Chugga chugga choo choo! Last month we took a 4 hour ride on the rails and it was definitely an experience. School is starting so it has been a wee bit hectic around here so I will make it short and sweet.
Pros:
A fraction of the cost of a plane ticket
Way more room than a plane. Really, it was ridiculously spacious and comfortable. The train had outlets for phone chargers and the kids were happily watching movies or playing games on the tablet in comfort.
The bathrooms were very accessible. When you have preschoolers you appreciate that sort of thing.
A train was not as scary for a child’s first traveling experience beyond a car.
Carry-ons were easy to stow and baggage check was relatively easy on 3/4 of the trip.
Cons:
Both the to and return trips had horrible delays.
We did not try the dining car because we had three small chil dren with us but we did hit the “cafe” car. It was horrible. High priced “vending machine” food (i.e. ramen noodles!)
For the return trip we had to be at the train station at 4:30am but the train did not arrive until close to 7:00am due to a delay. Prior to leaving the train station we checked the Amtrak website and the delay was listed as only 10 minutes. Needless to say, we were cranky and tired by the time the train arrived.
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