Mind the Gap

This is one of those trips that falls under into the category of "you only live once." I don't mean that in a bad way. What I mean by that is, I've been wanting to ride the Acela since I was 9. That's how old I was when it first started running, essentially as a replacement to Amtrak's Metroliners at the turn of the 21st century. With a top speed of 150 mph, it is the fastest train in America.  Here's the thing though -- the Acela is super expensive. A one-way ride between New York and Washington might run you 3 or 4 times the price of a regular Northeast Regional. Acela is geared toward business travelers, and people who don't mind ponying up a little dough for a slightly faster journey.  Having said all of that, I wanted to try it once. My day began with a nice, slow ride back into downtown Boston on the T's Red Line. It appeared many young people were using the UMass station this morning.  Just after 9 a.m., we boarded Acela train 2159 at South ...

A 9:30 p.m. departure generally isn't ideal, but I was OK with it this time as they finally made the announcement for train #48, the eastbound Lake Shore Limited. I was long overdue for a good night's sleep.  The Lake Shore Limited runs as one long train from Chicago to Albany-Rensselaer overnight. At Albany, the train is divided in two with half heading south to New York and the other half heading east to Boston. When I booked the train, Amtrak gave me the option of booking one sleeper all the way to Boston or booking one sleeper from Chicago to Albany and another sleeper from Albany to Boston. The second option saved me $170, so I went with it. The sleeper we boarded in Chicago was in the back half of the train, so we didn't have to walk far. After pulling out of Chicago Union Station, I watched the bright lights of the city slowly fade away. And after about an hour or so, I turned in for the night.  I slept soundly during the night and don't believe I woke up once du...