My USA trip 2024 (part 1)

[caravanman]

Chicago Union Station is undergoing alterations, so coach passengers are asked to wait in the main hall, instead of the former waiting area.



It was not over busy this Sunday evening, there was even a “photo shoot” taking place in a quiet corner, some “fashion” promotion I guess.



There was an Amtrak employee stood at in the great hall, he periodically shouted to alert passengers of trains which were soon departing, as well as answering folk's queries. Hollering at the top of your voice in a large echoing hall is possibly not the best way to communicate information, but it saved the guy walking about...



There was a bit of customer upset when one guy who had several large bags was refused help to carry items to the train, not sure what he was entitled to? Strangely, the redcap had plenty of time to whizz around the grand hall giving a female staff member a fun ride on his cart.

We were called through to stand in line for 30 minutes, before going out to the train. I was pleased to get two seats to myself, as the train was not over busy.

Sadly, an elderly person collapsed on the platform, so we had a delayed departure. Probably nothing to do with her needlessly having to stand in a line for half an hour…

The train ride itself was very good, I was surprised to get a fair amount of sleep, glad to have the two seats to myself!



A fashionable old man, dressed for a long night in a coach seat...



I got chatting to an interesting lady from Pakistan, who was a bit confused about the train procedures, so I was able to assist her. She reward me by treating me to an Amtrak coffee.

Bus substitution again between Albany and Boston. I found it quite interesting, travelling through small towns as we called in at every station, en route.

One night at the Boston hostel, near the Chinatown area.



back to the airport for the flight to Dublin, then a change of planes and on to Manchester.



My plane from Boston, above.

That's all folks!

Thanks to all who have liked, tolerated, and commented on my rather self indulgent trip report...

 

[Maglev]

I enjoyed the trip report! It's always interesting to read your insights into American culture.

 

[caravanman]

Just a few replies to comments made... I probably would use the Irish pre clearance route again, but would not give it such weight in planning a trip again. I guess the reason larger airports like Heathrow don't do this is the amount of resources it would consume, given the finite space and how busy they are already.

I hear that Edinburgh is considering pre-clearance options.

I flew to Boston rather than to Chicago as it is a shorter flight.

I have no idea how long it takes for US citizens to pass through immigration at various airports, it can be a slog for tourists!

As to ground floor, first floor, etc, I guess I am slanting things for a US audience!

I realise that I have been quite self indulgent with this trip report. The background is that I suffered a minor stroke in February this year, and this longer trip was a test of myself to see if I could manage, to see what transpired.

I was pleased that things went as well as they did, I didn't do anything too stupid while away from home, and I have a better idea of my capabilities now.

Thanks again for putting up with my "holiday snaps" !

 

[greatwestern]

Ed,

Nice to read and "see" your adventures in the USA in September.

As you know , I travelled from Bristol to Chicago on Aer Lingus via Dublin just the day before you travelled and I experienced the same problems with the queues to get through to pre-clearance for my flight (and as a result nearly tried to board the United flight !!).

Despite my pre-clearance experience this time (and I have done it before with absolutely no problem) I felt the benefits at the other end were well worth it (subject of course to price considerations !!!).

 

[Palmland]

Thanks again for a well written and informative trip report. It sounds like you were able to regain some confidence as a solo traveler after your health concerns.

I can see why two nights in coach on the EB seemed daunting (I certainly wouldn’t try it). But, did you consider a flight to Portland and then the overnight Coast Starlight to LA?

 

[Asher]

San Diego...

Having sung the praises of Los Angeles station, I need to say that I also very much appreciate the Santa Fe station building. I feel I have arrived "down south" when I see it. Lots of tile decorative motifs.

View attachment 38425

I made my way to the hostel on Market Street. Although I have stayed here previously, I still managed to confuse myself a little, and so visited some parts of the city I had not seen before.

I was lucky to have the room completely to myself for this first night, a relative luxury in the hostel world! My room was facing busy Market Street, so lots of noise and happy revelry until the small hours, but I slept pretty well.

I bought an all day tram pass and enjoyed riding around on the system, I am easily pleased...

Next afternoon a seemingly ignorant chap arrived, he ignored my efforts to say hello, just another spin in the “room mate roulette” saga I thought.
I was awoken next morning by his alarm sounding, and thought I might as well go for an early breakfast. The guy’s alarm was still sounding when I returned afterwards and he was still asleep! I carefully touched his arm. He awoke looking quite puzzled, and it was at that point that I realised he was totally deaf, and relied on vibrations from his alarm to wake him. Not rude at all, a very intrepid traveller in fact.

I was used to seeing “street dwellers” when in Santa Monica, but the large numbers of “unwell” people out and about in the Gaslamp quarter of San Diego was truly astonishing. A fellow tourist at the hostel commented that it was “crackheads” who we were seeing everywhere. Quite a major and very sad issue…

There is a naval base here, and the aircraft carrier Midway is now a museum.

View attachment 38429

A famous newspaper photograph celebrating the end of WW2 called "Surrender" has been recreated as a huge statue.

View attachment 38430

As a supporter of female equality, I think I prefer the smaller metal statue nearby.

