Before leaving Dallas I had to say goodbye the right way, I had breakfast at the Market Center Cafe with its small town charm. As the first time I went there, the place was packed and I was given the same exact booth I had days before. The host remembered me and even gave a compliment on the grey sweater-jacket I had on.....anyways. I went with the banana-bread french toast with a side order of ham and an unnessecarily large glass of homemade iced tea. Knowing I had Amtrak food to look forward to for the next two days, I wanted to get a good meal in me. There must have been something special about my sweater-jacket that day because I drew a second compliment from a lady as I waited for the DART train to take me to the Amtrak station.
The Amtrak left on time without a hitch in the late afternoon and by the time I woke up the next morning we were stationed in St. Louis, MO. The train must have a scheduled rest stop there because we didn't move for nearly two hours. Once we started to pull out of the city I saw Busch Stadium, which plays home to the St. Louis Cardinals, winners of last year's World Series. There was also the great arch, but what most interested me was crossing over the Mississippi River. I've heard about it all my life, now was able to see it for the first time. On the trip coming towards Dallas, it was night-time when we were in St. Louis, so I wasn't able to see these attractions from my window. The train motored along and we eventually crossed over into the State of Illinois. One interesting town was Joliet, in which I was able to see the high walls of Joliet Prison, the former residence of 'Joliet' Jake Blues. A few hours later we were pulling into Chicago's Union Station, and since the train for New York wasn't departing until later that night, I had seven hours to kill in Chicago.
The weather was quite pleasant, except for some kicking winds, so my plans was to walk on as many different blocks as possible until the sun started going down. In previous times I went to Chicago, doesn't something bad usually would occur; a cancelled bus, a cancelled flight, always something. Alot of bad could happen in seven hours, so I had to keep on my toes in this unlucky city. I walked around under the subway el, which looks similar to New York's, and some of the busy streets. I didn't have a solid meal since the banana-bread french toast the morning before, so soon enough I got hungry and went for the first decent place I saw. There was a large red sign lighted up from two blocks away, and it looked like a resturant sign, so I headed in its direction. Turns out it was, a place called The Berghoff, for German cuisine. I started out with a pint of their home brewed beer and their Bratwurst and Knockwurst appetizer combo. Looking at the menu my eyes were drawn to the calf liver with onion, so I put that order in for my main dish. The meal comes with a soup, and as I'm eating my soup some fifteen minutes after the waitress took my order, she said she's sorry, but just found out they ran out of liver. Typical Chicago bad luck!
Then there was a big twist; she apologized for not knowing sooner and offered any entree on the menu, free of charge. I didn't want to take total advantage of the situation, so I selected a dish which was the same price as the liver, which as the jaeger schnitzel. I initially wasn't planning on dessert, but it was a German resturant, so I couldn't leave without having some apple studel. When the waitress asked if I wanted it a la mode, I said no. A few seconds later I realized I made a big error and rushed over to her to put the ice cream on. With the free entree, I only had to pay for the beer, appetizer, and desert. Before leaving I wanted to make a trip to the bathroom and was absolutely blown away by the pearly white tiles and shiny sinks that had an old fashioned look. It had to have been one of the most spotless bathrooms I ever had the chance to experience. With a big meal in my stomach, there were plenty hours of walking to do to burn it off. Although I was glad to have seen the corporate headquaters for Morton Salt, one item I was quite interested in getting a picture of was a Chicago city police car. I figured in a big city like a Chicago one would be passing by every few minutes like in New York. Even Dallas, which really isn't a big city, had cop cars all over the place. More and more blocks I walked down, but no city cop cars in sight.
Under another subway el I did encounter an Illinois State Trooper vehicle, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I continued my walk and then something occured to me, alot of stores were closed. It was only 3pm at the time, and on a Saturday, but most of the fast food places and resturants weren't open for business. Although some Dunkin Donuts were open, other locations were not. Was it a case since it wasn't a 'work day' that alot of the other businesses shut down as well for the weekends? That was the only reason I could think of. One establishment that was open for sure was 7-11, and inside the window my prayers were answered. I saw a Chicago city policeman buying a cup of coffee. I knew his vehicle had to be close by, so I turned the corner, and there it was. I did a little more walking around as the sun began to set, which brought me to the Sears Tower. There was probably time to visit the skyview up top, but I had my carry-on bag with me and I wasn't sure what their bag policy was, so I just skipped it and headed back towards Union Station to wait for my next train. There was just one little problem with Union Station when I arrived, there place was surrounded by fire trucks and news vans.
