September 5-6, 2014

The Journey south

 

I woke up before 6 am before my alarm went off.  I lay in bed till 7.  I got out of bed, showered and dressed.

 

luggage all packed

 

my traveling shirt

 

The shirt is a takeoff of the famous saying you hear on the monorail, Please stand clear of the closing doors.  The shirt says ‘Please stand clear of my Vacation’

 

 I was on the train platform by 8:10 am.

 

 

 

 In a couple of minutes the train came.  Not a long wait this time of morning.  I am taking the F train from Neptune Ave

 

 

 to 34th and 6th in the city, then walk over to New York Penn Station.

 

photo of sitting on the F train, with my foot keeping the luggage from rolling

 

About an hour later, I am exiting the train station, taking the elevator from the subway concourse to the street level.

 

Top portion of the Empire State Building

 

I walk over the New York Penn station.

 

 

 Head towards Club Acela

 

 

 

about 9:20 and settle in for what I figure should be a hours wait till they start escorting people down to the train.  They have snacks and I have some cake and Apple juice.

 

 

orange soda and cheese cake too

 

Keeping a eye on the Silver Star on departure screen

 

 

At 10:40 they announce all passengers for the Silver Star should gather at the entrance to Club Acela where a Amtrak attendant will escort those passengers down to the train.

 

luggage on unused seat in roomette

 

 We are due to pull out at 11:02 am.  We started to move right on time as I look out the window of the platform moving, but we are :)

 

Scenes along the way

 

 

 

 

Our first stop is Newark Penn Station at 11:18 AM.

 

Newark Penn Station

 

As we depart stations they make the same announcements.  More for coach passengers then sleepers.  They will sell you a comfort pack that includes a pillow and a blanket.  A slightly more expensive package that has a larger blanket.  They also request that you use ear phones when listening to electronics.  They also sell these at $5 a pop.

 

As we pass through Trenton,

 

 

 I head to the diner car for lunch.  This is one of the older diner cars,

 

 

 less comfortable then the rehabbed ones.  Next year they will have the new diner cars online.

 

I get my usual Cheeseburger

 

 

 and for dessert…

 

Chocolate Mousse

 

12:28 pm, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. 

 

Schuylkill River before entering 30th Street Amtrak Station

 

12:57 pm, Wilmington, Delaware

 

 

At this point I realize some emails I have been sending since this morning hasn’t been posting to the groups, namely Travel-wdw and Themouseforless.  So I am sending out emails just to figure out what is wrong.  Not exactly something I anticipated to go wrong.

 

1:58 pm, Baltimore, Maryland

 

 

I find a solution to my posting problems.  And my progress emails of my journey are being posted to the groups.  After I started to post,  Peter of the travel-wdw group thought I missed the train. :)

 

2:30 pm, we pull into Washington DC and they do the locomotive dance.  Remove the electric that powered us out of NY Penn and connect two diesels for the rest of our trip.

 

Just the first two will be switched onto my train

 

locomotives backing up to connect to my train

 

Since the sleeper cars are in the back for this journey, to get the above photo of the diesels connecting to the train, it’s a long walk.  And a long walk back.

 

my sleeper car

 

We are waiting in Washington DC Union Station for a late arriving train from Chicago because there are some passengers who are on that train need to connect with this one.  We waited about 20 minutes.  One couple from the late train are in the roomette across from me.  They are meeting family at Disney World.  But they are getting off at Kissimmee, not Orlando like I am.  They didn’t know.  I explained to them that the time it takes the train to go from Orlando to Kissimmee, they could be at their resort already.  They are staying at Art of Animation resort.  I tell them about the underwater speakers for the pool, they get a kick out of that.

 

Slight problem, when they exchange locomotives, they turn off the electricity to the sleepers.  When they reconnected power, they didn’t turn on the sleeper cars Air Conditioning system till after we started to move.  I think they forgot to turn it back on when they restored electricity.

 

Meanwhile they take dinner reservations, I have 5 pm.

 

Its 3:40 pm, just pulled in Alexandria.

 

 

scenes along the route

 

 

 

They made a train wide announcement, since we left Washington DC late, we are going slow behind other trains till at least Richmond.  Not good news.

