Daily Archives: June 15, 2009

Travel

Lounge Lizards

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Beltane           Waning Dyan Moon

Metropolitan Lounge, Chicago, Illinois

Once again in this pleasant wood lined lounge with comfortable chairs and internet access.  Here they check baggage until your train boards, have treats and drinks.  They also guide us out to the train by a back route before the boarding of coach passengers.  It is a civilized addition to train travel.  It is superior to the Acela Lounge in D.C. on the criteria of friendliness, user services and comfort.

Kate and I ate lunch up in the food court.  I had my necessary Italian beef  with hot peppers and extra juice.  In Indiana I also had three pieces of sugar cream pie, an indulgence only available commercially in the south.  It’s on my list of things I can cook, but I don’t make it often.

After lunch we went out on the plaza and watched traffic on the Chicago River, one of the least appealing water ways in the US.  Straight across the river from Union Station the Sears Tower rises 104 stories.  Once the tallest building in the world it has not held the record for quite some time.

Our train boards in the next 45 minutes or so.  Kate seems to be a convinced rail traveler now, so we might end up seeing more of the US and Canada by train.

Family, Travel

Went Down the Sunday Throat

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Beltane Waning Dyan Moon

Amtrak Cardinal north of Renessalear, Indiana 8 am

Kate and I woke up at 4:30 this morning, showered and finished packing. We headed around the corner to the train station. As we got there at 5:15 or so, the station master had just begun to announce boarding. We walked up the double staircase. The door to our car opened right at the top of the stairs. We went up three steps, went forward as the car attendant asked and sat down. Less than 10 minutes after leaving our hotel room, we were in our seats and ready togo. Try that at the airport.

We had a discussion of Hoosier phrases with Diane yesterday. When somebody chokes, we would say the food “went down the Sunday throat.” We also ate supper, not dinner. I referred to one of my aunts as being “a caution,” a phrase the others had not heard.

As the train now heads north, I find, as I always do, that I’m glad. The north refreshes me, invigorates. Mostly, it is home. Indiana is where I’m from and a place that holds the precious memories of childhood, but it is no longer home, except in the sense of that familiar place where I grew up.

We ate breakfast today with a former Marine corps A6 Intruder pilot and his wife, a librarian. He was not a person I would have chosen for conversation and that made this another wonderful moment. We found both him and his wife delightful company. He expressed a keen interest in the Kindle. They are on their way from Lynchburg, Virginia (they are Episcopalian) to California where his lt col son will hand over command to another officer.

The pace of the train, the sound of its whistle, plaintive and sometimes forlorn and the comfort of the seats combine with good company and friendy attendants to make the trip a joy.

Next stop, the Metropolitan Lounge in Union Station, Chicago.