With my husband out of town, I wanted to take my own solo adventure. He was originally going to take our only car so my options were to rent one and drive somewhere or walk to the Amtrak station and take the train. The train intrigued me.
My next step was to see where the train could take me. New Orleans was an obvious possibility but we had already done that fairly recently. The Atlanta train gets in so late and in a neighborhood far from downtown so logistically would have been a bit of a pain.
And then I noticed the train went all the way to Washington, DC so the idea of this trip was born.
In the days leading up to my departure, I packed a backpack, lifted it to see how heavy it was, and then took a few things out. Then decided last minute I wanted my macro lens for any gardens I found so added that. I also brought with a small camera bag that had straps to attach my quilo. My goal was to travel light.
When the day finally arrived, it was a rainy afternoon but fortunately, I found a gap of dry weather for the walk to the station. The train was scheduled to arrive about 25 minutes early so I headed over there early. They let us up on the platform about five minutes before the train arrived.
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| Birmingham Station |
A lot of people got off in Birmingham. Not so many got on. I really enjoyed having a seat to myself to Atlanta and a pretty quiet car.
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| Sloss Furnances - it had started to rain by now and we were moving as we left Birmingham so this isn't a great photo. |
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| I brought dinner with me - a peanut butter and jelly English muffin, snow peas and grape tomatoes, and Chex Mix. |
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| After dinner, I went to check out the Cafe Car and decided to treat myself. This chardonnay was actually oaked (lightly) and pretty decent. A half-bottle was only $14.75. Everything you buy from the Cafe car comes in a tray like this to make it easy to carry back. |
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| My very quiet car for this early stretch of the trip. This wouldn't last. |
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| The passage between cars. The train consisted of 2 engines, 3 coach cars, 1 Cafe car, and 2 sleeper cars and a bag dorm (half luggage/half sleeper). |
At 10:00 p.m. local time, they turned out the lights and stopped making announcements. The Cafe Car closed at 11:00 p.m. We arrived in Atlanta sometime around 11:30 p.m. eastern time. This is when the dynamics of the train changed. I got a seat mate and my car mostly filled up. It took quite a while for the car to quiet down and then began all the stops overnight, each one bringing commotion as the car attendant yelled instructions outside our car to new passengers, people settled in, had their tickets checked, etc.
Sometime after Gastonia (around 4:15 a.m.), I started to drift in and out of sleep. And then around 6:00 a.m., I woke to the most beautiful reds and oranges just starting to creep into the sky. My attempts to capture it on video or photo just don't do it justice at all so I will just leave it in my memory and you will have to take my word for it.
The Cafe car re-opened about 6:00 a.m. so after the sunrise, I went for some coffee and apple juice to supplement the bagel and scones I had brought with me. Being the klutz that I am, as I was sitting down, I managed to completely overturn my coffee onto my feet, food bag and quilo. Amazingly, the tiny hole to coffee cup didn't let much out. I can't believe it had that good of a seal otherwise!
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| In Greensboro, the train station is next to the bus station. They must run electric buses as here is an overhead electric bus charging station. |
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| Some stations are small and quaint like this one in Danville. |
We arrived in DC, a few minutes ahead of schedule. Overall the trip in coach went pretty fast but it was very difficult to get comfortable to sleep, noisy, and the bathrooms got quite filthy very quick. They don't get cleaned during the route so as the trip went on they just got worse. In the middle of the night of this trip when I couldn't sleep, I submitted a bid on a roomette for the trip home.
The train station is quite impressive with its many tracks and huge historic building.
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| Here is the actual arrival and departure times for this trip. The route starts in New Orleans and ends in New York (this screenshot skips the last two stops of the route). |
Even from the outside, the train station building is gorgeous.
While on the train, I had received word that my room was ready so I started heading that direction.
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| DC is filled with memorials and monuments sometimes on unexpected street corners, like this one. This was remembering the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine where millions of innocent victims died between 1932-1933. |
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| This appears to follow the same concept as those eScooters and eBikes that have filled our cities. With an app, you locate a vehicle that is available, open it, drive to where you need to go, and then leave it in a metered parking spot (which are free to the driver with this car) for the next person to find. |
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| Arriving in Chinatown for the first time. My hotel (Motto) on the right and the Friendship Arch straight ahead. |
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Dedicated to sister cities (DC and Beijing) in 1986.
