Trains vs. Planes

So I'm one of these weirdo people that like to plan trips. Not take the trips but just plan trips. At any given time I have about 4 of these mental trips going in my head. I read somewhere that planning a trip is just as rewarding as taking the trips. Any who I said all that to say this.....The rail system in America STINKS. Amtrak is failing and we don't have high speed rail her in the states. They say that is because there isn't any demand for rail. I think I know why.

When I was kicking around the idea of going to Chicago, Daniel tossed out the idea of taking the train up there. We took a local sightseeing train on our honeymoon and LOVED it so we've always wanted to take a trip via rail. So I went to the Amtrak website and plugged in the information for our fake trip. We picked March of 2012 and said we wanted to leave March 4th and return March 9th. Then I was hit with the tragic truth. To take the trip to Chicago is would cost $579 and take us 40 hours EACH WAY to get there. Whaaaaa?!?!?!? It would involve switching trains with one layover of 8 hours in DC. Just to give you an idea of how crazy that is I went to Priceline and punched in the same dates and we could fly there in less then 4 hours and it would only cost us $56 more. Hmmmm I wonder which one we would pick? Give up 80 hours and save $56 or spend $56 and save 72 hours of my life. Which one....which one?

I like traveling by train. That trip on our honeymoon was amazing and relaxing. No TSA to worry about. No weighting suitcases. No being cramped up with the seat in front of you invading your personal space. I would LOVE to say goodbye to the unfriendly skies but we don't have any other alternative.  

Oh well I'm off to plan my mental trip to Bora Bora.

NOLA

If a person could be in love with a city, that city for me would be New Orleans. I traveled there about a little short of a year after Katrina. It was pretty and tragic all in one. I remember driving from Jacksonville to New Orleans on 10. The drive over was relaxing but I was nervous because of everything I had heard about the city. Will it be safe? Are the hotels up and running? Are the roads still messed up? Are there places to eat? What will greet me in the crescent city?

My first taste of the Louisiana life was at the welcome center. Being the great people they are, we were welcomed with a grin and warm fuzzy feelings. Every question was answered. What I remembered the most was the mix of shock and appreciation on their faces as we stated our destination. We were coming. Strangers were coming back to their city. Tourists were returning.

As we got to the outer belt way of the city the scars of the storm were still there. Stores were closed; weeds grew in the middle of homes and signs hung from strange angles. It looked like a back lot only it wasn't. When we got closer to the downtown things became a little less movie like. Since I wasn't sure about the city we stayed in a suburb. In the morning I awoke and fell in love. Walking around and visiting shops, eating the best food and talking to the nicest people I've ever met. We did the tourist thing and danced on Bourbon St, ate gumbo and drank coffee at Cafe du Monde.

In the years since my trip, New Orleans calls me back and I desperately want to go back. My time there was short but it left a huge impression on me. I can say that I love New Orleans.

Anniversary Trip

So we just returned from out trip to Universal Orlando. It was so nice. We left on Monday and took the back way down to Orlando. We bypassed the normal route of 95 to take 17. It was nice because you got to see Florida as apposed to the side of a highway. There was some fun at the start. I had mapquested the route but it ended up taking a different way then I remembered. So just trusting my sense of direction we went with it. We winded through small towns and sometimes we found ourselves alone on the road. What does my wonderful husband of a year do? He breaks out this book and starts reading it to me. No cute.

We get to the hotel and we both fall in love. When we check in we tell them we are celebrating our anniversary and get upgraded to a King Suite. That was the thing I needed to talk Daniel into staying an extra day. We make it up to our room and check everything out. The suite is two rooms with a living room and a bedroom. Since it's dinner time we go down to catch a water taxi to City Walk. Dinner is yummy Whoppers at The Whopper Bar. Then back to the hotel to explore. The hotel has a huge pool and sand beaches.

The next day is spent at Universal Studio's. I fell in love with The Mummy ride. We ended up riding it 4 times. We got the unlimmited food bands. It's $20 for food all day. Trying to milk that for all it's worth we ate 3 meals that day. The following day (after successfully talking Daniel into staying an extra day) we take a lazy day to ride over to Portofino Bay Hotel. We ended up getting their breakfast buffet. I had the BEST omlet. We walked around and checked out the hotel. It's pretty but we decided that we liked our hotel best. That night our good friends The Durbins came to have dinner with us. Good food and even better company. The final day is spent at Island of Adventure. It was everything I remembered from the last time I went.

All in all it was a perfect vaction. We needed this trip to renew ourselves and our marriage. I am more in love with my sexy husband now than a year ago.