View attachment 38431

I enjoyed my time here, riding the trams, visiting the border, and touring the Midway aircraft carrier area.

View attachment 38432

Most hostels include a basic breakfast, bagel, cream cheese and bananas was the staple offer here. There are kitchen facilities for guests to make their own meals too. I like my porridge for breakfast, so here is a shot of my "slap up" breakfast preparations...

View attachment 38434

A nice holiday feeling here in San Diego, great weather, a very enjoyable few days.

Next stop will be Las Vegas! Gosh, looking forward to having the whole hotel room to myself for sure!

To be continued...

Sometimes scrolling thru posts on the forum on my iPad I accidentally hit reply. (I hate it when that happens) I will take the opportunity to reflect how much I enjoyed your narration and photos. I don’t get to travel much lately so I like following others. These two photos below were sent by my sons when they visited Nottingham in October. Loading music equipment into
The Boat Club and I guess the pub area.

 

[caravanman]

Ed,

Nice to read and "see" your adventures in the USA in September.

As you know , I travelled from Bristol to Chicago on Aer Lingus via Dublin just the day before you travelled and I experienced the same problems with the queues to get through to pre-clearance for my flight (and as a result nearly tried to board the United flight !!).

Despite my pre-clearance experience this time (and I have done it before with absolutely no problem) I felt the benefits at the other end were well worth it (subject of course to price considerations !!!).

Hi Ken, I think you are correct about the pre-clearance being the better option. I think I was just a bit taken aback by the long lines, and the chaotic slowness. In my mind I was expecting a brief look at my passport, and a cheery "welcome to America" from the immigration folk! We live and learn!

Thanks again for a well written and informative trip report. It sounds like you were able to regain some confidence as a solo traveler after your health concerns.

I can see why two nights in coach on the EB seemed daunting (I certainly wouldn’t try it). But, did you consider a flight to Portland and then the overnight Coast Starlight to LA?

Thank you for your kind words, indeed I do feel more confident now.

I did look at several options before making the final choices, a cheap deal at the Santa Monica hostel had some influence on the outcome!

I have been lucky to ride the Coast Starlight previously from LAX to Seattle, and have ridden in coach from Portland to Chicago in the past also.

 

[caravanman]

Sometimes scrolling thru posts on the forum on my iPad I accidentally hit reply. (I hate it when that happens) I will take the opportunity to reflect how much I enjoyed your narration and photos. I don’t get to travel much lately so I like following others. These two photos below were sent by my sons when they visited Nottingham in October. Loading music equipment into
The Boat Club and I guess the pub area.

Thank you also for your kind words, I am glad you enjoyed the trip report. The Nottingham Boat Club is famous here as a music venue! Were your sons playing there, or just happened to visit? Gosh, it is a small world isn't it!

 

[caravanman]

I enjoyed the trip report! It's always interesting to read your insights into American culture.

Glad you enjoyed it! Not sure about the depth of my insights, one can get hold of the wrong impressions when just visiting for a short while.

 

[BlackDiamond]

In 2022 on a trip to the UK and Ireland we returned from Dublin to Boston and went through the pre check. I recall the line being extremely long but it did move and we had gotten to the airport in plenty of time for our flight so I wasn't worried.

The only hitch came at our arrival in Boston. I had hired a car service to take us to our son's house in Central Mass where we had left our car. In spite of me telling them we were arriving at the domestic terminal, they went and waited for us at the international terminal. A few phone calls later and things got straightened out and they finally showed up.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

Finally got around to reading your trip report this morning. Loved all the pictures! I did a self-guided walking tour of Boston many years ago as a graduate school student; don't think I'd have the stamina to do that much walking now. Bravo for being able to manage all of that sightseeing after recovering from that stroke!

 

[cirdan]

Just a few replies to comments made... I probably would use the Irish pre clearance route again, but would not give it such weight in planning a trip again. I guess the reason larger airports like Heathrow don't do this is the amount of resources it would consume, given the finite space and how busy they are already.

Another argument (from my perspective) is that Boston- Dublin is just about the shortest possible flight you can get, and I tend to dislike long flights in coach class, having once had an unpleasant experience in the middle seat of a 5 seat block on a San Francisco to Amsterdam flight, with rather large people sitting on both sides. And this although I had booked an aisle seat but been moved for reasons unknown. Since then I have always tried to limit the maximum flight length, so I always have a chance of a better seat on the next leg.

 

[Maglev]

I see that you flew on an A330. Was the seating arrangement 2-4-2 or 3-3-3?

 

[caravanman]

Another argument (from my perspective) is that Boston- Dublin is just about the shortest possible flight you can get, and I tend to dislike long flights in coach class, having once had an unpleasant experience in the middle seat of a 5 seat block on a San Francisco to Amsterdam flight, with rather large people sitting on both sides. And this although I had booked an aisle seat but been moved for reasons unknown. Since then I have always tried to limit the maximum flight length, so I always have a chance of a better seat on the next leg.

I see that you flew on an A330. Was the seating arrangement 2-4-2 or 3-3-3?

