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.
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