Planning » Ridin' the Rails with Rudolph

Saree, What Did You Say?

Groom looking skeptical about donning a wedding turban. Got vetoed. Too bad.

Once we were settled at the hotel, shopping for the wedding began! The first day we shopped for the men and got them pretty much outfitted in one go. Done and done.

Unbeknownst to the female American contingent, our Indian hosts had purchased wedding sarees, bangles, and matching jewelry for us before we arrived; they were all very beautiful and it was a great honor to receive them as gifts. However, most of us needed to buy additional clothes for the mehndi (moderately formal) and the wedding night dinner reception (evening formal), and the bride needed to buy several sarees for different parts of the wedding. Interestingly, some were later formally presented to her as “gifts” after she chose them–relatives gave money for them in what seems to be in Indian version of the wedding trousseau.

We girls soon discovered we were in for a more labor-intensive shopping experience than the guys. Saree shopping for the bride took us to several different stores, plus shopping in India requires stamina, determination, and the ability to keep calm while surrounded by store personnel….and I do mean surrounded.

Clothing stores in India have more floor personnel than the Apple Store–no exaggeration–and they swarm around new customers, especially those that appear to be looking for high-ticket bridal wear. I got boxed into an aisle by three employees while I was browsing some shawls; that made me a bit claustrophobic and reluctant to do any further shopping for the rest of the trip.

Most of us Westerners felt the same way about this highly attentive approach. I assume this is just employees competing for commissions, but Americans used to some autonomy and space while shopping, so having a salesperson or five on your six felt really high-pressure. This tactic ended up (in our case, anyway) being counterproductive, as most of us backed out of the shopping fray as soon as possible–no income from impulse buys here.

Saree Counter @ Kajree Clothing Store, Pune

Though you can get “pre-made” sarees, the majority of them are sold as flat layers of fabric, two of which are then tailored or “stitched” into the choli (blouse) and petticoat. These sarees are six yards in length (a traditional Maharastran saree is nine yards–we saw a few older rural women wearing them), with inner layers of different colors and some edging to be stitched into the blouse. The fancy edge on top of the saree is the pallu, which ends up draped over the shoulder.

You can’t just pull sarees down off the shelves yourself and start pawing through the layers, however. Salespeople flock and a flurry of flopping fabric starts filling the counter in front of you. Other employees start folding and reshelving the rejects when the pile gets too high.

Most of the interactions occurred in Marathi so we didn’t understand what was being said, but we could understand the process pretty well. It helps to be an absolute shopping diva like the bride’s mom. I was in awe of her ability to get what she wanted without dithering or fuss. It was clear to me that if you don’t grab the steering wheel of the saree shopping bus, you’ll get run over–or suffocated in a pile of prospective purchases.

At one of the stores we went into a special room to be shown hand-woven silk sarees. These were the most beautiful fabrics I have ever seen. We took off our shoes to enter and sat on the edge of a cushioned mat as saleswomen started pulling sumptuous, luscious iridescent fabrics out of the closet behind them; glorious colors and textures that seemed to glow with a light of their own.

Handwoven silk sarees.

Glorious colors, all changing under the light.

More handwoven silk sarees, all iridescent and finely embroidered. Peacocks and flowers are popular motifs.

Very hard to choose. I think this one made the cut.

A few days later, we went to the seamstress to be measured so our blouses could be stitched. We were handed pattern catalogs to choose the style we wanted:

Pattern catalog for saree blouses.

More blouse patterns.

Most of us older guests wanted the longest blouse with the most coverage possible. It took some looking, and we only had a couple days for many blouses to be stitched so we were urged to choose simpler designs (which was fine by us).

At the seamstress, looking at sarees before measurements were taken.

A day or two before the wedding we tried on our blouses, but we didn’t get to try on our full ensembles until the wedding day. Saree wrapping is a little complicated and there are many styles, but thankfully some of the female relatives volunteered to help get us USians dressed.

Though the positioning of the pallu is critical to the look it was explained to me that the pleats in the front were the most important part–the most difficult to fold and also the hardest to maintain all day. I was admonished to tie my petticoat very tight so the pleats would stay tucked in. During the day I kept hitching them up so I wouldn’t walk on them, and various female Indian family members would stop to pull them down. You wear these things right down to the floor–no ankles allowed–and have to be mindful to lift the pleats when you go up and down stairs so you don’t step on and unravel them.

