We awoke to the gentle swaying of the train car; the thermal blanket kept us warm as we peered out the window. Jason had climbed down to my bunk as daylight began to sneak in through the blinds. It was very small but comfortable enough to lay beside each other as we watched a small town roll by. I imagined what life was like for each person we saw as they walked down an unknown street beside our train. I wondered if they were looking in our windows and happened to be curious about the lives we lead as well. Jason and I talked until we began hearing other passengers as they made their way to breakfast. Soon we heard a knock on the door. It was Claude giving us our wake up call that we had requested the night before.
We quickly got ready and made our way to the dinning car. Jason and I weren't very hungry for breakfast and were not particularly in the mood for high calorie foods, so we made our way to the lounge car instead. Claude was there and asked if we would like for him to take down the beds for us while we relaxed. We agreed and thanked him. We waited for a while in the lounge car, watching the sun advance toward the sky from the window. We didn't stay very long. We were ready to return to our car. We walked down the small train halls to our room. Claude was still fixing it for us. We waited in the hall for a second, trying to figure out where to go. Luckily, Claude came around the corner and told us it was ready. We thanked him and went inside. Here are pictures of us after a night on a train:
Jason was very smart and had previously recommended we buy snacks for the train in case we became hungry. This came in handy shortly after returning to our rooms. We ate Bacon Jerky and Fiber One chocolate brownies. A most nutritious and American breakfast.
We sat and talked while watching the world fly by, our stress leaving with it. The scenery was very beautiful during our journey. At one point I looked outside and pointed to a field we were passing. It was filled with thousands of baby pumpkins! Jason reminded me that they may be ordinary pumpkins and they just appear smaller because we are far away. I wish I could have gotten a picture--I've seen pumpkin patches but never a massive pumpkin field like that!
While riding on the train, we heard and smelled many things that surprised us. The sounds from a train are ordinary noises we expected. I was exciting to hear the "Toot toot!" as we passed cars that were stopped at the train tracks. A few times, however, the train made a rather loud and ghastly noise. I turned to Jason and said, "Did our train just fart?" If that sound ever came from a real person--we'd be in a lot of trouble! Another funny moment was when the smell of strawberries reached our nose. It wasn't just strawberries--it was sweeter than that. Jason said it smelled exactly like strawberry shortcake, which I have to agree with! It was wonderful. We were confused by the smell because there was no strawberry shortcake on the train, nor were we appearing to pass a strawberry field either. Jason looked at me excitedly and said, "Do we get secret dessert!?" Haha! I wish! I wish I could have captured his face. It was hilarious!
Jason and I made the best of our time stuck in a small box. We laughed, talked, and gave each other foot rubs while moving from state to state. There were quite a few stops on the way; places like charlottesville, Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland. Below are pictures of some of the stops we took.
The picture below is of Jason in front of Track 3, location F at the Philadelphia stop. We were slightly excited about this location because it reminded us of an episode of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia where they are at the Amtrak station, possibly this one.
Around lunch time a woman began yelling "Lunch is ready in the Dinning Car." We quickly got up and were one of the first to be seated. The same waitress from the night before greeted us and took our order. Another couple sat in front of us and also gave their order. We learned that this couple is retired and going to New York and Boston to visit family. They take the train a lot apparently. They ordered the burger that Jason and I had been debating. We ended up ordering something else. Jason got the hotdog and chips and I the cheesy macaroni (I say cheesy for a reason--not sure that was real cheese). We quickly ate and immediately returned to our car. Before leaving, we asked the couple seated with us what to do about the receipt. He said unless you were in coach, you don't have to worry about it. He said we could take it or leave it. We left it.
Once back in our room, we picked up talking again. That's what we do. We talk. I love that. A lot of couples don't but we really genuinely enjoy discussing our views on everything--from religion to cheesy macaroni. At one point in the journey, the train went through a very very dark tunnel. Roughly every second, a bright light would pass quickly by the window as we went deeper and deeper into the tunnel. I began making scary faces at Jason. Each time the light would return, I would create a new scary face. Apparently I was not the only who thought of this. At the same time, Jason also was making scary faces at me. Soon we began to inch closer and closer to each other with each passing light. It was right out of a horror movie. All that was missing was the music from Hitchcock's Psycho. It was hilarious! We laughed so hard after this. Another example of why we are perfect for each other.
