Yesterday was warm, went up to 80 F, today is cold, should go up to 60 F during the day. I went to Jazz Brunch at the court of two sisters. As usual for New Orleans, the food was excellent, the jazz trio was good and I ate too much.
So I went for a walk, did some shopping, and listened to some street music while people watching. It doesn’t get any better than this. I bought some art and had it shipped home.
Woke up in New Orleans. One of my favorite places. Here’s a party game for you. Ask anyone to name their top five places. You could use any number and/or limit it to any continent. No justification is needed. My top five, in no particular order are New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, Ocean City MD, San Francisco, and Escalante (because of the slot canyons).
I went out for breakfast at the Wakin Bakin. Good food and service. It’s going to be a hot and humid day. Then I strolled the streets, stopping in the occasional store.
Left my room so housekeeping could do their job. It was a little early for my boat ride, so I stopped at a massage place I had passed on my way back from breakfast. It sure felt good.
Got on the Creole Queen for a history tour down the Mississippi River. A couple hundred years ago, the river didn’t have a mouth, just drained into a swamp, so it was difficult for explorers to find from the Gulf. The French got settles by taking the three P’s, poor, prisoners and professional ladies and told them they could get out of jail if they married and emigrated. The boat was a paddle wheeler that was supposed to stop at the battle of New Orleans site, but today was so windy they had to change plans.
Had dinner at The Original Pierre Maspero’s. Got the Crescent City Sampler of Cajun Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffée, Red Beans and Rice, and Chicken & Andouille Gumbo and bread pudding for dessert. Good stuff.
Ok, already screwed up my titling and days. This is the fourth day of my trip, so I’m doing a title correction.
Woke up to rain. It’s cold outside. Got a Lyft to the train station. No breakfast, sure hope the bus stops somewhere. If not, I could stand to lose some weight.
Talked to a young lady on her way back to New Orleans. She flew once and the landing gear broke on landing. So now she just does the train. She’s 81 years old and doesn’t look a day over 60. Credits God.
I’m on the bus. Bus 3019. Just did something I should have done earlier. Checked online to see if the bus stops along the route. It does not. Looks like I’ll be hungry when I get to New Orleans. good news, they passed out water bottles and a small snack pack. Life is good.
And we’re off.
The first movie was Hancock., second was Ghost Rider,
Stopped at 5 Guys for lunch near Tuscaloosa. The Amtrak people told me the bus always stops for lunch. Good to know the internet is wrong again.
Got to New Orleans about 5:00. Very warm. Walked to my hotel, very nice. Went out to Deidre for dinner, gumbo, shrimp and bread pudding. Then did a little walk down Bourbon St.
Time for bed, I’m tired. Got a boat ride tomorrow and a jazz brunch on Thursday. I’m going to have to go on a diet after this trip.
Second day in Atlanta. I wasn’t expecting it, but it was a nice surprise. Weather is good, warmer than Maryland. I had a nice breakfast at the Metro Diner and Bar, then went back to the hotel to plan my day. The only items on my city pass that I hadn’t seen and were open was the college football hall of fame and the Fernbank museum. The former I could walk to but the latter would require an uber. The hotel bell captain pointed out that I was close to the MARTA and could see the Art Museum. After a couple of false starts I found the station and got on the train in the wrong direction. I can’t blame it on a senior moment, I asked and the poor girl got so flustered she pointed me in the wrong direction. After one strip I figured it out and reversed myself. Four stops up and I got off to find the museum is closed on Monday. So I seat for something in the area and found the Museum of Illusions was a 20 minute walk away. If you get the chance visit one. They are in a number of different cities. The exhibits had cameras and they gave me a QR code to scan so , get this, the pictures would be emailed to me at no additional cost!! What a novel idea. The exhibits pushed my brain to look at things differently. There were also some smoke and mirror stuff so I got a picture of me hanging from a window ledge. At the gift shop you could buy some of the illusions. This early in my trip I didn’t think it advisable. At this time they don’t have a website so I could get the stuff later. Going back to the hotel was uneventful. After a short rest I got hungry and went out for a bison burger at Max Lager’s Wood Fired Grill. Now I’m back in my room planning tomorrow’s happenings. Looks like I have an 8 hour bus ride to New Orleans. Surprise surprise. It seems the train is out because they are working on the tracks this week.