And yes, it’s fair play to use safety pins. I am told Indian women use them too.

Unfortunately Samuel wasn’t around to film my wrapping process and I couldn’t call him (don’t even get me started about the multiple SIM card comedies that beset our group all through the wedding week) but if you want to see how complex it is to properly wrap a saree, this video may give you a clue:

I know you’re dying to see the final result. Here it is:

Pleats, pallu, mehndi, bindi.

Me and my pallu.

Thankfully it seemed we were all well wrapped, as none of us had a dreaded wardrobe malfunction during the event. All the members of the American contingent were to take a turn at a “ramp walk” to show off our clothing at the post-wedding reception and talent show, and thanks to the excellent taste of the bride and the bride’s mom–and their monster mad shopping skillz–we were greeted with hearty applause.

The bride’s handwoven silk saree at the evening reception, plus bangles.

Water, Water Everywhere (But Don’t Count On It)

One of the most important items I forgot to mention re: being prepared for India is WATER. It’s an entire logistical problem unto itself, both for the traveler and Indian nationals–especially since this year’s monsoon rains were late and sparse, seen as a sign of global warming with possible permanent impacts on India’s rural subsistence farmers.

Rural pawpaw stand and trees, Aurangabad-Pune highway, India

Water is an issue here. As a tourist, one is advised to not only to avoid drinking from taps or opening one’s mouth in the shower, but to be mindful that one hasn’t been rooked into buying bottled water in a refilled bottle sealed with SuperGlue (apparently a big business). Due to rivers, wetlands, and rains, mosquitoes abound, so malaria prevention becomes a mandate. High-volume rainstorms bluster in quickly so raingear and camera bags need to be kept handy–a novelty for those of us from SoCal, where “rain” is just drizzle that makes your car sticky and dusty-looking.

Once one has drinkable water, one has to drink it. Obvious, but it’s easy to get dehydrated in the 90+ degree heat with equally high humidity, especially when sightseeing. I got caught short without enough water when we toured the World Heritage Site temple caves in Aurangabad and paid for it for the next twelve hours. Dehydration is a painful drained feeling that’s hard to describe, a combo of headache, lethargy, and nausea, and it can take a long time to recover even after water is administered.

Our hotels provide two small water bottles for free each day, but we realized after this event we needed to pony up for more. Samuel now nags me several times a day to drink more, especially when we’re running around in the heat.

The monsoon is technically over (though we were rained out of a lovely outdoor dinner the other night) so Indian wedding season has begun and billboards featuring wedding sarees and jewelry are everywhere. Tonight is the mehndi party, the official beginning of the wedding itself, where the women’s hands are painted with ritual designs.

We’re trying to get our act together–it’s a fairly formal evening affair, and Samuel’s new party outfit has gone astray between here and the tailor. We need to retrieve it somehow in the next few hours or Samuel will need to wear his wedding kurta to the mehndi, evidently an Indian party foul.

It’s tough to communicate with our hosts with sim-card craziness and constant schedule shuffling, plus now being into the wedding events proper we don’t want to cause a bother. Will let you know if we solve the Mystery Mehndi Clothing Problem soon!

India 2014: No Rails, New Adventure

We’re both in the midst of packing anxiety and have started a few days early measuring suitcases, copying ID documents, and making props for our shadow puppet show. In reality we started months ago getting shots, watching documentaries, and getting together visas/rupees/clothing for this journey, but now as our flight looms the frenzy begins.

It’s a long journey: first to Newark, then on to Mumbai, then 3-4 hours by private bus to Pune, and I’m anticipating the first couple days after we land will be brutal. We’re going for a friend’s wedding–a pair of friends who were initially wedding clients that I married civilly here, and who are now journeying to the bride’s ancestral home for a more traditional Indian ceremony. It was a tough decision whether to go–I’ve always wanted to go to India and it seemed a huge advantage to go with someone who knew the country, rather than a tourist jaunt–but work, allergies, a sick kitty, money, etc. made us pause. We decided to go for it, damn the expense, and our poor Daphne passed away before we had to worry finding good care for her while we were gone.

