The Romance of the Rails ~ Planning and Packing

They stretch out before you, disappearing into parts unknown. They beckon you, they whistle, they call your name. They've come from places you've never seen, they've carried countless lives over the decades since train travel began in the 1800s. Many people's ideal trip is to a exotic, tropical beach or a cabin in the mountains. Mine has always been to get on a train with no known destination and just let her take me where she will.


The name of a train ~ Coast Starlight, Empire Builder, Sunset Limited, Oriental Express and City of New Orleans all have such personalities. The City of New Orleans, running from Chicago to New Orleans even had a song written about it. According to Wikipedia, Steve Goodman wrote it in 1971, during the “golden age” of rail travel. Willy Nelson and others crooned it and made it famous.

This trip with Alyssa is, in many ways, a fulfillment of my dream. The difference is, we won't just be hopping on the train to parts unknown. We will be gone for 36 days and have spent nearly that long planning out the details. Amtrak has what is called a USA Rail Pass. You can purchase one for a select number of days and you are allowed to travel a number of rail segments within that time frame. Our plan is to circle the country, stopping for a quick peek into select cities along the way. Due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, there is no longer a train running westward from Florida, so we will travel south only as far as Savannah.

The plan had been for each of us to only have a backpack, but as the weather has remained so cold and snowy in the Northeast, we have added a small roller bag each to accommodate boots and a heavy coat.  Just one more sleep and we are on our way!