so we had about 2 hours to wait in the station until they boarded the train at 3:30 PM. When you check in they give you a number (with a little corresponding magnetized plate for the car). The you check in at the ticket counter where you pick your dinner seating (5, 7, and 9 PM) and you get a paper boarding pass and tickets for dinner. You need these to get on the train and get fed. Keep them safe.
Given that lots of people spend time waiting a couple of hours both before departure and after arrival (you have to wait until they unload your car), I'm surprised that Amtrak didn't put more attention to having comfortable seating in the waiting room, maybe something more on the order of a Metropolitan lounge; even if there's no need for free food, a nice comfy seat would definitely be appreciated. In any even, I got up walked outside (fortunately it was in the 50s) checked out the trains and was entertained by watching the locomotives back into the front.
It was finally time to board. Our adult daughter was coming down with us (though flying back early on her won), so I reserved a bedroom and a roomette. When we made the reservation the roomette was in a different car than the bedroom, but, without our knowledge until we checked in, they moved the roomette to be in the same car. We were in room B, which was fine. My daughter was happy with the roomette, and despite the tight clearances, she had the upper berth set up so she could sleep above and sit during the evening, which is what I do on a Viewliner, but wouldn't bother in a Superliner because of the lack of windows and tight spaces. My daughter said she liked it and called the arrangement "cozy." I was glad I picked the more spacious bedroom.
At dinner we enjoyed the only traditional dining west of the Mississippi (if you don't count the couple of miles that the Sunset Limited runs on the east side of the river while going into New Orleans). The train was much more crowded than any Amtrak long-distance train I've ever ridden, something like 500 passengers on board, split about half and half between sleepers and coaches. There train was carrying about 250 cars, and the train length was somewhere about 30 cars long. When it rounded a curve, you could see the seemingly endless line of autoracks trailing behind us making us look more like a PSR freight train than a passenger train. The dinner wasn't bad, but pretty basic. Only 4 menu choices, plus a small salad and a dessert. The desserts were great. I had the Meyer Lemon cake on the way down and the chocolate toffee mousse on the way back. Apparently, there's a white chocolate blueberry cheesecake that's popular among regulars, but that was out of stock, news that was greeted with general disappointment. To compensate, on the southbound trip, the crew offered unlimited refills on wine, which seems to have eased the pain a little.
Breakfast was a more simplified affair. They put out on each table a banana, a coffee crumb cake (good), cereal (Raisin Bran, Special K, or Cheerios), and Orange juice. They brought you a breakfast sandwich (egg and cheese or egg, sausage and cheese) and coffee. They also had a grab and go of the same items available in the sleeper lounge. I didn't really use the sleeper lounge, as I had a private stock of spirits which I enjoyed in my room. Most of the sleepers had ice available from a pull-out drawer.
We finished breakfast as we rolled past Jacksonville, and arrived in Sanford about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. When the train arrives, you have to stay in your car for a bot, as they need to disconnect the autoracks, and separate the coaches form the sleepers. The coaches are then pulled to another track, as the platform isn't long enough for all the passenger cars. They finally let you off, and then it's time for sitting around waiting for them to call the number of your car. When they do, you've got to go out promptly, load your stuff in, and drive away pretty quickly so the space is cleared for the next car. We ended up waiitng about 45 minutes for our car, and then we were called. Out we went, enjoying the nice sunny 75 degree weather, and then we were driving off waiting for our Florida adventure.
One of the nice things about Miami Beach is that there's a public path the follows the beach between the dunes and hotels. So there's public access to the whole beach, and it's a nice promenade rather than an *****-tonk boardwalk. I did a half hour walk in the morning both days before we did anything else.
