Tag: trains

I’ve arrived!

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I’m here in Astoria. First Class on Acela was pretty nice. Free dinner and drinks! I divided my time between reading and listening to the iPod. Normally, I sit on the right side of the car heading up to NYC, but this time I decided to sit on the left side and the view is quite different. It was actually pretty cool. I got to see stuff that I never saw before.

I took a taxi from Penn station because I didn’t want to lug my suit and stuff onto the subway. Wow! It’s so much faster to get to Astoria from Penn station by taxi than by the subway. It’s well worth the $15.

Jen and Jason were doing laundry when I got here and so we’re hanging out at the house for a little while. Then, we’re heading over to Doyle’s to watch some of the Yankee game.

A smoke-filled station

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Switching trains at Mt. Vernon Sq. this morning, there was a train that was being taken out of service because of mechanical problems. When it finally came through the station, it the rear of the train was smoking heavily and filled the station with smoke that smelled like burning oil. Even now, nearly an hour later, I still have the smell of burning oil on my clothes.

Train tickets

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I got my train tickets for my birthday weekend in NYC today. I cashed in 10,500 Amtrak miles to get a First Class Acela ticket going from DC to NY on the evening of April 7. It will be the first time I’ve ever taken Acela First Class before, and that should be interesting. I get to use Club Acela for free that day.

Coming home, I’m on the 11 AM train Monday morning, April 10, which means I have to take the day off from work.

In NYC

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I’ve arrived in NYC and am sitting comfortably on the couch in Astoria, waiting for Jason to finish preparing the Maragaritas.

The Acela left on time and got into New York on time. I sat in the quiet car and read for a little while, slept for a little while, and then wrote section 8 of “The Graveyard Shift”–about 850 words or so. To kill time toward the end of the train ride, I watched an episode of Magnum P.I.

Gotta go! Fun’s about to begin…