This was a blog I wrote last year (second in a series of three) that I didn't publish for some reason. So I've decided to go ahead and publish them now. Hope you enjoy! I'll get the last one out soon. And then maybe I'll write something new!
The other day I wrote about traveling by airplane on my annual winter Florida sojourn.
Once I finally arrived, I had a lovely time with my friends
Susan and Jeff. As always, they were gracious hosts and we spent the days
laughing and frolicking in the sun. Okay, that’s not entirely true. In reality,
it was a little rainy and chilly that week in Florida in February. On the other
hand, it was not Ohio in February and it was NOT snowing with wind chills in
the single digits – so I was happy.
This was not a typical Florida trip for me as I was
gallivanting across Florida to visit other friends. I tried including my cousin
Brian in the mix as I would love to see him and his lovely wife, Joy, but I
couldn’t manage it without renting a car. And I really do not want to
drive in Florida, if I can help it.
Anyway, my next stop was in Tampa. Or Largo, to be more
specific. I had rented an Airbnb in Largo and I was clued in to the wild and
wonderful world of Train Travel via Amtrak. So Sue, being the extremely generous
and kind friend she is (I have lots of extremely generous and kind friends),
dropped me off at the Amtrak station in West Palm Beach about a half hour
before the train was scheduled to depart.
To my knowledge or memory, I had never traveled by train before
and wasn’t sure what to expect. I had purchased my ticket online, but I still
sort of expected to see an Amtrak ticket counter where someone could direct me
to the appropriate place to wait for the train.
No such luck.
Fortunately, I was able to decipher the signs that had me
cross over to the other side of the tracks or else I would’ve been traveling
south instead of north.
And so I sat on the outside bench awaiting the train. And
sat. And sat. The guy to my left on the bench started asking me questions about
the train; questions I was completely unable to answer. By this point, the
train was about 45 minutes late. Was this normal? Did I somehow miss the one
daily train that would take me to Tampa?
Finally, a train approached and stopped. I assumed I would
get on the train at the nearest entrance to my location, but noooo. I had booked
a “roomette” since it was a nearly 5-hour train ride and I wasn’t sure how the
seats were configured. I am, of course, basing my knowledge of train seating on
movies I’ve seen where four seats face each other. And I really didn’t want to take
the chance that I’d be spending 5 hours with someone sitting directly across
from me staring at me while I tried to read my book.
Anyway, a train employee took a look at my ticket and said I
had to go to the other end of the train. It was only a four minute stop and I
knew there was no way I could hobble all the way to the other end of the train.
Fortunately, she was kind enough to grab a golf cart, hoist my suitcase into
the cart and, after I sat down, we sped off to the other end of the train.
My roomette was cute. It included a sink and a toilet and
I’m guessing if it had been an overnight stay, I could have folded down the two
seats in there to make a bed. Fortunately, it was not an overnight stay and I
could just sit in comfort, relax and watch the scenery go by (and read my book).
The car attendant handed me a menu and said she would take my order and bring
me my lunch.
I hadn’t even realized I would get lunch on the train –
so…score. No small bag of pretzels to sustain me for the 5-hour trip!
I am not sure if my suitcase could have been put somewhere else for storage, but it pretty much took up the rest of the usable space in the roomette. Had I been traveling with another person, we would’ve been better off in the regular seats with people sitting across from us staring at us as we tried to read our books.
Because, for sure, we would have been a little cranky in such
an overly cramped space. As it was, I was able to sit with my feet on the chair
opposite me and avoid my suitcase altogether. But there was very little room to
maneuver otherwise.
After about four hours, I decided I needed to use the, uh,
“facilities.” I closed and locked the outer door to the hallway. Shut the
curtains. Flipped down the sink. Opened the lid to the toilet…
…and only then remembered I also needed to close the
curtains on the window side of the train. Woo. That could have been
embarrassing. Especially given that we were approaching a city where the train
frequently slowed down at the many train track crossings. People in cars were right
outside my window!
Eek! I could have given them a show. Or at the very least a
good laugh.
Anyway, I did like the convenience of having a toilet in my
roomette so that was a plus on train travel.
What I didn’t realize is that this daily train starts in
Florida and ends up in Chicago. It even stopped in Alliance (my hometown) at around
2 in the morning. Hunh. Didn’t even know they still had train schedules like
this anymore.
I arrived in Tampa well over an hour late. My friend Doug, who had kindly and generously offered to pick me up and take me to the Airbnb, had been clued in by my frequent texts updating the delay in arrival. So fortunately, he hadn’t had to wait very long. But it was pouring rain in Tampa, so once I got off the train, I arrived at his car somewhat resembling a drowned rat.
I spent the next three days in Largo visiting Doug (friends
since Ohio State) and in St. Petersburg visiting Christine (friends since grade
school!). We talked, shopped, laughed, cooked and drank wine. But what we did
not do, was swim. Even though there was a pool at this Airbnb. Why? Because it
was chilly and rainy with only intermittent bouts of sunshine.
But that was okay. Again, because I wasn’t in cold and snowy
Ohio.
After three days, Doug drove me halfway to North Ft. Myers and my friends Melinda and Dan drove halfway up from North Ft Myers to get me. The four of us had lunch somewhere in the middle in Sarasota. And then Doug headed back home to Largo and Melinda, Dan and I headed to N Ft Myers for the last leg of my trip.
Which I may end with Part III of my February Trip to
Florida. Who knows? By the end of the year, you may even get the chance to read
about my spring trip to Michigan. I’m so timely.
Anyway, stay well, my friends. Until next time…