It is one of the largest ceremonial arches outside of China. |
I had booked a room at the
Motto by Hilton Washington DC City Center. It seems to target more of a younger demographic with priority to bars and restaurants in exchange for smaller rooms at a lower price. Being just a solo traveler, I booked their smallest room which had bunk beds and was only about 150 square feet. The room met all my needs. My only real complaint was a lack of counter space to set down my stuff.
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| Not much of a view |
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| This was on my floor just a few doors down and is something I wish every hotel had. We are always looking for convenient places to fill up our water bottles and that often means finding the gym or pool area which are the only spots with drinking fountains. The Motto supposedly had these on just about every floor. |
After checking into my hotel and dropping off most my stuff, I decided to do a bit of exploring, although with less than 1.5 hours of sleep, I didn't know how long I would last.
My first stop though was the Walgreens on the corner for some sunglasses which I hadn't thought to pack. This Walgreens was 3 floors tall with escalators. And it took me exploring all 3 floors (and multiple attempts to try and go up the down escalators in my tired state) before I found some sunglasses. I then grabbed some food at Cava on the corner and continued on to a tourist site or two.
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| I loved views like this. You would be crossing a street and look one direction and see some major landmark like the U.S. Capitol Building |
My first major stop was the White House.
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| There was a noticeable Secret Service presence. |
I was really losing steam by this point so I sat on a bench with a view of the Washington Monument in the distance to people watch a bit and then started meandering back to the hotel. On the way back, I just happened to walk past a Tesla store. The day before I had left home for this trip, we had put money down on a Tesla Model 3 of our own so this was my chance to see one in person.
Back in Chinatown, I loved seeing all the signs in both English and Chinese.
Back at the hotel, after a shower, I made use of my food and beverage credit with a drink and snack at the rooftop bar while I watched the sun go down. And then I called it a day.
The next morning, I had big plans to get up early and catch the sunrise over the monuments but those plans just didn't materialize. And I'm glad they didn't because I'm really happy with how my day turned out as is.
I woke up this morning to an e-mail that my bid on a roommate had been accepted! It was such a relief knowing the ride home would be a lot more pleasant.
So shortly after 8:00 a.m., I headed out and grabbed Starbucks as I headed to the National Mall.
The first place I wanted to go was back to the Southside of the White House where there was this very interesting Zero Milestone marker that I couldn't get close enough to with the crowd of people the afternoon before. This stone was intended to be the point from which all roads nationwide would be measured when built. In reality it is only used for DC area roads.
I then sat down and enjoyed my breakfast of Starbucks and scones that I had brought with me on this trip as I gazed at the Washington Monument in the distance.
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| Washington Monument |
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| Standing at the Washington Monument, if you look one way, you could see the Lincoln Memorial with the WW II Memorial in front of it. |
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| Looking the other direction, you could see the U.S. Capitol in the distance. |
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| WW II Memorial |
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| Each side had a large arch for either Atlantic (pictured here) or Pacific. |
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| Surrounding the large fountain was a pillar for each US state or territory, in the order they entered the union starting closest to Lincoln and alternating Pacific and Atlantic sides. |
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| This was the place to cool off your feet. I spent a while here. |
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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| A look back at the Washington Memorial |
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| Lincoln Memorial (these monuments aren't far from a very busy airport so planes often flew quite low overhead). |
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| I loved the ducks and sat right here for quite a while to admire them and get this photo. |
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| This photo took quite a bit of luck to get without people in it as this place was packed! |
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| Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking towards the Washington Monument |
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| Korean War Memorial |
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| Korean War Memorial |
Note, I completely missed the Vietnam War Memorial which I understand was just on the other side of the pond from the Korean War Memorial. I guess that is what you get when you just wander and don't plan. I discovered missing this late in the evening when my feet could take me no further so never made it back there.
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Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
"Out of the Mountain of Despair,
A Stone of Hope" |
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| From the MLK Jr. Memorial, I got my first glimpse of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial across the lake. |
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| Plus another view of the Washington Monument |
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| An eScooter someone took on some serious off-roading! |
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| More glimpses of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial as I walked around the lake |
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| Thomas Jefferson Memorial |
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| From the Jefferson Memorial, I got another great view of the Washington Monument and its reflection. |
At this point, it was about 2pm and I already knew I wanted to revisit each of the monuments after dark. So the question was, how should I spend the next hours. I had hoped to visit the National Gallery of Art which was some distance away and I also knew I needed to rest my feet if I was going to make it past dark. So I first went to lunch at Potbelly where I took my time enjoying a delicious sandwich, rehydrated, and rested my feet a while. Then I ultimately decided I did want to see what I could of the National Gallery of Art. Below is this neat foot bridge to cross one of the major roads to get to Potbelly.