So today I’m getting this blog and my laptop set up–I’m going to have to continue to work as best I can, and that means retrieving email–and doing a preliminary packing job to see if there are any big problems. I’m hoping my suitcase will be fairly empty so it can come back full of saris, gifts, and tea (we’ll be buying our wedding clothes there, plus bringing home a few items for friends and neighbors).

Things I’m most apprehensive about:

Getting there. The initial transit will be more than 24 hours, and exhausting, plus worries about more nutjobs setting fires at airports and Ukrainian missiles and Icelandic volcanoes delaying or canceling our flights. This isn’t such a big deal going over, but coming back I have a wedding three days after I get home, so that makes me a bit anxious though a delay that long is exceedingly unlikely.

Being there. We’ve been warned: keep tight hold of valuables. Don’t smile at people. Don’t go anywhere alone, or out at all at night if you can avoid it. Don’t drink bottled water unless you’re certain it’s the real stuff from the factory, not resold bottles refilled at taps and glued shut (a booming industry, we understand). Don’t eat street food. Plus, the emotional strain of being immensely privileged in the midst of intense poverty.

For me, one more big fear: breathing. I just had sinus surgery three weeks ago and though I’ve been cleared by my ENT for travel (and he goes regularly to Rajasthan to operate on kids with cleft palates there) both he and my hostess raised concerns about dust and dryness. I bought three cotton/silk scarves at the thrift store today to wear as emergency dust masks.

Getting home on time. For work, as I mentioned. There’s an additional part of this trip planned at a wildlife sanctuary, but we couldn’t take the extra two weeks off. In a way, I’m relieved–the group will be taking an overnight train ride to another state and it may be a harrowing experience. Those of you who have traveled to Rough Guide countries know the kind of thing: sleeping with your head on your valuables, locking and tying down as much as you can, etc.

Things I’m most looking forward to:

The wedding rituals. I’ve never had mehndi (the hennaing of delicate patterns on the hand and feet before a wedding) though many of my clients have sported it at their weddings. I’ve been invited to participate in that, as well as shopping for Indian wedding wear (! those of you who know me know that shopping is something I abhor). We Americans are performing at the wedding reception, a traditional Indian practice where guests present songs, dances, and sketches in honor of the bridal couple. I’m sure we’ll suck, but if you can’t give your overseas hosts something to mock you for as an American, surely you are failing a basic principle of your U.S. citizenship.

Mehndi. Photo by John and Colette Photography, used with permission.

The wedding itself. It will be educational and interesting to see a real Hindu priest perform the real deal in real India (though I’ve been warned the ceremony is long and sort of informal by American standards, I’m thrilled!)

Having my mind blown. It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled to a country that turns my routine thoughts and habits upside-down. Though it will be difficult to process the profound suffering one can’t help but see, India will be a whirl of new ideas, images, feelings, and people….and though I’m sure I’ll be overwhelmed physically and mentally by it all, I can’t wait. —eliz.

The Final Summary: Please Wave At Trains, and Other Travel Advice

I like that people wave at trains–not just kids do it, but lots of grown-ups too. Right after we departed Los Angeles on our first day, a few miles out from Union Station, a construction guy climbing on a cement freeway pylon turned from his work and waved to us. It made us feel good, and seemingly him too. It was a sweet thing to do for people who were just passing by.

Waving at trains is a gesture of camaraderie and support, a momentary ticker-tape parade saying “Hooray for Adventure!” There’s something very companionable about it: a welcome to the community (no matter how quickly the visitor may rumble through) and an expression of good wishes for their journey. How often do we take a sec to say, “Hello, and best of luck!” to a perfect stranger? Waving at trains is a way to high-five as we roll along our merry way to the future, whatever it may be.

I encourage you to wave at trains, to take a moment to signal your approval to the lonely traveler. And who knows? That traveler may stop and become your neighbor–a wave may become a handshake, or something more.

If nothing else, waving at a train is a benediction, a gift; glimpse the lives passing by and raise your hand in peace and solidarity with them. Life is short and full of trouble, so why not offer as many people as you can this brief blessing as they go by? It costs nothing, and to quote Langston Hughes (painted on our room wall at McMenamin’s) “dig and be dug in return.” So bless, and be blessed, as you go on your way.