Well, I woke up. Which at my age is the best I can hope for. Don’t ask me how I am doing, I won’t know until later today.
Breakfast was ok. Kind of what you’d get at a Hampton Inn. I had my bed converted to seats, then looked at the scenery until the train arrived in Atlanta. I took an uber to the hotel.
The hotel is in downtown Atlanta, within walking distance of stuff to see on my city pass. So, since I couldn’t check in, I left my luggage and walked to the aquarium. It was amazing. I’m not usually one to see fish, I’d rather eat them but this one was good. Below are some pictures.
Ext up was the World of Coca Cola. They had taste testing and a really nice gift shop. Unfortunately, it’s too early in my trip to be buying stuff.
Next up was the college football hall fame. It was closed on Sunday. So I went back to my hotel, checked in and then went out to eat. Nothing special, I got Gus’s Fried Chicken.
I checked my schedule and I have another day in Atlanta. I think I’ll watch the Super Bowl and think about what I can do tomorrow.
I’m on train 19, Crescent. It’s amazing. I get dinner and breakfast included. I have an attendant, Darian, to bring me my meals or I can eat in the dining car. I’m going to eat my first meal in the dining car for the experience. I ordered the beef paprikash. And I’m getting the Woodford Reserve Bourbon whisky as a complimentary drink. Since I know nothing about whiskies, I would appreciate if someone would comment on my selection.
Dinner was good. It was hot, tasty and I ate it all. What more can I say? Afterwards, I checked out the bathroom and shower. It was a bit tough to hit the mark in the bathroom with the train swaying, but that’s part of the charm of traveling. The shower looked great.
I think I’ll have Darian turn down my bed and get some rest. Got a big day tomorrow.
An amazing place. Clean, attractive, lots of places to eat and an Amtrak waiting room. I have a 2 hour layover until I leave for Atlanta. There is a different feel here than at an airport. People aren’t as rushed. Here’s a test question for people running for office, “when is the last time you were on a train or a bus?” Just a thought from a grumpy old man.
Got to talking with a gentleman from New York going down to Birmingham to visit his wife. Us old farts immediately started in on our aches and pains. I think he had me beat.
Life is good…
Just got on the train at BWI, train 147, heading to Union Station, Washington DC where I will change trains and have a roomette for the night. First stop is Atlanta. The train has plenty of room, my bag is right over my head, it’s warm and the scenery at ground level is much better than at 30,000 ft. This going to be fun.
I’m leaving Saturday for a train trip around this great country of ours. First, a little background. I bought a place on the Maryland eastern shore and sold my condo in California. I got in my 2001 Toyota Solara with 233,000 miles and my golden retriever, Hershey and drove to Utah to pick up my brother. From there we drove to my sisters house in Maryland. It was the middle of January and the renovations of my new home aren’t scheduled to be done until the end of March. So, rather than live in my sister’s basement for a couple of months, I decided to get on a train and see the country. The Amtrak people were great to work with. They set me up a 36 day trip, starting in Washington, DC and going to Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, St Louis, Kansas City, Albuquerque, San Francisco, Portland, Spokane, Seattle, back to Spokane, Leavanworth, Whitefish, Milwaukee, Chicago and back to Washington, DC. I picked the cities and they did the rest. It was reasonably priced too. So my oldest sister requested I post my trip. I don’t do facebook, so I figured this was a good opportunity to see if I really want to blog. I leave on Saturday. Stay tuned for pictures and commentary about the trip.
Musings of a grumpy old man 