Railway Rick - 08: Wrapping up the USA

Here’s a summary of the 3 week whirlwind I just completed around the USA. 

First, a story from San Francisco that I forgot to share. I got into Oracle Park to see the Giants game, walked up a million ramps and then did a bathroom stop. Then I had to walk halfway around the stadium to find my seat. When I started patting my pockets checking for all important items, my phone is gone. My phone, with all of my electronic tickets for every upcoming event. My phone, with my entire life on it. And my trip wasn’t even half over. Panic time. I high tailed it back across to the restroom and a man was exiting the stall I had visited. 

Me “Did you see a phone in there?”  

Hispanic man “Que?”

Me “Phone?”, holding my thumb and finger up to my ear. 

Him “Lo siento. No telefono.”  But he offers me his to use

Another random man approaches and says “You want to use mine to call it?”

Me “Probably won’t work, it’s on silent”. 

But out of desperation, I use his phone and dial my number. We hear ringing, but not from inside the bathroom. It’s coming from out on the concourse. I run out there and there is a concession stand next to the bathroom. A woman at the stand where a Good Samaritan had turned it in, had just turned on my ringer when it started ringing in her hand. I thanked her and finally exhaled. Major crisis averted. 

FAQs

What was your favorite city?

I’ll give a 3 part answer; Most fun, Los Angeles because of all the famous places I visited, the studio tours, the wax museum, etc. Most memorable, NYC because of the intense places I visited on that last day; Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and 9-11 site. Favorite overall, I’m in love with New Orleans. Love the music, the food, the architecture, the people, the vibe. 

Least favorite: None. Loved them all. Even DC, where my tours were canceled, was redeemed by the monument tour and Smithsonian visits. 

What was your favorite moment?

So hard to choose, so many good memories. Strangely enough, it might have been my pancake lunch at Dupar’s restaurant in LA. So much of LA, because of all of the Bosch sites, and all of the tv and movie memories, reminded me of Monica. We shared so many hours watching tv and movies together, pausing them and discussing them. Laughing and crying over the ones we loved. When I got to that restaurant that I had set as a major goal, I sat there at my table and cried.  A close second was O’Hara’s Irish Pub near 9-11. That place took my breath away. 

Least favorite: The disappointing Jazz dinner cruise in New Orleans. Also, Missing out on the Catalina Jazz Club in LA, and missing out on the DC tours. 

Favorite sports venue?

Dodger Stadium. So iconic and so famous. Close second, Soldier Field in Chicago for the same reasons. 

Least favorite: Loved them all, but probably Levi’s Stadium in the far suburbs of San Francisco. Because of the “far” part. 

Favorite music event?

Haley Freaking Reinhart in Oakland. Close second, the Blues Alley Jazz club in DC

Least Favorite: the horrible Dixieland Jazz band on the New Orleans cruise. 

Favorite tourist attraction?

The Statue of Liberty. It’s not even close. 

Least favorite: Well, Angels Flight in LA was closed if you want to count that. Other than that, I guess the Griffith Observatory in LA. And that’s just because the tour bus driver gave us an hour there.  And after I had taken 5 minutes of pictures of the views, I was ready to go. 

Favorite food?  The jambalaya at a jazz club in DC of all places. And the crab cakes at a jazz club in Chicago. Weird. 

Least favorite: Sushi in Oakland?  I mean, I’m glad I tried it, but please, just cook my fish. 

Favorite ballpark food?

Had a great brisket sandwich at 49ers game. Had a great helmet full of nachos at Dodger Stadium

Least favorite: The highly overrated Dodger Dog. It’s just a long steamed hot dog. Give me a break!

Favorite drink?

Jameson, Jameson, Jameson

Least favorite: not applicable 

Biggest surprise?

2 Random Encounters with people I knew!!  Also, that 9-11 bar. Woof, it was amazing. 

Biggest disappointment: That cruise in New Orleans. 

How did you sleep on the train?

Eh. Some good some bad. It was better when I could spread out over multiple seats. NO to DC was the worst.  Noise canceling headphones are the greatest invention ever. 

Favorite part of the train?

The views. The cafe car; getting coffee, breakfast sandwiches, Bloody Mary’s. Not having to drive

Least favorite: Besides the non-sleeping, it was the tiny little bathrooms that you couldn’t even turn around in. 

Did you miss anything from your original agenda?

Chicago, didn’t get my deep dish pizza or visit the top of the Hancock Tower

San Fran, didn’t have any Ghirardelli chocolate 

LA, missed my jazz club event

DC, missed the government tours. 

