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The fourth leg of our around-the-country journey was Chicago to New Orleans on the famous City of New Orleans, immortalized in the song by Steve Goodman. After getting our luggage to Chicago Union Station and two of our bags checked, we once again went to the fantastic Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge, and requested Red Cap service to help us get the large remaining baggage to trainside.
( Riding on The City of New Orleans )
We ate our "flexible dining" meal and hoped for the best for our various fixes and that the conductor could track down the problem with the plumbing.
( The train pulls out of Kankakee )
With our plumbing working and most of the worst of the mechanical issues worked around, Lisa finished making up the bunks and we turned in for the night.
( Changing Cars in Memphis, Tennessee )
More than once during this trip, passengers seemed to mistake me for a crew member. I answered their questions, but pointed out, "I don't work for Amtrak. I'm just another passenger." In one case, I gave the wrong answer, when I answered what I thought was the question, "Where is the restroom" when what the person was really saying was "Where is the restaurant," i.e. the dining car.
( The graveyards of the rusted automobiles )
We were nearly there, and I wondered if there would be any last-minute delays to prevent an early or on-time departure.
( Through the Mississippi darkness, rolling down to the sea )
After waiting for a taxi, we were fortunate to have one arrive that was big enough for us. The driver warned us that people here don't wear face masks, as there's no public mandate, and even where there are mandates, people are ignoring them. He took us to the Crowne Plaza Astor Hotel on Canal Street, in the heart of the city. As he did so, I considered that most of the clothing I'd brought with me was intended for daytime high temperatures of 5°C, not 25°C such as we were getting in New Orleans.
( And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel )
Christmas Day isn't the best day to be traveling. Also, we made our travel plans before the Omicron variant of COVID-19 appeared. Had we known what we do now, we might not have made this New Orleans detour. The people here in Louisiana don't seem to care about the danger. On the other hand, they don't seem to care if people wear masks or not, rather than having a governor like that of Florida who seemingly wants to ban people from protecting themselves from deadly disease entirely, and to prohibit private businesses from protecting their customers from getting sick. In any event, a number of our original plans for things to do while in New Orleans are likely to be scratched.
The hotel was able to provide us with a mini-fridge, which will help a lot. We made a couple of brief sorties to CVS and Walgreen's to get some groceries. We made dinner in the room from what we got from the stores and what we brought with us on the train from Chicago.
We have a total of four nights here in New Orleans. Tomorrow is likely to be a day of sleeping a lot, after which we'll decide what, if anything, we can do safely while we're here.
( Riding on The City of New Orleans )
We ate our "flexible dining" meal and hoped for the best for our various fixes and that the conductor could track down the problem with the plumbing.
( The train pulls out of Kankakee )
With our plumbing working and most of the worst of the mechanical issues worked around, Lisa finished making up the bunks and we turned in for the night.
( Changing Cars in Memphis, Tennessee )
More than once during this trip, passengers seemed to mistake me for a crew member. I answered their questions, but pointed out, "I don't work for Amtrak. I'm just another passenger." In one case, I gave the wrong answer, when I answered what I thought was the question, "Where is the restroom" when what the person was really saying was "Where is the restaurant," i.e. the dining car.
( The graveyards of the rusted automobiles )
We were nearly there, and I wondered if there would be any last-minute delays to prevent an early or on-time departure.
( Through the Mississippi darkness, rolling down to the sea )
After waiting for a taxi, we were fortunate to have one arrive that was big enough for us. The driver warned us that people here don't wear face masks, as there's no public mandate, and even where there are mandates, people are ignoring them. He took us to the Crowne Plaza Astor Hotel on Canal Street, in the heart of the city. As he did so, I considered that most of the clothing I'd brought with me was intended for daytime high temperatures of 5°C, not 25°C such as we were getting in New Orleans.
( And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel )
Christmas Day isn't the best day to be traveling. Also, we made our travel plans before the Omicron variant of COVID-19 appeared. Had we known what we do now, we might not have made this New Orleans detour. The people here in Louisiana don't seem to care about the danger. On the other hand, they don't seem to care if people wear masks or not, rather than having a governor like that of Florida who seemingly wants to ban people from protecting themselves from deadly disease entirely, and to prohibit private businesses from protecting their customers from getting sick. In any event, a number of our original plans for things to do while in New Orleans are likely to be scratched.
The hotel was able to provide us with a mini-fridge, which will help a lot. We made a couple of brief sorties to CVS and Walgreen's to get some groceries. We made dinner in the room from what we got from the stores and what we brought with us on the train from Chicago.
We have a total of four nights here in New Orleans. Tomorrow is likely to be a day of sleeping a lot, after which we'll decide what, if anything, we can do safely while we're here.
