Let's Have a Singalong!

I'm leeeavin' (leavin')
On a midnight train to Georgia (leavin' on a midnight train to Georgia--woo woo!)

Okay, fine. So I'm not leavin' on a midnight train to Georgia. I'm leavin' on an 11 p.m. train to Chicago. Close enough. In Chicago we'll rent a car and drive to Minnesota for my new niece's baptism. There will be lots of Forced Family Fun, as well as a visit to one of my old college roommates along the way. A good time will be had by all. But what I really want to talk about today is Amtrak.

Now, my father is an airline pilot, so I have done more than my share of plane travel. And I used to have no problem with flying. It was my preferred way to travel. But now? God save me from the airplane. I can't be the only one to have noticed (can you hear the sarcasm?) that air travel really sucks the big one these days. The ridiculously early arrival time at the airport. The interminable waits at security, at which you have to take off your shoes. The over-crowded, claustrophobic, funky-smelling planes. The numerous connections. And the cost for all of this unpleasantness. Oh my God, the cost. It was going to cost us over $800 to fly to Minnesota. And I was assured by A. (who has driven from New York to Arizona more times than I can count) that the drive from here to Chicago is not particularly exciting.

Enter Amtrak. Oh Amtrak, how I love thee. $250 for two people to take the overnight train to Chicago (and come home). And then, after I made the reservations, A. found out he was going to have to go to some hearing for work the night we left and wouldn't be able to make the train. I started freaking out, being so accustomed to the total inflexibility of the airlines, thinking that we were totally screwed and out $250. But then I called Amtrak and was assured that they would just change our tickets to the next city down the line (which is about the same distance from our house as the city I had originally booked us out of), which had a later departure time, and hey, since it's closer to Chicago, we'll refund you $30 for your tickets, ma'am!

Can you imagine this kind of reaction from an airline? Nuh uh. No way. They'd be all, "Well, I guess we can change your tickets. If we have to. SIGH. The only flight available leaves at 5 a.m. That'll be an extra $1,000 per person and your firstborn child. And don't forget the extra charge to check bags." But Amtrak was pleasant. They were helpful. They were accomodating. And considering they were taking so much of my money, that's only right. Right?

So tonight, we will arrive at the train station half an hour before our train leaves, park our car for free, walk right onto the train, stow our bags (which are full up with liquids--wheeee!), and settle into our seats. A. will probably sleep. I will probably not, because I can't really sleep anywhere but in a bed. And at 9:30 a.m. we will roll into Chicago with an extra $550 in our bank account and four whole days of fun road trip ahead of us.

Amtrak, I salute you. You're affordable, relaxing, and best of all, not assholes. And God bless you for that.