Northeast Train Trip pt. 1–Chicago to D.C.

As you may recall if you have followed all of my posts, we intended to do a trip to Hawaii back in 2020 before COVID canceled everything. Originally, the trip was going to be a large-scale version of the annual trips my mom and I take together, but we decided to bring along Ryan and my dad as well. However, after having to reschedule a few times and then reading about the strain that tourism puts on Hawaii, we decided to just abandon the trip altogether for the time being. Instead, we decided to take a train trip. Since I had not been to many states in the northeast, and Ryan did not have many maps from the northeast (he tries to collect a map for each state he visits), we decided to plan a route heading up to New England area.

In June of 2022, we started out on our journey. For the first leg, we took a short flight to Chicago before catching the overnight train “The Cardinal” to Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, Louisville does not currently have a train station, hence the flight to Chicago to start our trip. We were a bit nervous about the flight as this was at a time when there were a lot of airport strikes, flight cancelations, etc. But we managed to get to Chicago with no problem, then took a Lyft to Amtrak Union Station.

After stashing our baggage in the Metropolitan Lounge, we set out for some lunch. We found a place called Arturo’s and had some delicious sandwiches. I had the Napoli Caprese sandwich, and Ryan had the Roma (a meatball sub).

Since we were in sleeper cars, and therefore “first class” passengers, we had free access to the Metropolitan Lounge in the Amtrak station. This was a nice, quiet place to relax and enjoy a few treats before it was time to board the train.

On the train, we found our rooms to settle in. Ryan and I were in a “roommette,” which is the most basic kind of sleeper accommodation on an Amtrak train. It has two seats directly across from each other and a small table in the middle. At night, the chairs convert into one bed, and an upper bunk is lowered from the wall. The roommette has a sink, but no toilet or shower. The sink actually folds down from the wall. When it is folded up, it is the steps to the top bunk.

My parents were a little more fancy, opting for a bedroom. The bedroom has a little more space to spread out and also has a full private bathroom, including a shower. It still just sleeps two. There is an option for a family bedroom that sleeps four. Here you can see Ryan and I visiting with my parents in their room. It looks like three of us are sitting behind my dad, but really that is our reflection in the mirror:

As a first class passenger, meals are also included. I have memories as a child of eating a rather fancy meal in a dining car on a train. Unfortunately, COVID affected the quality of meals served. While it sounds like the trains west of Chicago now have a full dining car again, the eastern routes still do not. The meals are a step above airplane meals, but still microwaved, rather than the fresh food you get in a true dining car experience. We tried pretty much every option on the menu during our journey as it is also the same menu for lunch and dinner. Some options were better than others. For the first dinner, Ryan and I both picked Chicken A La Rosa.

The Cardinal starts in Chicago and ends in New York, but we were only taking it to D.C. We boarded pretty late in the evening, so it was soon time to sleep, which meant we were mostly asleep through Indiana.

We had breakfast in our train car again after our attendant helped us convert the beds back into day mode. I ordered the Railroad French Toast, but it was pretty disappointing in its microwave version. Ryan had an omelet, and he said it was fine.

Here is some of the scenery we saw along the way:

During lunch on the train, the attendant allowed the four of us to sit together in the snack car so we could chat. This time I had the Thai Red Curry Street Noodles, which was probably one of the best choices. Ryan had the Baked Ziti and Meatballs and said it was only ok.

Due to a delayed start and then a weather delay, we got into DC a couple hours late, and it was raining very hard. Ryan and I covered up with ponchos to try to keep our luggage dry as we got a cab to our Airbnb.

After a long train ride, it was nice to be on solid ground. Have you ever taken an overnight train ride? What was your experience like?

Next time I will write about our full day in DC.