Some streets were blocked off by the police, so I had to walk around the entire area to get closer and find out what was going on. I figured this had to have been something big like a bomb threat or a multiple-shooting. What was also creeping into my head was the notion of more Chicago bad luck putting a damper on my travel arrangements. My train was leaving in a few hours and the last thing I needed was any delays or cancellations. I was able to find a good corner to perch on and I noticed water flowing out of a hydrant. This eased some of my anxiety as maybe it was a small fire issue which could be resolved in a few hours before the train was to depart. There was an entrance I saw people were allowed to enter the station from, so I went in and searched for the cause of the drama. It turns out one of the Amtrak track lines in the station had an electrical fire which needed to be hosed down. I peeked down the track line in question and saw the firemen wrapping up the hose and the giant puddle of water left on the tracks. As I waited on the train to depart it dawned on me that I walked alot of Chicago in only a few hours and it really wasn't all that bigger than Dallas.
The fire at Union Station didn't cause my train to have a delay and it left on time, bound for New York. For a while I had the seat next to me empty and things were looking good, but a few stops later this stocky guy about my age plops himself down next to me and ruins any hopes of a decent nights sleep. With this guy's knees in my space and his snorning I didn't even bother attempting to sleep, I just finished off a book I had been reading throughout the course of the trip. Although I wasn't really hungry, I wanted an excuse to not be next to this guy the next morning, so I went in the resturant car for breakfast. The Texas Eagle Amtrak line has the observatory car with lounges that I could've escaped to, the NewYork-Chicago Lakeshore line only has the snack car benches. Seated at the table with me were two ladies in their late fifties and a guy a few years older than me. As soon as the guy sat down he gave everyone a firm handshake and started to spark up conversation. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something awkward about him. He was friendly, but any topic that came up, he had to prove to everyone else he was an expert in. I could understand if the two ladies were in their twenties or thirties, but both were at grandma phase, so I didn't know why he was trying to impress.
The only real important piece of information I got from him was that Amtrak goes out to the west coast. The Texas Eagle line goes through Texas (as I know) and makes it way through the Arizona desert to eventually Los Angeles' Union Station. He recommended the more scenic line that leaves Chicago and passes through the Rocky Mountains on its way to San Francisco. The conversation got around to jobs and my turn of 'unemployed at the moment' went rather quick, he worked raising money at some fancy specialty college for genuis high-school kids that wanted to skip the rest of their grades and move on to college. Of course, it took a good ten minutes for us to hear every detail about it. One of the ladies was heading to New York City and when she announced she was a bike rider looking for a place to ride, then it was my turn to take control of the conversation and impress. Mr. Fabulous only lived in Manhattan for five years, and that was back almost ten years ago, his knowledge of this topic was outdated, and he knew it, so he remained silent. Although the lady assumed riding in Central Park was the way to go, I recommended the more spacious West Side Highway path. It turns out we were at the table for more than an hour, I received two refills of orange juice. Soon enough breakfast was over and I had to return to the lump on the seat next to me.
Luckily he got off somewhere in Upstate New York, as did Mr. Fabulous. The rest of the ride to New York's Penn Station in Manhattan was in comfort as the seat next to me wasn't taken for the remaining stops we made. Once we reached Albany, the train had to dettach the snack car, which was going to be attached to another train heading up to Boston. That sequence had us standing still for about an hour. The highlight for the rest of the ride was the Hudson River valley with the water running alongside the train tracks. There were boats, bridges, light towers, mountains, and the water itself reflecting the bright sunlight. At the breakfast table, one of the ladies told us this Lakeshore line is considered the best for viewing of all Amtrak lines, perhaps this stretch is why, because the rest of it is stripped cars and abandoned factories. The graffiti out the window kept increasing, so I knew we were getting closer to the city. Once we passed under the George Washington Bridge I began to pack my stuff and was ready to hop off. Once I was in Penn Station and dodged though hundreds of people to get to the subway, I needed to re-adjust to the intensity New York brings. Just days before in Dallas, I was on the DART train that had more than enough seats for everyone. When I got on the subway in New York, I had to stand for half the ride and saw a guy step on a lady's foot without saying excuse me.
