The
planning was finally over! Although it
took us so long to plan, and we were very excited, we managed to keep our
destinations a secret to our children.
Others in our family knew where we were going, but our children did
not! Imagine their excitement! We needed to be in Atlanta early Sunday
morning to make Amtrak departure at 8 a.m.
The Saturday prior, we spent we final packing, RESTING (because we would
be traveling all night), and visiting with family. We also drove over to the ATLANTIC Ocean…to “officially”
begin there, and end up at the Pacific in about a week!
We left our
home in Myrtle Beach around 9 p.m. on Saturday night. The children tried to stay awake all night,
but most were asleep within the hour. We
arrived in Atlanta early Sunday morning.
My husband had found a relatively new parking area in the downtown
Atlanta area that was offering FREE parking for a limited time. We were able to get in on this deal, so that
saved us A LOT of money in parking cost/rental car. The shuttle from the parking area took us to
Atlanta airport. I had only been in one
airport before in my LIFE, so this was quite the experience. We walked around and basically did “people
watching,” which proved to be interesting in and of itself. It is a very diverse place! We ate breakfast there, and then went to the
MARTA area.
Our children enjoying breakfast at the Wendy's inside the Atlanta airport.
To get from the airport to
the bus that would get us to the Amtrak station, we had to take the
subway. We found all of this information
beforehand by calling ahead to the Amtrak station in Atlanta. We basically knew exactly how long it would
take us from parking our vehicle to getting to the Amtrak station. After figuring out which people in our family
were free and which were not, we paid for our “Breeze” cards to board the
transit train. The train ride was
another interesting experience. No one
spoke to anyone else. People had
headphones on…they would stare at you, but never speak… We took the train as close as it could get us
to the Amtrak, and then took advantage of more public transportation and
boarded the bus. This was the first time
our children had used any sort of public transportation, and they were getting
a great taste of a variety of it all in one day! After the bus stopped, we crossed the street
to enter the Atlanta Amtrak Station.
Upon
arriving, we waited in line for a very long time. There were lots of people standing around
waiting, and many more sitting in the available seating throughout the
station. We finally got our tickets just
in time to find out that our train was VERY delayed. Because of some problems on the Northern area
of the train route, we didn’t board until 3 hours after our scheduled boarding
time. The Atlanta station did have an
outdoor area with a great view of the city, and a place for the children to run
out some energy. We waited out in this
area most of the time…the children met some other kids, and they ended up
playing for quite a while…which passed the time wonderfully for them…and for
us!
While
waiting, we asked our children if they knew where we were…”Atlanta, Georgia”
was their response. “Yes, but we are at
the Amtrak station.” Their faces showed
that they had no clue. “Do you know what
Amtrak is?” They all replied that they
did not. We then told them that it was a
train, and that we were riding it to New Orleans. My oldest son said, “What STATE is NEW
ORLEANS in?” We told him that it was in
Louisiana. They realized then that we
were going much further than just Atlanta!!!
They were very excited!
Finally, we
see the train pulling into the station.
We all went down a very long set of stairs to reach the boarding
area.
Line to board the train...
We proceeded to the door that we
were told to go to, gave our tickets to the person waiting there, and boarded
the train. We found our seats and got
settled in. There was more than enough
room in the overhead compartments for our backpacks and jackets with room left
over! We sat there for a while, just
watching the scenery and figuring things out.
Later, we began to explore the train a bit more, when the children
needed to find the restrooms! They were
trying to make up for lost time, since we were on a three hour delay, so the
train was moving pretty fast.
The scenery was pretty much the same through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and into Louisiana.
Mark enjoying the ride!
Station at one of the many stops between Atlanta and New Orleans!
Mark making friends! (This little girl lives in Mississippi...they exchanged addresses, but neither has written to the other!)
We did have
a nice surprise around dinner time.
Because of the MAJOR delay, we were all treated to a complimentary
meal! It was chicken and rice casserole
with a roll. It was actually very
tasty. Many things that I have read from
fellow train travelers say that the train food is not good at all, but my
husband and I do not agree with them!
(You know how some people are though…you can’t please everyone!)
We finally
made it to New Orleans.
Super Dome from the Amtrak station...
New Orleans skyline...
It is here that
you will hear my ONLY Amtrak complaints.
#1 This was a new experience for
all of us, and probably one that won’t occur often, so we were videoing EVERYTHING. As we walked into the station, two “security
guards” told us to turn our video camera off.
We weren’t sure that they were talking to us at first, so we asked, and
they told us that we had to turn our video camera off. My husband asked them why he couldn’t video
his children arriving at the station for the first time, and he said that it
was rules from homeland security. A man
walking in to the station with his wife and three small children really looks
like a security risk?! (Just for the record,
we were NOT asked to turn off our cameras in any other stations throughout our
trip!) #2 complaint: I booked our hotels through Amtrak as well. We were able to get discounts, and they could
find out which hotels were closest to the Amtrak stations. We were told that our hotel was within
walking distance, but when we got there and began to ask around, turns out that
we had to take a cab because it was so far away. We had to pay $30 to go 8 miles…and then $30
again the next morning to get back to the train. That was a $60 expense that we did NOT work
into our budget, and ended up throwing us off on other things along the way.
Even with
those two things, we did have a good night’s rest in a nice hotel in New
Orleans. It wasn’t one of the pricier
hotels, but it was comfortable, clean, and honestly was very appealing to look
at…nice architecture, as most places in New Orleans.
Downstairs at the hotel...
As we arrived at the station the next
morning, we wanted to make sure that the children heard their next destination
from us, and not from the conductor once we boarded the train. We pulled them aside near the entrance of the
station, and told them that we were going to get on ANOTHER train! This train would take us all the way to
TEXAS!!!! We might as well have told
them that they were going to Disneyland, because they were incredibly excited!
At that station, telling them that we are going to TEXAS!
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