Mummers Museum, Philadelphia PA

DOS AND DONTS FOR TRAIN TREKKING ACROSS THE USA

I’ve made a list of things to keep in mind should you want to take a train trip of your own. Feel free to drop a line if you have questions….

DO assess what kind of weather, events, and level of population density you like before you block out time and make your plans. We thoroughly enjoyed empty towns in the cold weather of April, even if we missed a few cool attractions that weren’t open for high season yet. We dug the rough weather and came prepared for it, but if you’re a “Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale” type, the cold, rain, and snow we deliberately encountered might be your nightmare.

If you’re going to want to be in the heat and the thick of offerings like Mardi Gras, Riverwalk, and The Dells, find out when big events are happening and plan around them. Bear in mind that the North stays cold longer than the South, so their events and attractions don’t get rolling until June. Obviously you won’t be the only one who enjoys summer fun, so book well in advance (and take sunscreen.)

DON’T try to book your Amtrak schedule online!!! The interface is a malinformative, frustrating mess. Call the Amtrak phone reps (and call back, if you get someone inexperienced) to make your reservations and purchases by phone. It’s the least agonizing way but still won’t be easy. You have to book EACH PERSON’S TRAVEL SEPARATELY! even if it’s the same itinerary. Moronic, yes, but what it is. Be patient and eventually you’ll get ‘er done.

DO stay at inns, B&Bs, and mom ‘n’ pop joints instead of big hotels if you want the full-on American immersion experience. TripAdvisor.com is useful in figuring out the locations and amenities, though be prepared to spend substantial time researching and emailing.

If you prefer to be far from the madding crowd rather than part of it, you might want to make reservations at the larger, more impersonal hotels (or just have your travel agent do it for you if you don’t have time to investigate other options.)

DON’T expect a luxury experience with Amtrak. It’s not an elegant way to travel–in fact, in some ways the opposite, kinda downmarket, and the bathrooms get kind of gross on the second day of a segment. Trains aren’t a good choice if you’re a germphobe.

However, if immersion is what you’re looking for, you’ll get it–both in the landscape of our country and the people that live there. You’ll see the poor side of town from your train window, and you will have to socialize with other train passengers during meals unless you invest in a roomette and order your meals “to go” from the dining car (which you can do, and your attendant can even deliver them on request.)

If you dream of the luxurious days of wood-paneled railroad cars with buckets of champagne and caviar inside, skip Amtrak entirely and contact one of the private railcar associations: http://www.aaprco.com/ or http://www.rpca.com/, or search for one of the many historical train enthusiast societies. You may be able to hitch a ride on an antique traincar or even charter one for yourself; otherwise, you’ll have to content yourself with a copy of your favorite train porn, be it “Murder on the Orient Express” or “On The Twentieth Century,” while squirreled away in a corner on the Amtrak train.

DO bring “train shoes,” i.e. slip-ons with rubber soles. Amtrak requires that you wear rubber-bottomed shoes while walking around the train, but it’s likely during a long segment you’ll want to get out of your street shoes into something more comfortable. Train shoes let you walk to the restroom or cafe car without having to lace up the boots again; I bought some slippers at a CVS in New Orleans that worked just fine as an alternative to my high-tops.

DO bring healthy snacks and think about alternate meals if you’re not into eating the way America eats: that is, high-fat, high-salt, high-sugar cafeteria-style food. That’s what Amtrak will give you three times a day–it’s included in your fare if have a roomette or suite–and on long segments it’s hard not to eat the stuff just out of boredom. Plan ahead if you have special dietary needs, because Amtrak can’t accommodate much deviation from the pre-processed microwaved meals it serves.

DON’T pack your schedule. Give yourself ample time to arrive and settle in at each destination, and take a few hours to wander around in your surroundings. Some of the best stuff we saw was off the beaten path and FREE (like the Forevertron.) In most towns we enjoyed hanging out just having coffee and people-watching–well, if it was good coffee, like in New Orleans or Portland–much more than we enjoyed some of the much-vaunted “must-see” tourist rip-off sites.