Apologizing is for the small towns...
The Amtrak left on time without a hitch in the late afternoon and by the time I woke up the next morning we were stationed in St. Louis, MO. The train must have a scheduled rest stop there because we didn't move for nearly two hours. Once we started to pull out of the city I saw Busch Stadium, which plays home to the St. Louis Cardinals, winners of last year's World Series. There was also the great arch, but what most interested me was crossing over the Mississippi River. I've heard about it all my life, now was able to see it for the first time. On the trip coming towards Dallas, it was night-time when we were in St. Louis, so I wasn't able to see these attractions from my window. The train motored along and we eventually crossed over into the State of Illinois. One interesting town was Joliet, in which I was able to see the high walls of Joliet Prison, the former residence of 'Joliet' Jake Blues. A few hours later we were pulling into Chicago's Union Station, and since the train for New York wasn't departing until later that night, I had seven hours to kill in Chicago.
The weather was quite pleasant, except for some kicking winds, so my plans was to walk on as many different blocks as possible until the sun started going down. In previous times I went to Chicago, doesn't something bad usually would occur; a cancelled bus, a cancelled flight, always something. Alot of bad could happen in seven hours, so I had to keep on my toes in this unlucky city. I walked around under the subway el, which looks similar to New York's, and some of the busy streets. I didn't have a solid meal since the banana-bread french toast the morning before, so soon enough I got hungry and went for the first decent place I saw. There was a large red sign lighted up from two blocks away, and it looked like a resturant sign, so I headed in its direction. Turns out it was, a place called The Berghoff, for German cuisine. I started out with a pint of their home brewed beer and their Bratwurst and Knockwurst appetizer combo. Looking at the menu my eyes were drawn to the calf liver with onion, so I put that order in for my main dish. The meal comes with a soup, and as I'm eating my soup some fifteen minutes after the waitress took my order, she said she's sorry, but just found out they ran out of liver. Typical Chicago bad luck!
Then there was a big twist; she apologized for not knowing sooner and offered any entree on the menu, free of charge. I didn't want to take total advantage of the situation, so I selected a dish which was the same price as the liver, which as the jaeger schnitzel. I initially wasn't planning on dessert, but it was a German resturant, so I couldn't leave without having some apple studel. When the waitress asked if I wanted it a la mode, I said no. A few seconds later I realized I made a big error and rushed over to her to put the ice cream on. With the free entree, I only had to pay for the beer, appetizer, and desert. Before leaving I wanted to make a trip to the bathroom and was absolutely blown away by the pearly white tiles and shiny sinks that had an old fashioned look. It had to have been one of the most spotless bathrooms I ever had the chance to experience. With a big meal in my stomach, there were plenty hours of walking to do to burn it off. Although I was glad to have seen the corporate headquaters for Morton Salt, one item I was quite interested in getting a picture of was a Chicago city police car. I figured in a big city like a Chicago one would be passing by every few minutes like in New York. Even Dallas, which really isn't a big city, had cop cars all over the place. More and more blocks I walked down, but no city cop cars in sight.
Under another subway el I did encounter an Illinois State Trooper vehicle, but that wasn't what I was looking for. I continued my walk and then something occured to me, alot of stores were closed. It was only 3pm at the time, and on a Saturday, but most of the fast food places and resturants weren't open for business. Although some Dunkin Donuts were open, other locations were not. Was it a case since it wasn't a 'work day' that alot of the other businesses shut down as well for the weekends? That was the only reason I could think of. One establishment that was open for sure was 7-11, and inside the window my prayers were answered. I saw a Chicago city policeman buying a cup of coffee. I knew his vehicle had to be close by, so I turned the corner, and there it was. I did a little more walking around as the sun began to set, which brought me to the Sears Tower. There was probably time to visit the skyview up top, but I had my carry-on bag with me and I wasn't sure what their bag policy was, so I just skipped it and headed back towards Union Station to wait for my next train. There was just one little problem with Union Station when I arrived, there place was surrounded by fire trucks and news vans.