NYC, skipped the Giants game 

But overall, I did pretty good and even crammed in some extra music events along the way. 

Are you glad you did it?

Absolutely. Without question. 

Would you do it again?

No need. Already did it. 

Did you have fun?

Here’s the rub. I saw so many wonderful things, and experienced so many amazing things. But . . . I did them alone. Without my partner.  So, it was a roller coaster of emotions.  Loved it, but …

Railway Rick, By The Numbers:

1250 - Pictures taken

26 - States passed through

21 - Days

20 - Nights

19 - Lyft Rides (Ouch.  most expensive part of the trip)

14 - Bus Rides (Tours, DC and SF transportation, SF to LA trip)

11 - Amtrak Rides (Includes 3 extra small rides around SF and Oakland)

11 - Irish Pubs (I definitely renewed my love for Jameson)

11* - Music Events (Should have been 12 but I missed 1 in LA due to a late train)

7 - Nights sleeping upright in an Amtrak coach seat

6 - Boat rides (including 1 in each ocean!)

5 - Subway rides

5 - Hotels (9 nights; 1 in Seattle, 2 each in CHI, LA, NO, DC)

5 - Bosch References in LA 

3 - Baseball Stadiums 

2 - Football Stadiums 

2 - Random Encounters with people I know from St Louis (Again, WTF???)

2 - Air BnB nights in Oakland

2 - Nights crashing at my niece’s apartment

1 - Trolley Ride

60+ Estimated Miles Walked. Averaged 3 miles a day

??? Drinks consumed. I have a rough idea, but what happens on the road stays on the road

Amtrak impressed the heck out of me. I had read so many horror stories about how they’re never on time. I had one bad trip between San Francisco and LA where there was a broken train in front of us so we were 4 hours late. Other than that, when the itinerary said the train departs at 11:07, or whatever, that is exactly the time the train pulled out. Not 1 minute later. The workers on the train were efficient, mostly friendly. They ran little vacuum cleaners, tried to keep the bathrooms clean, and tried to accommodate any reasonable request you had. 

Living out of a heavy duffel bag and a stuffed backpack for 3 weeks was no picnic. I walked a mile or so several times with those things. Ugh. And I brought a nice fall jacket and I wore it everywhere. And for the most part I sweated my butt off. It was 75-80 degrees everywhere I went. The thing is, I needed the deep jacket pockets to act as my purse: cell phone, glasses, wallet, portable charger, cable, sunglasses, gum, tissues, Worthers for my throat, earbuds in cities with the tour busses, and my niece’s keys in NY. Lol. 

So much walking, so many blisters. 

By the way, my Fedora was a hit. I got 5-10 compliments or comments every day. I got called “Doctor Jones” twice, “Indiana” twice, “Coach” once (By a Cowboys fan in Chicago. Google Tom Landry for a deeper reference), and 4 times I was asked by a homeless person if they could have it. And countless “Nice hat” comments as I passed people on the street. 

I loved the mixture of cultures everywhere I went. I spent the entire trip being a tourist, doing tourist things. You know who else does tourist things?  Actual tourists. I know I heard Spanish, French, German, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, several Slavic languages, some Middle Eastern stuff, some Hebrew. And once in a great while, I heard some English being spoken. 

Was it the trip of a lifetime? Absolutely. It just blows my mind that in one trip, I saw both oceans, the Mexican border, all of those sporting events, all of those music events. Just wow.  Unforgettable, that’s for sure. Thanks for riding along with me via the blog. 

Railway Rick, out.

Railway Rick - 07: Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple

 

Took the Amtrak 172 NE Regional train on a Wednesday morning from Washington DC to New York City. The last stop on my 3 week travel odyssey. This city would be a little different; no hotels necessary. I have 2 beautiful, wonderful nieces living in NYC, Tara and her sister Megan. Tara just relocated a few weeks earlier but Megan is a big city veteran, having lived here 4 years. So she was gracious enough to let me bunk at her place for 2 nights on the Upper East Side. Here are some typical UES apartments, complete with those magical fire escapes we’ve all seen in the movies. 

 

I got off the train in massive Penn Station, and stored my luggage for a few hours. Took a walk to Madison Avenue and met Meg to get her keys. Then I hopped on the Big Red tour bus to tour Manhattan for the afternoon. The free tour bus headphones talked about the city and the history while we drove around. I loved the ornate architecture on some of the federal buildings, courthouses and churches down near Wall Street. 