DO invest in good wireless technology if you need bandwidth, or leave the gadgets at home if you can get by with intermittent stops at internet cafes at your destination. Our cellular USB modem thingy by BroadbandToGo worked great on the train when there was cell network available outside, but there was NO connection in most of Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, Montana, or while traversing mountain ranges or expansive nature preserves. Amtrak doesn’t offer wireless, sorry–and the way their budget is, they won’t be anytime soon. Amtrak roomettes do have an AC plug though, so at least you can charge your phone or laptop while you’re traveling.

BTW, general travel note: we found out a lot of the smaller hotels/inns that offer free wireless as part of their amenities also block Port 25 so you can’t retrieve email (and they often will have no clue what you’re talking about if you mention it.) Fortunately I brought my tech support with me and he was able to tunnel into my email account when the need got urgent, but don’t expect to be so lucky if you need email access while you’re out of town.

DO bring all necessary drugs, even over-the-counter ones, since you may not be able to go purchase them when you need them (Amtrak’s cafe car has aspirin and Pepto Bismol for sale, but that’s about it.) Be sure to stock up on girl-meds and allergy reducers, and also your chosen caffeine. You get spoiled here in L.A. when it comes to joe (and super-spoiled in New Orleans and Portland if you like wicked dark and gritty high-octane coffee like I do.) Be forewarned you’ll get paltry, headache-inducing coffee on the train as well as most train stations, small towns, and all of Texas. Pack your own brewsticks if good java is important to your well-being; sleeper cars have hot water available (though don’t expect ceramic cups anywhere onboard except the Coast Starlight line.)

And smokers beware: Amtrak trains are smokefree, and you can only smoke on SOME station stops, normally only once or twice a day. Nonsmokers beware too: if you step off the train to get a breath of fresh air during a stop, you’ll get a dose of second-hand smoke instead. You’ll have to breathe when you get to your destination, so be sure you plan accordingly if you like clean, pure O2.

DO tip your porter–excuse me, railcar attendant–and dining car servers. Though don’t ask us how much….this came to us as a bit of a surprise and we probably way overtipped because that’s how we roll. At least I hope we did. We didn’t get negative feedback about it, anyway.

The attendants vary in how attentive they are; they will help you stow your luggage when you get onboard and normally convert your roomette into nighttime bunks, and will get you meals or water if you ask. Some travelers tip when they first meet the attendant (I guess to assure prompt service) and some when they deboard. Your call.

So enjoy your journey along with your vacation, and here’s the entire “Motto” by Langston Hughes, thanks again to the artists at McMenamin’s:

“I play it cool
And dig all jive
That’s the reason
I stay alive.

My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig And Be Dug In Return.”

Great advice for living both on and off the rails, don’t you think?

"Motto" @ McMenamin's

Safe travels, y’all….and don’t forget to wave.

Elizabeth Oakes

May 9th 2010, Los Angeles, CA

PS Love and props to Samuel, who planned this trip and without whom it would have been a meaningless morass of miles. xoxxo <3

Slowly We Turned….Heading West via Niagara Falls, Wisconsin, and the Empire Builder

After our sleepless night in Philly we boarded an early train and went up the gorgeous Hudson Valley to Niagara Falls, which I was shocked to find lacked the quaint honeymoon cottages and culture I had been led to expect by recent puff pieces in the national press. In fact, we were doubly shocked to see how much of the town was derelict–empty storefronts and huge malls, empty.

In contrast, the Canadian side looked like Las Vegas and was thrumming with tourist activity.

Made Of The Mist? The Canadian Side Beckons

We had a good time bumming around in spite of this–the Falls and the park were still beautiful though overcast–we did finally see a rainbow over Niagara in our last hour before leaving.

Touching Water , North Border-View from the deck of The Maid of The Mist (four of the five Great Lakes contribute water to Niagara Falls)

Great Lakes Garden, Niagara State Park

Illuminated Falls At Night

I spoke with a few locals and wrote my first Examiner piece on the town; I ended up discovering a lot more about the region with just a few conversations than I thought I would. Niagara is experiencing some complex political and economic issues right now, and its survival depends on either a radically improved economy right away or some smart, rapid action on behalf of the state and local authorities, neither of which seems forthcoming. It’s sad–there’s a lot to enjoy there, potential wasted mostly by political in-fighting.

