Strom Travel Diaries

Day 9 – Sunday, October 23

We got up at 6:45 so we could finish putting everything in the bags and leave the hotel by 7:15. We got a Lyft to South Station and were able to wait in the Metropolitan Lounge until closer to our departure time. This would be the longest leg of the trip, overall, with a 4-hour coach ride to NYC and a nearly 13-hour ride in a roomette to Charlotte. With the assistance of a Red Cap, we got to the train a little early, so we got our pick of seats. We ended up on opposite ends of a row so that we’d each get a window seat. 

On the way to NYC, we were still seeing plenty of fall colors as we went through a little bit of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. I also saw plenty of gulls and anhingas, as well as a couple of great blue herons, a couple of great egrets, and a bald eagle!

In New York, we went to the Metropolitan Lounge in Moynihan Train Hall to get some lunch. We also got some small snacks to take with us. When we were called down to our train, we had to wait in line for a few minutes before going down the escalator to the platform. Well, apparently no one knows how escalators work because there was a traffic jam at the bottom where several people had stopped to talk to the conductors, and there were several of us yelling for folks to move so no one would be crushed. Escalators don’t stop automatically, after all.

Finally, we got down to our car and we were with Martha again! We were so happy to see her! Settled in our roomette, we passed the rest of the trip pretty much the same way: watching the scenery, doing word puzzles, and resting. The train was running ahead of time, so we arrived in Charlotte at about 2:30. In the morning. Apparently, they weren’t quite ready for us and the door from the platform into the station was locked. I was surprised at how many other people were out there with us, coming off the train. We didn’t have to wait long—just until the baggage person drove up with all the luggage.

We got a Lyft back home and crashed into our beds almost as soon as we had gotten in the door. Once we woke up later in the morning, it was hard to believe we were back to reality.