 

 

 

 

Down one side of Manhattan and up the other finishing up near Broadway and Times Square. 

 

 

 

 

I had purchased the deluxe tour package. Besides 48 hours that I could hop on and off the bus, it also included a ticket to the top of the Empire State Building and a ferry ticket to Liberty and Ellis Island. I still had time on this afternoon to visit the Empire State Building, saving the island trip for the next day. I had been to the top of the ESB before, but the views are outstanding no matter how many times you see them. 

 

 

 

 

Took my one and only New York Lyft ride to gather my luggage and head to Meg’s apartment. Because of the demand and the traffic, ride shares in NYC are horribly expensive. Luckily, with a little patience, it’s easy to use the subway system there. Nobody drives. Everyone takes the subway everywhere.  My nieces taught me to just look for the green and white balls to mark the entrance down to the trains. After settling in, I hopped on the Q train just a few blocks away and headed down to Broadway. Settled into an Irish Pub (I know.  You’re shocked) to wait for my nieces before we took in a Broadway show. 

     

Our show for the evening was Maybe Happy Ending, the Tony Award winner this past season for best musical of the year. It was a fun musical, about a couple of retired robots that fall in love.  Late dinner after the show made for a great evening. Megan’s beau Greg joined us for the show and dinner. 

The next morning it was time for a bagel and coffee at a neighborhood shop. Then down below the streets to the Q Line to go downtown and hop back on the tour bus. Through Soho, Chinatown, past the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street, etc, making my way down to Battery Park.  The audio tour taught me about regular green street signs and brown ones. The brown ones identify historical streets or districts, and the name of the district is in fine print at the top of the street name. 

       

 

 

 

The southern tip of Manhattan is called the Battery, named for the artillery battery of cannons that used to be positioned there for defense purposes. And that’s where the ferry departs for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  This was my first time viewing the Statue in person and I was awestruck. Close up, standing at the base and looking up at her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. It so immense, and so detailed, and has meant so much to this country for so long. I can honestly say it was the most impressive tourist attraction I have ever witnessed. 

 

 

 

And then, the intensity of the day increased even more as we ferried over to Ellis Island. Viewing the grand Registry Room, where millions of immigrants stood in line waiting for their opportunity to start their own American Dream. I can only assume that my great grandparents on both sides (British on my mother’s side; German and Irish on the Rowe side) came through Ellis Island after leaving Europe. It gave me chills. 

 

The ferry returned to the city and I continued my emotional day by visiting the 9-11 site to see the Freedom Tower and the Reflection Pools. The names of every life lost on that day are engraved around the edge of the pool. The last time I had been to NYC was in 2002, the year after the tragedy. It was just a chain link fence around a pile of rubble at that time. 23 years later, it is an incredible site, full of majesty and honor. 

 

 

 

 

And then finally, as I was walking away from the memorial site, I spotted O’Hara’s Irish Pub, just a few steps away from where the towers fell. The sign said the bar was established in 1983, so it had survived the destruction. I had to visit this place and have a Guinness. Walking inside this bar was the emotional climax to an already emotional day. Every square inch of wall space and ceiling space is covered with patches; patches of First Responders from around the country and around the world. These officers and firefighters from everywhere came into this bar in the past 2 dozen years and have proudly added their department patch to the tribute walls in honor of those lost. Wow. Just wow. Impressive and humbling. 

    

The last evening of New York was originally scheduled to be one last football game. The Philadelphia Eagles were in town to play the Giants. But I had decided the night before to cancel that excursion. We would have had to take the train over to New Jersey to the stadium. And the game would end around 11:30. And from everything I had heard, the lines to get back on the NY bound subway after the game were horrible. It would have been about a 1am return. So we opted to stay local, visit a couple of bars, and then settle into Brandy’s Piano Bar a few blocks from the apartment. That was a great decision. The piano player William Hall was hilarious. And he could chug Jameson shots like a pro. And the waitress and the bartender were Broadway veterans who had chances to profile their talents throughout the evening. Obviously while waiting for their next big break, they spend their nights at Brandy’s entertaining the locals.  It was a great finish to a great city and a great trip. 

  

The next morning was back to reality. One more New York bagel and one more cup of coffee. Then one more subway trip to Penn Station. Then one more Amtrak ride back to Syracuse. A short ride later, I was back home to my lake paradise. A trip to be remembered to be sure, but as we all know, there’s no place like home.  Coming next, one last blog to summarize my crazy adventure!