Below is a picture of a building with a large eye on it as seen from the Baltimore stop. We liked this a lot because it looks just like the large eyes on Zelda. Crazy!
Our train was scheduled to enter New York at 1:40. We were also scheduled to connect to a train for Boston at 3:30. However, our train was very late. We did not arrive in New York until 4:55. The Amtrak app informed us that our train had been rescheduled to one at 5:00. We quickly got off the train at Penn Station and made our way to a large board that listed the train schedules. Turns out the connecting train to Boston was also delayed. It said "Stand by." So, we stood by. We, along with what felt like a zillion people stood in front of that sign for about 10 minutes. Suddenly, everyone bolted. We quickly looked up at the board and saw it had changed. Our connecting train was ready. We made our way to gate 8. A large and bossy woman began checking everyone's ticket. I looked at her as a young boy showed her his ticket. She said "Hell no!" She blocked him from going past her and called for a manager, stating she had an unaccompanied minor. The kid tried to go past her but she blocked him again. Jason and I followed behind him shortly. Jason showed her our ticket and she said "What is that?" We had the old ticket for a train that left at 3:30 but the Amtrak app said our train was moved to this one. We explained and she said "You better hope so. They'll kick you off." She let us pass.
We quickly followed the sea of angry New Yorkers toward the train. Jason and I panicked, uncertain where to go and limited in the time we had to figure it out. Finally an attendant came into view. We showed him our ticket and he directed us to a train. We got in and every seat was full. We walked up and down the train trying desperately to find seating, while also trying to pull our luggage with us. It was horrible and utterly chaotic. The train began to move and we still were without a seat. We reached the final car of the train where seats were open. No two seats were next to each other. Jason and I decided to pick two seats and then just put the luggage up. I sat next to a man near the back. Jason in front of a very nice woman who told me where I could store my luggage. As luck would have it, we were seated across from each other, so still very close. We kept checking our heart rates on the fitbits. My heart rate was sky high during this whole event.
The conductor soon came by and checked tickets. I was panicked. All I could think of was that woman, "You better hope so--they'll kick you off." He slowly inched toward us and my heart rate continued to rise. Finally he reached us. Jason showed him the tickets, he scanned them, and then he marked our seats as acceptable passengers. Immediately after this I was able to relax. At the next stop, the man beside me got off which allowed Jason to move beside me. I was thankful to be sitting with him. This train ride was 3 or 4 hours. It was getting late as well. At around 9 p.m. the train stopped. They announced that something was wrong with the engine. A man informed us that it wouldn't take very long; all they had to do was cut something from the engine. What the hell you can cut from an engine and it still run properly--I don't know! Must have worked though. We continued on our way without any further problems. Finally we were in Boston.
We rolled our luggage out of the station, uncertain where to go for a taxi. Many people were yelling "Taxi?!" as we walked past. Jason picked a random guy and said "Can you get us to Salem?" He led us to his taxi through the wind and cold. We piled our luggage in the trunk and slid into the leather seats, thankful to almost be done. He told us about a restaurant called "Legal Seafood," which just happened to be the same restaurant that our dinner companion suggested on the train. Finally we were at the hotel. We pulled out our luggage, paid him, and walked inside.
A small sign on the door read, "Sorry no vacancies." We were thankful we previously reserved and paid for a room already. We walked in as a young couple walked out. We looked at the front desk and found it empty. Not a soul in sight. We weren't sure what to do. A woman in the main room beside the check-in counter heard us. She said she thought they had gone home for the night. She told us they tend to leave at 10:00 p.m. each night. We panicked. Now we are stuck in Salem with all our luggage, no hotel, and completely out of energy. The woman asked where we were from. We said Atlanta and told her we took the train, which is why we were coming in so late. We also said we had called ahead to make sure a late check in would be okay, which they said it would be. She gave us a strange glance as we said the word "Train." I'm guessing no one else ever takes the train from Atlanta to Salem. She said she would call them for us since they said a late check in was fine and expected. Luckily, as she got up to call, the front desk person showed up. She said we were fine and that they now leave at 11 due to October being prime time for Salem tourism. Phew! Close one! We checked in, grabbed our luggage once more, and head to a room on the second story of the house. Here are pictures:
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