Sad Empty "Snow Park," Niagara Falls

Full Moon Over The Niagara Rapids, Near The Red Coach Inn

We stayed at the Red Coach Inn, a last-renovated-in-the-1950’s red-velvet funky theme joint–a little dusty, but the staff was friendly and they had an old school menu in the restaurant, e.g. steaks served with a pat of butter on top. You could hear the Niagara rapids from our room, which was really nice, sound like steady rain.

Modeling "Maid Of The Mist" Blue Ponchos

We did the Maid of the Mist and walked the Falls Park; on our last day, we visited with the Niagara area jeweler that made my wedding band (I’m working on an Examiner piece about him and his work) and he was hilarious and really fun to talk to, but we had to dash to make our next train.

Buffalo Wings At Duff's--Buffalo, NY

We had to change trains and kill about ten hours in Buffalo, which was FREAKIN’ COLD!! We walked around and a) ate authentic Buffalo wings at purportedly-top-rated-wing-joint Duff’s, which were spicy, greasy, and made us slightly nauseated, and b) found the coolest grocery store on the planet, Wegman’s–better stocked with fresh-prepped, interesting food than Bristol Farms or Whole Paycheck, with FREE WIRELESS IN THEIR CAFE!!! We ate lunch like, three times during the five hours we were there, stocked up on snacks for the train, internetted, and then went back to the Amtrak station to set off for Milwaukee and points west.

I mean, they had FRESH FLOWERS in the RESTROOM! WEGMAN'S ROCKS!!!

We rented a car and drove from Milwaukee through, YES–WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN!!! HOME OF SPIDERCOW!!! on our way to Baraboo, WI. We made good time so we drove over to the Dells, which we had been told were “really beautiful.” They were “really” piled high with Vegas-style waterparks and amusement complexes and moose-and-bear themed restaurants, though we did take a nice hike to the water through the woods only to encounter teens talking on their cell phones and some guy with his boat radio cranked up. Ah, the sweet sounds of nature.

The Dells

At Baraboo we stayed at another funky inn run by a funny retired couple–birdhouses that were little models of the inn and crazy cut-out cows everywhere–but we were skunked by the non-open Circus World, to which we had expressly traveled to Baraboo to see. Our best guess was that we had obtained their schedule from an old website–there was a newly renovated one when we checked again, and this one said they weren’t going to open until May 22nd. But we were already there. Bara-BOOOOOO.

You Know You're In Wisconsin When You See These Next To The Cheese

We went instead and picnicked here at Devil’s Lake–not very circusy but we made do. There were turtles.

Our Picnic Bench, Devil's Lake, WI

And the Forevertron made the entire Wisconsin junket worth it. See Samuel’s post and our “Thumbs Up” for more.

The Forevertron

The Forevertron's Love Beam

Other Defenders Of The Forevertron

More in Part II–stayed tuned for House On The Rock!

Thumbs Up: 1896 O’Malley House

Dining Room and Parlor, 1896 O'Malley House

120 South Pierce Street, New Orleans, LA 70119

+1 1-866-226-1896 | www.1896omalleyhouse.com

If you ever want a cozy but connected B&B in New Orleans, we can highly recommend 1896 O’Malley House. This was our TripAdvisor review:

Title: Wish We Never Had To Leave!

From the moment we stepped into 1896 O’Malley House we felt welcome and charmed.

The house is warmly and tastefully decorated, the coffee and wine are always flowing (having just passed through Texas, it was the first decent cup of coffee we had in days, for which we will be eternally grateful.) It is redolent of cedar, the beautiful wood used to build much of the house. [Ed note: it’s actually cypress, not cedar, but smells the same to me.]

Room 1 was amply sized for the two of us and we loved our jacuzzi tub! The bed was very clean and comfortable and the fast and consistent wireless network made it easy and efficient for us to catch up on work projects and business communications.

Larry has extensive, detailed knowledge of all the local restaurants and attractions–they have a huge compendium of menus and music info available in the lobby–and he gave us a fantastic referral to the latest hot foodie joint (it was just as good as promised.)

The location is right across the street from the Canal Street trolley car, which goes directly to the French Quarter or City Park (and connects to the St. Charles line through the Garden District.)