 

I head to the dining car for my 5 pm seating.  I get my usual here.  First up the salad.

 

bad hidden mickey this year :)

 

get my usual steak….

 

 

and for dessert…..

 

cheese cake covered with strawberries

 

After dinner, I relax in my room, looking out the window as we pass a rail yard and nature.

 

 

 

7:10 pm, Petersburg, Virginia.

 

 

It’s raining out.  At least it’s not a hurricane heading up the coast.

 

After it stopped raining, a rainbow appears in the sky  Try my best to get a photo of it.

 

 

 

8:43 pm, entering Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

 

10:15 pm, Raleigh, North Carolina.

 

10:47 pm, Cary, North Carolina.

 

12:34 am, Stopped in Hamlet, NC now, according to the map, we left Southern Pines NC 1 hr 20 minutes late.

 

Savannah, GA, running an hour late, pulled in 5:35, due in 4:30.  Not doing good on time.

 

I fall asleep for a bit.

 

Its just after 7 am.  I finished breakfast.

 

 

 I usually eat breakfast in Jacksonville, Fl, still running late as we didn’t make it to Jacksonville yet.

 

After breakfast, I went back to lie down to sleep.  They announced that we will be getting into Jacksonville around 8, a good hour plus late.

 

Also they said this piece of humor.  Since it’s a long stop where they refuel the diesels and water for the cars, it’s a smoking stop.  The train attendants were asked where the nearest store is to buy cigarettes.  The answer is not close, and if you do decide to trek it there, take any valuables with you as the train probably won’t be here when they return to the train platform.

 

They also announced it is raining in Jacksonville for those who need to smoke. It’s a outdoor platform with little overhead covering.  I didn’t go outside and just stayed in the bed and rested till about 9.   Even my smart phone was saying heavy rains for a weather report. But that is Jacksonville. I hope the weather in Orlando is better.  Right now it looks like it stopped raining. Good. 

 

Countdown to stops starts after Jacksonville... Palatka.... Deland..... Winter Park.... Orlando ;)

 

9:35 am, we just left Palatka.  Remember the couple from the Chicago train?  Amtrak made a mistake, their luggage got off at Jacksonville by accident.  The Silver Meteor train is about 3 hours behind us.  They will place the luggage on that train and the couple will wait at Kissimmee station for it.  I did mention the possibility of getting off at Orlando and wait for the luggage there.  It would get them to their resort faster.  But it might make things harder for them in case their luggage still goes to Kissimmee station still.

 

Scene along the way

don’t know what is growing that needs to be covered?

 

10:21 am, Deland,

 

 

should have been at Orlando already :(  Just Winter Park, then Orlando now.

 

I have the phone number from the car service I used last year, so I texted them saying my train is running late.  But more to make sure they didn’t forget about me.  I get a response back that the driver will be at the station when my train arrives.  I feel a bit releaved.  Just one less thing to worry about at this point.

 

The scooter people called me at 10:46 am.  I am guessing I will be checked in at my resort around noon.  I tell them I will call them back about then.

 

11:11 am, we just left Winter Park,

 

 

 next stop.. Orlando.

 

11:30 am….  Hello Or Lan Do :)

 

 

I disembark the train and head towards the parking lot.  I look for a white van like last year, but don’t see anything like that.  My cell phone rings and it’s the driver.  He is in the parking lot, looking for me.  We see each other talking on the phones.  It’s a town car.  Pretty soon we are on the way to Pop Century.  Hardly any traffic.  Weather is nice.

 

I arrive at Pop Century, pay off driver. Confirm pickup on the 14th at around noon.  I head inside.

 

The line for online check in was long, but it disappeared in large chunks at a time.  While waiting online, a person with a tablet checks and my room is ready.  I get my paperwork and heading to the 70’s building by the large phone, first floor.

 

my room, my window

 

I call the scooter people back.  I stop in the food court and figure out what color mug to get.  After getting the mug using my dining credit,

 

 

 I am walking to the main entrance to get the scooter.

 

I drive the scooter back to my room, charge it,

 

 

and head to the buses.  As is tradition for me, Flame tree BBQ, first on property meal at Animal Kingdom is waiting.