Some streets were blocked off by the police, so I had to walk around the entire area to get closer and find out what was going on. I figured this had to have been something big like a bomb threat or a multiple-shooting. What was also creeping into my head was the notion of more Chicago bad luck putting a damper on my travel arrangements. My train was leaving in a few hours and the last thing I needed was any delays or cancellations. I was able to find a good corner to perch on and I noticed water flowing out of a hydrant. This eased some of my anxiety as maybe it was a small fire issue which could be resolved in a few hours before the train was to depart. There was an entrance I saw people were allowed to enter the station from, so I went in and searched for the cause of the drama. It turns out one of the Amtrak track lines in the station had an electrical fire which needed to be hosed down. I peeked down the track line in question and saw the firemen wrapping up the hose and the giant puddle of water left on the tracks. As I waited on the train to depart it dawned on me that I walked alot of Chicago in only a few hours and it really wasn't all that bigger than Dallas.
The fire at Union Station didn't cause my train to have a delay and it left on time, bound for New York. For a while I had the seat next to me empty and things were looking good, but a few stops later this stocky guy about my age plops himself down next to me and ruins any hopes of a decent nights sleep. With this guy's knees in my space and his snorning I didn't even bother attempting to sleep, I just finished off a book I had been reading throughout the course of the trip. Although I wasn't really hungry, I wanted an excuse to not be next to this guy the next morning, so I went in the resturant car for breakfast. The Texas Eagle Amtrak line has the observatory car with lounges that I could've escaped to, the NewYork-Chicago Lakeshore line only has the snack car benches. Seated at the table with me were two ladies in their late fifties and a guy a few years older than me. As soon as the guy sat down he gave everyone a firm handshake and started to spark up conversation. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something awkward about him. He was friendly, but any topic that came up, he had to prove to everyone else he was an expert in. I could understand if the two ladies were in their twenties or thirties, but both were at grandma phase, so I didn't know why he was trying to impress.
The only real important piece of information I got from him was that Amtrak goes out to the west coast. The Texas Eagle line goes through Texas (as I know) and makes it way through the Arizona desert to eventually Los Angeles' Union Station. He recommended the more scenic line that leaves Chicago and passes through the Rocky Mountains on its way to San Francisco. The conversation got around to jobs and my turn of 'unemployed at the moment' went rather quick, he worked raising money at some fancy specialty college for genuis high-school kids that wanted to skip the rest of their grades and move on to college. Of course, it took a good ten minutes for us to hear every detail about it. One of the ladies was heading to New York City and when she announced she was a bike rider looking for a place to ride, then it was my turn to take control of the conversation and impress. Mr. Fabulous only lived in Manhattan for five years, and that was back almost ten years ago, his knowledge of this topic was outdated, and he knew it, so he remained silent. Although the lady assumed riding in Central Park was the way to go, I recommended the more spacious West Side Highway path. It turns out we were at the table for more than an hour, I received two refills of orange juice. Soon enough breakfast was over and I had to return to the lump on the seat next to me.
Luckily he got off somewhere in Upstate New York, as did Mr. Fabulous. The rest of the ride to New York's Penn Station in Manhattan was in comfort as the seat next to me wasn't taken for the remaining stops we made. Once we reached Albany, the train had to dettach the snack car, which was going to be attached to another train heading up to Boston. That sequence had us standing still for about an hour. The highlight for the rest of the ride was the Hudson River valley with the water running alongside the train tracks. There were boats, bridges, light towers, mountains, and the water itself reflecting the bright sunlight. At the breakfast table, one of the ladies told us this Lakeshore line is considered the best for viewing of all Amtrak lines, perhaps this stretch is why, because the rest of it is stripped cars and abandoned factories. The graffiti out the window kept increasing, so I knew we were getting closer to the city. Once we passed under the George Washington Bridge I began to pack my stuff and was ready to hop off. Once I was in Penn Station and dodged though hundreds of people to get to the subway, I needed to re-adjust to the intensity New York brings. Just days before in Dallas, I was on the DART train that had more than enough seats for everyone. When I got on the subway in New York, I had to stand for half the ride and saw a guy step on a lady's foot without saying excuse me.
Apologizing is for the small towns...
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