August 19, A day off the water and a round trip train ride to New York City (0 miles)

I got up at 6:30 to get a taxi to the train station to get a 7:46 a.m. train. I guess I had forgotten that this was not to be an airport.  I printed out the roundtrip ticket at Amtrak’s little machine in two minutes and found myself with 45 minutes to wait in a large vacant station with practically no facilities. I couldn’t even find a cup of coffee or granola bar!

The station clearly used to be a thriving place with beautiful marble floors and benches with marble tops and ornate carvings everywhere. Unfortunately the days of railroad travel seem to be disappearing.

Once on the train I tried to make myself comfortable enough to sleep but the hard edges of the seat made that impossible. I watched the canal go by and envisioned our little boat making its way along it and our hearing this rushing train go by. Freight trains seemed to pass every few minutes.

I reached Penn Station in NY, took the subway to TOTO’s office, met for fifteen minutes and returned to the station to catch the 4:00 p.m. back to Utica. This time I got a wonderfully comfortable seat with an electric outlet next to it. Shortly I was approached by a lady from the dining car asking if I would like to make a reservation for dinner! I jumped at the chance remembering the days when I had eaten a fine meal on the train sixty years ago going to my grandmother’s house.  I walked to the dining car and was seated at a table for four. White table cloth, nice paper napkins and a menu! I forgot the lousy hot dog I had eaten back in Penn station and ordered a steak burger and salad. Soon a delightful Norwegian couple arrived and sat across from me. They were headed to L.A. and had a stateroom with a bed. We had a very nice conversation about my relatives in Norway and what they should see in the USA.  I decided that the train was much less stressful than going to an airport and waiting forever and crowding into a small seat. I’d ride a train like this any time if they existed on other routes.

I arrived at Utica’s station to find no one. No cabs! I found a card on a wall giving a cab’s number but with no area code. I need the area code to call with my cell phone! I had to call Heather to ask what the hotel’s phone said was the area code!  I concluded that Utica did not really expect or want anyone to get off the train there!