Food was great and service excellent!

Our visit was relaxing, informative, and stressless. Laissez les bon temps roulez while you’re in Nawlins, but get your sleep at the 1896 O’Malley House!

Ruat Caelum–“Though The Heavens Fall”

Samuel, Rain, San Antonio

And fall they did, just after we saw the phrase on The Alamo’s flag.

This is a visual travelogue of the past few days–San Antonio during Fiesta!, which is like Christmas–colorful ribbons everywhere, houses and businesses decorated, drinking in the streets. And it rained on and off, but we had fun anyway.

Then we took the overnight train to NoLa, a ride fraught with frightening swayings and stoppings of the train so sleep wasn’t possible. We immediately got ripped off by the taxi driver who drove us from the train station to the B&B–we didn’t notice the meter wasn’t running, so there you go.

Our B&B is lovely, the 1896 O’Malley House, and they provided the first decent coffee we’ve had all trip. On the proprietor’s recommendation, we took the Canal Street cable car to the Vieux Carré for some official Café du Monde beignets; we also took his recommendation for dinner at a hot new hole-in-the-wall called The Green Goddess, and you can see for yourself what happened. Laissez les rain clouds roulez!

Masonic plaque, Alamo (who knew?)

Alamo Memorial and tourist trap, Alamo Plaza

The Riverwalk, tolerable because of the rain (fewer tourists)

Fiesta hat, Fiesta party at El Mercado

these lights are changed to Fiesta colors for the duration

City planters with Fiesta ribbons (all over town)

Cactus flower buds, San Antonio Botanical Gardens

On a San Antonio bus

Girls practicing for folklorico parade, Crowning of El Rey Feo

Musket volley, "This Hallowed Ground" ritual, Alamo

Crossed swords at another King ritual, Alamo

Fiesta ribbons, King William district

Then we took the train heading for Louisiana, and this is what we saw:

Muddy waters (from train window), Louisiana

Small town float storage, from train window

Crossing the Mighty Mississippi

Cable car down Canal Street

Voodoo Mart, chain store

All those white spots are powdered sugar from beignet eaters, Cafe du Monde

Riverside, New Orleans

Store in French Quarter

Apartment, French Quarter

Mardi Gras man collecting tips, French Quarter

Our dessert at the Green Goddess Cafe, French Quarter: a bacon caramel sundae

Our table and adjacent alley at the Green Goddess about two minutes after the sundae was eaten

Ducked under a doorway with strangers, waiting for storm to abate. It didn't.

Planning with Amtrak, Part III

SO the last two portions of this sad tale were about anger and frustration. This last part, however, is where it all comes together.

Now that I had our rail passes, I called the Amtrak reservations number, and reached a representative who very helpfully went through our entire travel plan, made all the reservations, and emailed me a copy of the itinerary. She was pleasant, efficient, and friendly. There was only one snag:

Amtrak lies about its routes.

Specifically, the Sunset Limited, the train joining New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida is on all of the maps, but it is not running. From what I’ve been able to glean (from Wikipedia, blogs, and newspapers), the track was damaged by hurricane Katrina, which caused Amtrak to stop service on that route. Six months later, when the track was all safely repaired, Amtrak failed to re-initiate travel on that route. Even Congress can’t seem to get them to reopen it (according to an expired article in the LA Daily News, copied on this anti-Amtrak-or-any-government-service site run by Randists).

So to get from New Orleans to Savannah, Georgia, what should have taken on the order of one day would take us three days — because we’d have to go by way of Washington DC. That’s like going from Los Angeles to San Francisco by way of Salt Lake City.

In the end, we made the decision that our Great Train Adventure would not lose its essential “traininess” if we did one stretch by car. So a quick visit to Avis’ web site, and the major transportation planning portion was complete.

At this point, planning came down to finding places to stay. Summon the mighty Internet! My approach was to find an area using Google Maps, and then going through endless linked reviews on TripAdvisor.com, keeping in mind that online reviews often tell you more about the reviewer than the place being reviewed. I tried to avoid chain hotels, opting instead for local institutions, B&Bs, and Mom ‘n’ Pop places.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to read more about these places… stay tuned!

