Home > Rafi on the Rails > Archives > 2007 > October > 07
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Day 12: Welcome to Mississippi—No Wine for You!!
Sometimes when you’re traveling, you don’t really realize where you are until the local customs hit you on the head, so to speak. I sat down for lunch today with a fantastically friendly couple from Australia who are traveling to New Orleans. I ordered a water for a drink, and they ordered a bottle of wine. Until that point, you could have told me that we were still in Illinois, and judging by the landscape, I probably wouldn’t have questioned you. It was then that the waiter said to the Australian couple, “sorry, I can’t serve alcohol in Mississippi on a Sunday.”
It was then that I knew I wasn’t in Illinois anymore.
As a point of comparison, a week ago today (a Sunday), Jon, Bert, Greg, and I were all enjoying a complimentary Wine and Cheese Tasting aboard the Coast Starlight somewhere in Oregon.
Point to ponder: so if Amtrak can’t serve alcohol while traveling through Mississippi on a Sunday, why can an airline? Hmmm…
Permalink | | Categories: City of New Orleans
Days 2, 3, and 10: The Old Patagonian Express via Amtrak
If you’re even mildly intrigued by the romance of epic train travel, pick up a copy of Paul Theroux’s The Old Patagonian Express, which was published in 1979 and has gone on to countless reprintings. It’s one of three books I brought with me on this trip, and it’s partly responsible for inspiring part of my trip around the country.
I picked the book up at Boston’s Logan Airport this past December (that airport alone is enough to tempt almost anyone to take the train). As I flipped through the first few pages to get an idea of the writing style, a map caught my eye. It was a map of Theroux’s trek across North America and into South America. See, Theroux actually took Amtrak to get himself down to Mexico and continued on from there. He pieced together his trip the same way I eventually pieced mine together, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try to cover as much of his ground as I could. When I stepped off of the Texas Eagle today, I can now say that I’ve covered almost all of the ground Theroux covered across the US, and here’s how:
Theroux’s route took him from Boston to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited, and then from Chicago to Laredo by way of the Lone Star (formerly known as the Texas Chief), which doesn’t run anymore, unfortunately. The route is still partially intact, however, in the form of the Texas Eagle from San Antonio to Fort Worth, and in the Heartland Flyer from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City (the portion from Oklahoma to Newton, Kansas, to connect to Chicago, left with the Lone Star, but there are now efforts underway to get that track back in passenger service).
So I decided to also start my trek in the Northeast, although I positioned myself a little further north than Boston for my starting line: Portland, Maine. But it still meant a trip from Boston to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited, like Theroux. The segment from Chicago to Newton, Kansas is something I’ve ridden before on the Southwest Chief, so I opted for the northern route on the Empire Builder to see some new sites.
I picked up Theroux’s route Friday morning on Day 10, when the Texas Eagle left San Antonio and headed up through Fort Worth. If I wanted to travel every last inch of Theroux’s track that was still accessible via Amtrak, I would have transferred to the Heartland Flyer for Oklahoma City at that point. Unfortunately, that route dead ends at Oklahoma City, and if you want to get to Chicago from there (which I needed to do), it meant a bus connection, so that was out. So the Heartland Flyer will have to wait for another day, I suppose.
But I can say this: I’ve now travelled well over half of Theroux’s Patagonian Express trek in the US, and what a change in climate it is to go from Boston to San Antonio. He talks about that topic (as well as the change in personalities and characters) at length, and again, it’s a highly recommended read, even (I’d even say, especially) if you’re not a train buff.
Permalink | |
