Stan and I put Jamela back on a plane to Denver while we journeyed on a train to from Boston to Washington DC. From the airport for a couple of dollars each, we caught the Silver Line – T (subway), which is really a bus. It took us right to the south train station. We had the “opportunity” to buy a ticket for a couple of hundred dollars each on the fast fast train (Acel?) or wait an hour and buy one for a hundred dollars that included our senior discount. The difference in time was about one hour. Well, we’re on vacation, so an hour here and there isn’t really missed. We opted to wait for the slower train.
While waiting and hour or so for the next train we were treated to a couple of violinist playing classical and popular music in the waiting area. The acoustics in this expansive station was amazing. I tried to encourage Stan to dance a waltz with me in the open area, but he declined. No courage in front of streams of commuting strangers. The musicians had no hat to drop in a dollar. Either these guys dressed in tuxedos just wanted to play at 7 am in the morning in the station for the love of it or there is a program for the arts in Boston that brought them there.
We boarded the train, heaved our luggage into the overhead rack and settled in for the 8 – 9 hour ride to Washington DC. The train was surprisingly clean, quite and roomy. We could really stop off and stroll through in all the major cities; Providence, New York, Trenton (well maybe not), Philadelphia, Baltimore and then Washington. We will need to plan that next time.
The time whizzed by for a few hours. There were people carrying on business as if they had no concern that others overheard their conversations. They settled in making a couple of seats their office with laptops, blue tooth ear pieces and blackberries. They plugged into the power strip just below their window. I overheard talk of “need to take a deeper dive into the data” and plans for meetings and dinners with key people; verifying positions with this guy or that. I thought I was still at work. Work speak becomes the jargon of the day.
It seems that this is the new industry for America – services. We sped through city after city of decayed old factories with windows broken out and empty parking lots taken over by grasses and weeds. Not a pretty picture. I wondered what those factories could have been; machine shops, textiles. Sweat shops of the past, long moved to other lucky countries. Now the sweat shops have moved to people’s laps as they type, type, type away answering emails the second they arrive, reviewing masses of information, editing here and there just to get the words just right. Receiving calls quick as a flash through ear pieces that require no holding of the phone receiver as they confirm receipt of emails so instant responses are discussed. They multitask over to the black berry to text another message in parallel to someone on a conference call just so extra details and strategies are known for bigger impact.
The progress of the train slowed down as we started picking up more passengers from non-scheduled stops. It seems one of the more expensive quick trains had a broke down so those folks were on the slow train with us. I would be a little concerned had I purchased the high price ticket and then had to jump on a train with the slow pokes.
I finished my book in the dimly lite train. It is called Tenor in Love about some of the key women in Enrico Caruso’s life. I started it on my daily half-hour bus ride to work and continued while waiting on stand-by at the airport. Reading is fun when the book is interesting and you can read a lot of pages at a time to fill in the story.
Stan started to read the Water for Elephants which is suppose to be good and interesting. He mostly lost interest and enjoyed watching the city and country side out the window. I gave him my knock off I Pod to listen to some tunes. When he cycled through the random music and came across a polka tune he whistled and tapped the beat on his tray table. Music does touch are heart.
He was on the edge of his seat as we passed from Connecticut into New York telling me about every bridge and building he knew as a young man living in the area. Rye Beach, New York was a place he had gone as a youngster on school outings. It was also the scene of that movie – Big – where Tom Hanks found the fortune teller.
As we crossed the Hellgate bridge over the East River Stan was enamored. The bridge really has a flare to its design. In Astoria he pointed out the swimming pool he would go to as a kid. The area was overgrown with trees now some 50 – 60 years later, but the pool was still there. Stan would hop on a bus with his buddies with his swim suit rolled up on a towel to have fun on a summer day. Can you imagine today kids would definitely need a backpack, water, cell phone, Ipod extra cash and of course an parental escort for a trip like that. Times have changed.
My memories of the corn fields in Colorado and Warroco swimming pool and roller rink in Island Grove Park don’t hold a candle to Stan’s experience with big city life.
As the train sped through New York, looking as the masses of houses with tiny tiny back yards crowding into neighbor’s gave him confirmation of his decision as a young professional to move to the open spaces of Colorado. Glad he did too, or I never would have met him. No wonder we have such a big yard today.
We arrived at Washington DC about 5:30 or so for about a 9 hour trip. I would do it again. Glad that we packed a lunch and some snacks. They have things to buy, but they are limited. My brother Alan knows how to travel by train and he lines up his plans a head of time. I just jump on the train and off we go.
Union Station is a site to see. The architecture is amazing. It is so huge that a camera just can’t capture that essence of the space. We caught a cab just outside the station and drove to our Hotel which was about a mile from all the sights. There is a subway and hotel provides drop off service to the major sights through out the day. I just picked a Best Western Capital Skyline though the Internet. It is handy, affordable and we were ready for a good nights sleep.