Travelin' Fool Part 1

I had the opportunity to visit Bethany during parents' weekend at Boston University.....so I went!

I chose Amtrak as my mode of transportation for a number of reasons:

1. Traveling this way would give me at least 48 hours of alone time to read, sleep (or so I thought), and just look out the window if that's what I chose to do.

2. Traveling by train is slightly cheaper than flying.

3. Most importantly, traveling by train would mean NOT needing to be shot with a tranquilizer gun in order to arrive at my destination. Yes, I'm afraid of flying -- a bona fide phobia. Isn't that ironic?? Yeah. A therapist with a phobia.

So, I drove to the tiny town of Dwight, IL, smack dab in the middle of the state, and hopped on the Lincoln Service 304 to Chicago around 7:30 pm. I've been to Union Station many times so that was a cinch. I got on the Lakeshore Limited 48 at 10:00 pm and we headed east. I was fortunate to have a row (2 seats) to myself so I could kinda stretch out and I did sleep a bit.

Most folks kept to themselves, but in a friendly sort of way. I did have a few nice gentlemen offer to help me with my bags. The train ride was very interesting, mostly due to novelty. It was clean, including the bathrooms, and the train attendants were friendly and helpful. Here's what I saw if I was only looking forward:

By daylight we were in the eastern part of Ohio. I have to say,
the route along the Erie and Ontario great lakes, and then the rolling wooded and farm lands in Pennsylvania, New York state and western Massachusetts provided me with some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in a long time. Here are some pics I snapped from the train. They by NO MEANS do it justice -- what I saw was absolutely stunning! Add the sound track to Into the Wild and those few hours were nearly idyllic.

At 3:30 pm, the next day, I switched trains in Albany, NY and finished the trip out with 6 more hours of train ride into Boston.

Bethany met me at the main train station in downtown Boston around 10 pm. We dragged my bags down a bunch of flights of stairs and got on the "T," yet another train! It was a brief, but CROWDED, ride to her stop near where Commonwealth Ave. and the Mass turnpike meet. It's right on the Charles River and you can hear the sculling coaches starting at 7 am in the morning. I called them the "yellers."

The next day we rolled out of bed at the crack of.....late morning. We met her friends and had late breakfast, early lunch (i.e., brunch) in one of the BU cafeterias. The food wasn't that bad!




Then she took me on a tour of west campus. I saw her school and one of the administration buildings.....this school has a LOT of money.

Off to Newbury St. for some shopping, the Boston Public Library, which has some stunning architecture and art, hopped the "T" to Cambridge and walked around there, back on the "T" to downtown.

Apparently the Boston Transit ("T") System is the oldest in the USA, as announced in this mosaic at one of the stations:

We happened upon a open air fruit and veggie market and bought a box of strawberries for $1. We mosied through Faneuil Hall and Marketplace.

Here I am at one of the many "You are here" red pin markers -- very clever!

By late afternoon/early evening we landed at the open common area near the Government Center where a giant pumpkin festival was taking place. I have never seen SO many jack-o-lanterns in one place at one time....literally hundreds -- maybe one thousand! It was very, very cool, and the proceeds went to support a pediatric illness foundation. Here are some of my favorite pics:



By 9 pm we got back to Bethany's room and I thought I was done for the day but we ended up going to see the 10 pm showing of "W." It was ok -- not a GREAT movie but pretty good.

Our plan for Sunday morning was to get up early, work out in BU's FitRec Center, have brunch in the "good" cafeteria where you could get a crepe and/or omellette made to order, and then get me to the train by noon for the return trip. It's a good thing I'm flexible because we ended up sleeping in (despite the "yellers"), walking a bit on the Esplanade and seeing some scullers and then having scrambled eggs and a muffin at the "good" cafeteria.

Even though we adjusted the schedule, I arrived at the gate at 12:03, and I watched as the Lake Short Ltd. pulled out of the station.

To be continued.....