Likewise, I am not a fan of very long flights, I will take two 5 hour flights rather than a direct 8 hour every time. I used to be okay with long haul, but over the last 7 or 8 years it has become harder to tolerate. I always prefer aisle seats myself, at 6'2".

The seats were 2-4-2 arrangement. I was lucky that my seat aisle seat of the 4, and the other aisle seat of the 4 were the only ones occupied. The two middle seats were empty, so a bit more elbow and leg room!

 

[Cal H]

This was a great write up & read Ed. Very glad that the trip as a whole went so well for you and hope our paths will cross again.
Cal

 

[George Harris]

As to your customs experiences: Having spent quite a few years in Asia, with multiple trips in and out I have this to say about going through customs: The US entry customs were always the most time consuming and erratic experience in entry to any country. My top for silly questions at customs, and we had many goofy questions asked on entry, has to be entry at Seattle with my oldest son when he was starting college. Plopping down two US passports, we were asked, "Why are you entering the United States?" Huh? Maybe because we are citizens and just like to on occasion? But I didn't say that. I just said because my son is entering college. On these trips back into the US we also always seemed to get the full suspicious terrorist treatment at airports on every leg of our trips. I do have a metal plate on one leg and my wife had artificial knees, but it seemed to be more than that. I asked on one occasions and was told it was because you are US citizens with overseas originating plane tickets. Well, yes, when I took the job we went with one way tickets, as you had to be there for at least one year before the company would pay you a home leave ticket, so our trips always had overseas originating tickets for our trips back.

 

[cirdan]

Many many moons ago in an earlier life of mine, I arrived for a business/work trip and I had a whole stack of brochures that I was intending to give to clients.

The customs official took them out of my bag and asked what they were. So I explained. He started looking at one, and said this is interesting, my son would like to see this as he is considering a career in engineering. So I said, he could take one if he wanted and give it to his son. I had plenty to spare anyway. He looked quite shocked at the idea, and said, as a customs official he cannot accept gifts of any kind.

Could a brochure be considered a gift that I could corrupt him with? I felt deeply sorry for him.

 

[Traveller]

Passing through Checkpoint Charlie in the late 60's and early 70's was an interesting excercise in suspicion beyond sanity, but it did create an exciting drama every time!

 

[George Harris]

Sometimes I felt that to work in US customs at any level you had to have all humor and common sense removed by surgery with a dull spoon and no anesthesia.

 

[Stevenz]

As to your customs experiences: Having spent quite a few years in Asia, with multiple trips in and out I have this to say about going through customs: The US entry customs were always the most time consuming and erratic experience in entry to any country. My top for silly questions at customs, and we had many goofy questions asked on entry, has to be entry at Seattle with my oldest son when he was starting college. Plopping down two US passports, we were asked, "Why are you entering the United States?" Huh? Maybe because we are citizens and just like to on occasion? But I didn't say that. I just said because my son is entering college. On these trips back into the US we also always seemed to get the full suspicious terrorist treatment at airports on every leg of our trips. I do have a metal plate on one leg and my wife had artificial knees, but it seemed to be more than that. I asked on one occasions and was told it was because you are US citizens with overseas originating plane tickets. Well, yes, when I took the job we went with one way tickets, as you had to be there for at least one year before the company would pay you a home leave ticket, so our trips always had overseas originating tickets for our trips back.

“Why are you entering the U.S.” of a U.S. citizen has to be the silliest question I’ve ever heard. I would have been tempted to say “I’m beginning to ask myself the same question.”

The strangest question I was ever asked was where and when did you buy your suitcase? I said the truth - I don’t know.

 

[Asher]

Thank you also for your kind words, I am glad you enjoyed the trip report. The Nottingham Boat Club is famous here as a music venue! Were your sons playing there, or just happened to visit? Gosh, it is a small world isn't it!

Yes, they played there Oct 13th. I did get a few photos from the Boat Club, one taken in a storage area for Sculls. Must be a popular sport there.

 

[Bob Dylan]

“Why are you entering the U.S.” of a U.S. citizen has to be the silliest question I’ve ever heard. I would have been tempted to say “I’m beginning to ask myself the same question.”

The strangest question I was ever asked was where and when did you buy your suitcase? I said the truth - I don’t know.

Strangest question I was ever asked when returning to the US:

"Why would you want to ride a Train across Canada when there's so many flights?"

 

[PaTrainFan]

Strangest question I was ever asked when returning to the US:

"Why would you want to ride a Train across Canada when there's so many flights?"

To the unitiated and uninformed, this would to them be a very reasonable question. And an opportunity to educate.

 

[railiner]

To the unitiated and uninformed, this would to them be a very reasonable question. And an opportunity to educate.

I would answer, “why would I fly over Canada, when I could ride a train across it?”

That is if I had the time to waste being grilled further…

 

[Eternityroad]

To the unitiated and uninformed, this would to them be a very reasonable question. And an opportunity to educate.

The closer you can get to the Earth the better the trip. In '74 I hitchhiked from Vancouver, B.C. to
Prince Edward Island. I would not trade that experience for any or all flights across the continent.