First, a quick word on parking. If, like me, you live in a condo without secure parking, you may wonder what to do with your car - especially when you can no longer bill expenses. Besides, Union Station in DC isn't exactly set up like airports to deal with long term parking very well. After some searching online, I managed to find relatively inexpensive long term parking in a covered, secure hotel garage at the Marriott in Crystal City. For those of you who live in the DC area, you'll recognize how easy it is to use the underground walkway from there to get to the Crystal City metro and go to Union Station. One change at Gallery Place, but no big deal. And if you're flying, its only one stop to Reagan.
At the station, if you have your e-tickets printed out, all you do is wait at the gate and board when the time comes. Seat assignment is a funny thing on Amtrak. Sometimes you get assigned a seat as you board, and other times its open seating. In any event, unless the train is packed, its open seating for all practical purposes. They use a little card to mark your seat - once the train moves, you just grab that card, find a nice seat and assign it to yourself. If nothing good is available, you can always hang out at the sightseer lounge - try that on a plane!
Going west from DC. you're almost certainly going to have to go through Chicago. If memory serves correctly, there may be a southern route from DC that doesn't hit Chicago, but barring that, this is a very likely layover. Leaving at roughly 4 PM and getting to Chicago at about 9 AM, we're looking at 17ish hours on the Capitol Limited. In my case, this was one of the shorter legs of the trip -and it turned out to be surprisingly comfortable. I had yet to get into the picture-taking mode of the trip, so I just pulled out my blankie, got out my iPod and watched as the train went through some very nice "local" spots - Point Of Rocks, Harper's Ferry, Cumberland - then I fell asleep.
One tip that might be helpful is that it may be a good idea to get up early and use the restrooms downstairs before everybody else wakes up. This way, you're all freshened up, drinking coffee in the lounge, watching the scenery while people are vying for restrooms. Not to put too fine a point on this, but the train tends to rock sideways at the most inopportune moments and the restrooms are tiny - nuff said.
We're soon approaching Chicago, crossing the bridge to Union Station.
Chicago, in my mind, has to be in the Top Ten friendliest cities in America. I've always enjoyed going there - especially downtown. Union Station is very conveniently located, and has baggage lockers. At 5 bucks an hour and 15 bucks a day it may not seem especially cheap, but believe me, its worth it when you have a 6 hour layover. After being cooped up in a train, the opportunity to walk around for several hours was a welcome break. And its fun to walk around Chicago anyway - especially to see some wondrous sights such as the original Playboy Club....:)
Needless to say, 6 hours is hardly enough time in downtown Chicago, but one food related move you can make is to go to the famous Giordano's for lunch, get a small pizza and have them pack up half of it for the train - nothing in the dining car will even come close! And there are a few more choices.
You knew that the original Pizzeria Uno (Pizzeria One) is in Chicago...right?
Not to mention Pizzeria Due (Pizzeria Two) - same owner....
Of course, if you're in the mood for something fancier, something with a little more panache, you could try the Frontera Grill, owned by celebrity chef Rick Bayless - some of the best Mexican you'll ever taste. But they only open for dinner, and the wait can be ridiculous unless you show up at opening time, give them your name and then go away for a couple of hours. Reservations are made days, sometimes weeks ,in advance. A Canadian couple standing in line with a group of us (during my previous visit for work) told us that they had made reservations 4 months in advance.
And if you're jonesing for a cold one, wait....a Rock Bottom? In Chicago? Oh yes, but you may have trouble getting a cask aged brew if you're used to the Rock Bottom in Bethesda.
Stay tuned!
Chicago Pictures
At the station, if you have your e-tickets printed out, all you do is wait at the gate and board when the time comes. Seat assignment is a funny thing on Amtrak. Sometimes you get assigned a seat as you board, and other times its open seating. In any event, unless the train is packed, its open seating for all practical purposes. They use a little card to mark your seat - once the train moves, you just grab that card, find a nice seat and assign it to yourself. If nothing good is available, you can always hang out at the sightseer lounge - try that on a plane!
Going west from DC. you're almost certainly going to have to go through Chicago. If memory serves correctly, there may be a southern route from DC that doesn't hit Chicago, but barring that, this is a very likely layover. Leaving at roughly 4 PM and getting to Chicago at about 9 AM, we're looking at 17ish hours on the Capitol Limited. In my case, this was one of the shorter legs of the trip -and it turned out to be surprisingly comfortable. I had yet to get into the picture-taking mode of the trip, so I just pulled out my blankie, got out my iPod and watched as the train went through some very nice "local" spots - Point Of Rocks, Harper's Ferry, Cumberland - then I fell asleep.
One tip that might be helpful is that it may be a good idea to get up early and use the restrooms downstairs before everybody else wakes up. This way, you're all freshened up, drinking coffee in the lounge, watching the scenery while people are vying for restrooms. Not to put too fine a point on this, but the train tends to rock sideways at the most inopportune moments and the restrooms are tiny - nuff said.
We're soon approaching Chicago, crossing the bridge to Union Station.
Chicago, in my mind, has to be in the Top Ten friendliest cities in America. I've always enjoyed going there - especially downtown. Union Station is very conveniently located, and has baggage lockers. At 5 bucks an hour and 15 bucks a day it may not seem especially cheap, but believe me, its worth it when you have a 6 hour layover. After being cooped up in a train, the opportunity to walk around for several hours was a welcome break. And its fun to walk around Chicago anyway - especially to see some wondrous sights such as the original Playboy Club....:)
Needless to say, 6 hours is hardly enough time in downtown Chicago, but one food related move you can make is to go to the famous Giordano's for lunch, get a small pizza and have them pack up half of it for the train - nothing in the dining car will even come close! And there are a few more choices.
You knew that the original Pizzeria Uno (Pizzeria One) is in Chicago...right?
Not to mention Pizzeria Due (Pizzeria Two) - same owner....
Even if you're only in town for lunch, you can salvage the situation by going to the adjoining Xoco (on the left in the picture above), also owned by Rick Bayless. This is mainly a take-out establishment with a couple of tables outside and a row of bar-stools and a narrow ledge against the wall and windows where they do tortas (Mexican sandwiches) - and let me tell you, it is just as awesome as Frontera!
And if you're jonesing for a cold one, wait....a Rock Bottom? In Chicago? Oh yes, but you may have trouble getting a cask aged brew if you're used to the Rock Bottom in Bethesda.
Luckily for me, I was somewhat familiar with the downtown area, so I had a great time reliving past trips for a few hours. Then it was back to the station, completely exhausted and ready to sit in the Southwest Chief all the way to Flagstaff, AZ.
Stay tuned!
Chicago Pictures
Sounds like a perfect trip to bring along your travel guitar to share some licks with new friends :-). Have an awesome trip!
ReplyDeleteEdmund.
Thanks, Edmund! I'm actually back home now, writing this blog. Hope you're doing well - call me when you have time! Did you see the other two posts?
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