The West Building of the National Gallery of Art is a beautiful building and has a fairly impressive selection of art. I walked pretty quickly through the rooms of some of the religious and older art I was less interested in and then spent quite a bit of time in the rooms where they had quite a few Monet and Pisarro paintings.
Something about this painting reminded me so much of one of my favorite paintings at the Milwaukee Art Museum, The Wood Gatherer by Jules Bastien-Lepage from the same time period.
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On Their Way to Camp
Eastman Johnson
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Niagara
Frederic Edwin Church |
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The Japanese Footbridge
Claude Monet |
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Woman with Parasol - Madame Monet and Her Son
Claude Monet |
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The House of Parliament, Sunset
Claude Monet |
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| A neat waterfall between the East and West buildings of the National Gallery of Art |
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| Moving walkway between the East and West Buildings |
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| The East Building houses modern and contemporary art including a lot of Picasso's work throughout his art career |
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Still Life
Pablo Picasso |
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Regatta at Cowes
Raoul Dufy |
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Hahn/Cock
Katharina Fritsch
On the rooftop |
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| A peak at the U.S. Capitol Building |
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While Beeches in Fall
Christian Rohlfs |
And then on the dot at 5:00 p.m., everyone was ushered out of the museum as it closed.
I wandered over to the National Mall and discovered this gem. This is a 1937 Cord 812 Convertible Phaeton Sedan that was owned by Amelia Earhart. In September of 1936, she was photographed with it and the Lockheed Electra that would ultimately take her on her final flight.
I spent a lot of time resting my feet while I sat on a bench in the shade on the National Mall until it was time for sunset.
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| Washington Monument |
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| Looking towards the Lincoln Memorial |
And then when dark hit, the magic began. All the monuments were lit up.
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| Washington Monument |
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| WW II Memorial and Lincoln Memorial (in the distance) |
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| WW II Memorial |
I found the states most relevant to my adult life.
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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Washington Monument
See the disturbance in the reflection? That is the work of one of those same ducks I talked about earlier. |
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| Korean War Memorial - a bit creepy at night |
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| Martin Luther King Jr. |
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| Thomas Jefferson Memorial |
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| Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial |
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| Thomas Jefferson Memorial |
And then, after over 39,000 steps this day, I finally made it back to my hotel around 10pm. This Friendship Arch was such a welcome sight for my very tired feet.
I will admit, I just about collapsed into bed when I got to my room having forgotten to eat dinner altogether. What an amazing day!
Monday morning was my final day in DC and with blisters on my feet, temperatures near 100 (the hottest day so far), plus the fact that I would be carrying all my stuff, I knew this would be a very slow day. My train wouldn't leave until about 6:30 p.m. this day. I had a latte and bagel at the hotel and didn't check out until about 11:00 a.m.
My first stop was the National Gallery of Art - Sculpture Garden where I found the most wonderful place to sit and people watch. There is a large fountain in the center of this sculpture garden with benches and trees surrounding it. I found space on one that was shaded. A nice breeze kept me cool and anytime the wind shifted, a light spray from the fountain would make its way to where I sat. I think I spent 2 hours here. I watched a large group of middle schoolers come and and go among many others.
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| The squirrels were a bit too friendly. This photo was taken just before he jumped on the back of my bench! And I didn't even have any food! |
I found a cafe in the sculpture garden with some good lunch options that I enjoyed before moving on towards the U.S. Capitol. My goal for the rest of the trip was to get some nice photos of the outside of the Capitol Building and to check out the United States Botanic Garden right near there.
The United States Botanic Garden had some lovely outdoor gardens including a rose garden and then a series of quite a few conservatories.
These skipper type butterflies were so plentiful! And I love how long their tongues are!
