59 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Based on the discussion thus far, I have created 3 proposed itineraries, one each for the Roanoke, North Carolina, and Florida ideas.   For all, for the sake of brevity I roughly made Washington, DC the northern limit of travel, knowing well that those living in the Northeast would board or detrain north of there.

 

Roanoke:  Just one Amtrak round trip, to Roanoke on Saturday evening, and returning from there on Sunday.

 

North Carolina:  This would be 3 days, Friday through Sunday.  Full day of travel on the southbound Carolinian to Charlotte on Friday.  Saturday would be used to ride CATS light rail & streetcar, and then the late afternoon Piedmont trip to Raleigh.  Sunday, board northbound Silver Star in Raleigh to head home or to Washington or Richmond for connections.

 

Florida:  Just as proposed by Bill, this would take 5 days (Friday through Tuesday).  Board the southbound Silver Meteor on Friday. Arrive in Miami Saturday evening. Sunday would be used for MetroRail, MetroMover, MIA Mover, and Brightline.  Since Brightline service begins later in the morning on weekends than it does during the week, I made a mid-afternoon round trip Miami to West Palm Beach and back, which leaves the morning for transit and still accomplishes the Brightline trip in daylight, between lunchtime and dinnertime.  On Monday morning, board northbound Silver Meteor, and arrive at Northeast points on Tuesday.

 

Any more suggestions, or is this enough to choose from?

[pennyk]

Of the 3, I like North Carolina option the best, although Florida is interesting for others beside me.  At this very minute, I am in Miami after riding Brightline roundtrip between Miami and West Palm Beach.  The Miami station is not complete yet.  I understand retail will be opening in the near future.  

 

(RPA meeting was in Miami this weekend).

[steve4031]

1. North Carolina
2. Florida
3. Roanoke.

No matter the choice I would participate in any of these options. Be nice to not have frostbite on vital parts of my body.

[jacorbett70]

I would lean towards Roanoke or NC since I likely will be doing the FL one on my own in December, but I may be able to do the FL (again) especially if it is a 3-day weekend (like MLK) limiting off-work to two days.

[KevinKorell]

Just to throw another option out there, for a 3-day NC trip, would it work better for anyone if it was Saturday-Sunday-Monday instead of Friday-Saturday-Sunday given the 3-day holiday weekend ?

 

For me, with the extra long trip on 79, I probably would break it up by going to the Washington, Alexandria, or Richmond area the night before and boarding 79 from there.  This helps to get at least one off-train meal instead of both lunch and dinner in the cafe car. Either way, I would have to take time off from work aside from the 3 day weekend.    For the trip on 92, with an 8:45 AM boarding time breakfast (or lack thereof) does not necessarily have to be an issue, so only lunch would need to be purchased on the train if going to Washington. 

[steve4031]

Saturday Sunday Monday would work better for me. But I could still fly to Charlotte Friday night to meet the group if the group left on Friday.

[BillMagee]

For both the Florida (the one I'm partial to) and North Carolina trips I would likely head down by train then fly back. If Roanoke is chosen, I'd fly down then ride back up.

 

Florida appeals to me because I have not been to downtown Miami in a long time (1992), there is a lot of rail-related stuff there I have not experienced (and have no current plans to do so) and it would be a one day escape from winter.  So, my preference:

 

#1 Florida

#2 North Carolina

#3 Roanoke

[Long Train Runnin']

I would say for me 

 

1. North Carolina

2. Florida

3. Roanoke 

 

Have always wanted to see those vending machines on the Piedmont. 

[pennyk]

My preference is:

 

1.  North Carolina

2.  Tie with Roanke and Florida

 

There is a lot of rail stuff in Miami and I have not been there since 8:10am today.  LOL.  BTW, several of us ignored all the talk about how dangerous/unsafe it is to walk between the TriRail/MetroRail transfer station and the Amtrak station.  I did it with a group of 9 on Thursday coming into town and did it with a group of 4 this morning, leaving town.  We had no issues.  There was daylight both ways, which would be different in January.  Miami was incredibly easy and inexpensive to get around using public transportation. Friday morning I took the Metromover (free) to Government Center and applied for and received my reduced fare senior card.  My fare this morning on MetroRail was $1.10 instead of the regular $2.25.

[jacorbett70]

Saturday-Sunday-Monday is always better when Monday is a holiday (MLK Day)