Planning with Amtrak, Part II

As I started to describe in my previous post, the proper way to deal with Amtrak is to call the phone center. If you reach someone who seems clueless, hang up, and try again. Words to the wise, my friends, words from experience.

So, from last time, I had our rail pass numbers, and I needed to reserve the individual segments. On the Amtrak web site, I couldn’t find a way to reserve against a rail pass, so it was back to the telephone.

I called the Amtrak phone center, and got an agent who happened to be a trainee (no pun intended). Had I hung up, I would have saved a lot of time. But I didn’t. After discussing the first leg of the journey, the trainee agent determined that the two rail passes were not associated with one another, so each reservation would need to be done twice. When I asked if he could associate the two, he put me on hold while he talked with the support desk. This process was repeated several times during the call. But, to make an hour call shorter, he was able to merge the rail passes and reserve the first segment, but I would need to go down to the station within a week to pick up the passes.

So, the following Saturday, I once again found myself at the ticket office. There was a much shorter line this time. I explained the situation to the ticket agent, who wrote up my pass and had me show ID and sign for it. Then she processed the ticket for the first segment, and I signed that as well. “Where’s your wife?” she asked me. At home, of course. “I can’t issue her pass or ticket without her being present, or at least presenting a valid government ID” was the reply. I tried arguing, but she switched into a full-on flat-affect blankly-hostile bureaucrat face. “I’m sorry, I can’t help that.”

It was only when I threatened to start crying on the spot that she fetched her manager. The manager at least smiled at me, and started typing into the computer terminal. Well, evidently the phone agent who had merged the passes incorrectly, and undoing the damage was difficult. At one point, four separate agents were gathered around the terminal, pointing, typing, looking confused, typing more, and arguing with one another. I had to return the rail pass I had just received, and then the ticket reservation. Several different passes got printed then torn up, but after fifteen minutes, I finally had passes and tickets to San Antonio. The manager smiled pleasantly, and wished me a good journey.

So I returned home, and decided to put off the rest of the reservations for another day.

(To Be Continued Again…)

Planning with Amtrak, Part I.

Every time I mention Amtrak, people seem to reflexively wince or shrug and make some comment about government inefficiency. The initial reaction has been universally negative. Not a single person starts with an “I love trains!” or “rail trips are great,” although some have gotten to that point after the requisite Amtrak bashing.

If you read the Wikipedia page (or numerous other online sources) The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (a.k.a., Amtrak) was formed in 1971 because of declining private rail routes and availability. Ever since, Amtrak has been an institution everyone loves to hate, whether because it’s socialistic and therefore a priori evil, or because it covers insufficient routes, or for myriad other reasons.

Despite myself, I find myself with additional ammunition for the haters.

While planning our journey, I wanted to purchase rail passes for Elizabeth and me, and to make reservations for the various segments. The way the rail pass works is that you have (in this case) thirty days and/or twelve separate rail segments paid for by the pass, but you need to reserve your specific seats separately and/or upgrade to sleepers or roomettes. I had planned out a route that used up eleven of those twelve segments.

So, first step, I tried to buy the passes through the web site, but couldn’t find a way to buy two of them. I called the support phone number, and talked to someone who didn’t seem to know much about rail passes. Had I just hung up and tried again, everything would have been fine, but instead I asked if I could make arrangements in person down at Union Station. “Of course,” I was told.

So I drove down to Union Station over that weekend, and waited in line at the ticketing office. There was some chaos because the LA to San Diego line was undergoing repairs, and thus part of the journey needed to be taken by bus, which was confusing large numbers of people. After finally reaching the head of the line, the agent told me I was out of luck. “This is for ticketing, not reservations. There are four of us here to manage all the ticketing, while at the phone center, they have four hundred people to help you. We can’t make all those people ” — he indicated the line behind me — “wait while we do all your reservations. Call the phone center.” When I asked where I could fill out a complaint, since I had been given bad information, he told me that complaints were handled — you guessed it — via the phone center.

So, when I got home, I bit the bullet, and (foolishly, once again) ordered my rail passes through the web site. This involved going through the order process twice. But, in the end, I had my Rail Pass numbers. I decided to put off actually reserving the eleven legs of the journey until another day.

(to Be Continued)