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| Peppers growing in a display showing how to set-up an indoor garden |
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| A cactus in bloom |
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| There were air conditioned halls off both ends of the conservatory courtyard where you could learn about things like genetically modified corn. I probably spent more time than I normally would have studying this corn because the A/C felt so good! |
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| Courtyard |
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| The conservatories of the United States Botanic Garden with the U.S. Capitol in the background |
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| After the gardens I made my way closer to the U.S. Capitol |
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| The ducks brought so much joy to this trip that I couldn't help but smile at this ramp someone made for them so they could easily get in and out of the pond. |
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Ulysses S. Grant Memorial with the U.S. Capitol in the background
(there was a group on the steps recording a dance) |
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| Senate Fountain |
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| Union Station |
After about 12,000 steps on sore and blistered feet, I was so relieved to see the Union Station. I was about 2 hours early for my train but I knew I had access to the lounge since I was traveling in a sleeper car. The pigeons were waiting out front as I got closer to the entrance just as they had been there to greet me two days earlier, what seemed like ages ago.
In the lounge I had access to, there was a cooler with drinks, a coffee maker, and snacks plus comfortable seating, outlets and USB ports, quiet and I believe Wi-Fi although I didn't test it. And although it felt great at first, the temperature clearly was set to ice box temperature! I guess it was preparing me for the train!
Our train arrived a few minutes early. When it was time to board, a train usher appeared in our lounge and escorted all of us sleeper car passengers out a side door and down to the platform.
As I had predicted, my roomette was in the Bag Dorm, the last car that is half baggage storage and half roomettes. To my surprise, it was a Viewliner II, a newer version of the Viewliner I, we had taken to New Orleans in 2021. In these newer versions of the roomettes, they have removed the toilet (there are common restrooms at the end of the car along with a common shower). This creates a little storage space on the floor under the first step (plus there is storage up above). I think there are more outlets as well.
I paid $121 for each one-way trip in coach and bid $185 for a roomette on the way home for a total of $304 for the trip home. I don't think I ever saw a roomette advertised for less than $375 (if you booked far in advance). It was listed for $500 if I had booked outright in those last days leading up to the trip. Staying in a sleeper car means all your meals plus unlimited bottled water are included so I saved money not having to buy food and drinks.
Here are a few photos of my private space for this journey back home.
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| Sunset was pretty |
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| Dinner my first night - Asian BBQ glazed salmon, rice, and veggies plus a roll and a brownie. And with dinner you get one complimentary alcoholic drink, so I chose a glass of chardonnay. |
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| Right outside my roomette was a brake - I didn't try to use it! |
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| When it was time to sleep, the car attendant lowered the upper bunk for me. If two of us had stayed in this roomette, the lower two seats would have also converted to a bed. This setup gave me living space below and sleeping space above. |
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| These are not only steps to get up to the upper bunk but there is also a fold down sink here. See the next photo for a view of the sink when open. |
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| The basin of the sink has no typical drain hole. Instead, all the water empties out the back once you tilt the sink back up to its closed position. |
My trip took a sad turn when I woke up on the next morning. We were stopped just outside of Greenville, SC. I first checked my phone to find an Amtrak text from an hour prior that we had stopped due to a trespasser. I opened the curtains from my upper bunk to see police cars parked outside and a police tape around the train.
It wasn’t until I had coffee and some oatmeal that the reality of what had happened truly struck me. By that time, I had returned to my room and I noticed a forensic team had been spending time searching, photographing, and documenting right outside my window. We had actually struck a person.
Further texts from Amtrak indicated they were investigating the incident and that a crew change would be necessary resulting in lengthy delays. I hoped the conductor and whatever team was with him at the time would be part of that crew exchange. I can’t imagine the trauma of seeing a person on the tracks and knowing you can’t stop in time to not hit them.
At one point we moved forward. Then once the forensic team left and we moved back to about the spot we had been sitting to presumably wait for the replacement crew. It wasn't until about 10:30 a.m., we started moving forward again. I imagine this will sit with me for a while.
At one point, I had a chance to check out the baggage section of my car because someone had left the door open. There wasn't much baggage in there.
They picked up Chick-fil-A to serve the sleeper car passengers for lunch when we stopped in Atlanta so I enjoyed a chicken sandwich. And then we had another delay leaving Atlanta as we had to wait for a freight train.
The day really flew by fast though because before I knew it, I was starting to recognize the sites of Birmingham. We arrived about 5:45 p.m. and after a short walk, I was home shortly after 6:00 p.m.
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| On my walk home, I watched the train depart Birmingham and continue on to New Orleans. |
In life, I think every experience we have changes us in at least little ways. For me, this weekend seemed more profound and I don't exactly know why.
