{"id":9787,"date":"2015-04-17T02:55:37","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T07:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeanschara.com\/randr\/?p=9787"},"modified":"2023-03-28T09:22:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T14:22:14","slug":"onboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeanschara.com\/pmtoo\/onboard\/","title":{"rendered":"O is for Onboard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lyn<\/a> had several questions I want to ensure get answered, and the Onboard<\/strong> post seems like the best place for this. Here goes:<\/p>\n

What did you see out the windows?<\/strong> Gorgeous scenery. America’s backyard. There is no single backyard. Some are gorgeous. Some are appalling. Some are interesting. You see a lot of homeless enclave\"homelesss from the train. I suspect that’s because they make their shelters generally out of sight from roadways and walkways, but they’re in plain sight of train tracks. Some are communities. Others \"campsiteare single outposts. If you see a collection of trash spread in a certain way, you can bet it’s been a stop for a homeless person or persons. It’s hard to describe, but after you’ve seen it out your window, you know it when you see it.<\/p>\n

How was the food?<\/strong> The food is always good. I had a goal to try everything on the menu this trip and succeeded. I’m glad I did, because I discovered some good options. For instance, they had a Caesar salad on the lunch menu that could be ordered on the dinner menu. Chicken could be added. I don’t normally eat Caesar salad, but this one I could put whatever dressing I wanted on top, so it was really just a salad. After you’ve been on the train for a while, it seems as if all you do is eat, and while you can order the steak dinner every night, you don’t really want to. In fact, you sometimes want to cut back. Several nights, I ordered the salad.<\/p>\n

I also ordered the healthy option one night and was pleasantly surprised. The cut of meat was very small — maybe two ounces, but it was a superb cut, and the rest of the meal was couscous and baby carrots. The healthy option turned out to be just right to keep from being stuffed.<\/p>\n

They have a wonderful Angus burger or a tasty veggie burger. You can get bacon on either one. Yes. I ordered the veggie burger with bacon. The waiter said I was the 67th person to do so. Mr. L said he was kidding. I wasn’t so sure.<\/p>\n

You can’t go wrong with Amtrak cheesecake and strawberries. Yum. If you want ice cream, you will get a superbly solidly frozen cup of Haagen Daz vanilla. You can also get the gluten free vanilla pudding and the chocolate mousse. Amtrak does desserts well. Amtrak does food well.<\/p>\n

Did you get motion sickness?<\/strong> Nope. No motion sickness. One leg of the trip, I forget which one, was especially rough, and a poor man from Boston who sat with us at dinner looked like he was about to experience motion sickness. The poor man sat there staring out the window with a napkin to his mouth. After he excused himself without eating more than a bite or two of his meal, Mr. L said if he hadn’t been staring out at the passing countryside, he might not have been so bad off. We saw him again at breakfast, and he didn’t look much better.<\/p>\n

Did you meet any interesting people on the train?<\/strong> Yes. With the community seating in the dining car, you get a chance to chat with different people at nearly every meal. Nearly everyone is interesting in their own right.<\/p>\n

Am I too curious?<\/strong> Not at all. Great questions.<\/p>\n

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. If you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.<\/p>\n