Another look, or rather, another perspective on the New England trip, has caught my attention! I subtract a few things from the original plan to see where that leads me. I will remove that which I can reach by train and save it for another trip.
This means omitting the Metro North RR watching. Also, subtract the Shore Line East. Those destinations that I am not sure about, such as certain new railroad attractions. Although, I would include the Cape Cod railroad and Essex Steam Train. This itinerary would be the clockwise pattern, returning along the coast line. I would be a day and half less across Massachusetts and and a day less across Connecticut, keeping the vacation to 8 days, as opposed to 10.
I did keep the Staten Island excursion. I seem to place the Staten Island as a return home excursion. I would come to the end of the Staten Island RR, and take the RR to the Ferry. I included a trip across on the ferry to take pics and see lower Manhattan. That would be a way to see more on my way home.
A new trip is planned, starting the trip in Richmond, VA, rather than Southern Pines, NC, what I had omitted from the original plan. I created a two day excursion. The plan is to go directly to Old Saybrook, CT. This is an Amtrak stop plus a good location to watch the Shore Line East. From my research, there is a motel near the station that seems reasonable in cost. It might be a No tell Motel but for a short night, I could handle it. I would arrive in enough time to watch for a couple of hours.
Early in the morning, I would take the SLE to New Haven, where I would transfer to the Metro North into Stratford, CT. Stratford is not an Amtrak stop but has a good watching platform, as opposed others. New Haven has a good number of trains but not a good location for watching, except in passing through.
Taking Metro North into Grand Central, NY, and there take the Hudson Line Metro North to Yonkers. The first plan had Tarrytown as my watch stop but Yonkers is a Amtrak storp and Tarrytown is not. I could go to Tarrytown and come back to Yonkers for Amtrak.I would need Amtrak to connect that Penn Station for the final leg home.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Well! What about...?
A while back, I had laid out a out and back to Florida. There was on problem: to see Tampa and the Tampa airport people mover. On my trip across northern Florida I did see Tampa airport people mover and their light rail. Remember, I missed the new Sun Rail commuter rail in orlando and Jacksonville's monorail, because they did not operate on Sundays. I did a plan for hitting Jacksonville and Orlando in an out and back, day trip. And, I had done a 5 day out out and back plan for Miami. So another idea was to combine the two and make a nice vacation of it.
This would include a train to Winter Park, Fl or to Orlando, an overnight. One plan called for to ride the SunRail from Winter Park to Orlando and watch the SunRail in Orlando. I think the Winter Park would better because of schedule of the SunRail in relation to Amtrak. After only a few hours, I take Amtrak back to Jacksonville, Fl. I know that this is a bit of backtracking. It is the best way to do the trip. I would have to spend the night and take the train to Miami, the next morning. Jacksonville is great in that there is a public monorail, to watch.
The next morning I would take the train to Miami. Miami it a treasure for vacationing. There is TriRail, the commuter rail, MetroRail, a above ground subway, a people mover, downtown, and a people mover at the airport. Than there is Miami Beach. If you are into that sort of thing: there is beach watching with one sight to see is the lifeguard towers (you thought I was going to say girl watching, huh, that goes without saying, for the others there is the guy watching, of course). A ride up or down the street shows all the Miami Art Deco Hotels. OK I like interesting buildings in addition to skylines and high views and public art.
After all that another night is spent in Miami and back to home, via Amtrak on a 24 hour train ride. In my planning, I thought about going north a stop or two or three. Instead of boarding at 10 pm, I might board at 9 or 8, a good time to settle in. The return would mean an hour or two later on arrival, rather than 7. that would give a good chance to awake, breakfast, before getting home.
This would include a train to Winter Park, Fl or to Orlando, an overnight. One plan called for to ride the SunRail from Winter Park to Orlando and watch the SunRail in Orlando. I think the Winter Park would better because of schedule of the SunRail in relation to Amtrak. After only a few hours, I take Amtrak back to Jacksonville, Fl. I know that this is a bit of backtracking. It is the best way to do the trip. I would have to spend the night and take the train to Miami, the next morning. Jacksonville is great in that there is a public monorail, to watch.
The next morning I would take the train to Miami. Miami it a treasure for vacationing. There is TriRail, the commuter rail, MetroRail, a above ground subway, a people mover, downtown, and a people mover at the airport. Than there is Miami Beach. If you are into that sort of thing: there is beach watching with one sight to see is the lifeguard towers (you thought I was going to say girl watching, huh, that goes without saying, for the others there is the guy watching, of course). A ride up or down the street shows all the Miami Art Deco Hotels. OK I like interesting buildings in addition to skylines and high views and public art.
After all that another night is spent in Miami and back to home, via Amtrak on a 24 hour train ride. In my planning, I thought about going north a stop or two or three. Instead of boarding at 10 pm, I might board at 9 or 8, a good time to settle in. The return would mean an hour or two later on arrival, rather than 7. that would give a good chance to awake, breakfast, before getting home.
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