Seat 2A

I awoke with the sunrise on my second day. Outside of work I normally don’t get up quite so early, but I had neglected to close the heavy drapes over the sliding glass doors leading to my balcony, so the sunshine flowed right in.



Good Morning Sunshine


It should be noted that I had intentionally booked a suite on the port or left side of the boat in the hope that I might be able to enjoy a view of the coastlines of Oregon and California as we cruised south. Alas, it was not to be. According to the cruise map displayed on one of the television channels, we were cruising about 40 miles off the coast. Between the distance and marine haze, I could not make out any sign of land.

Princess offers complimentary room service and to see it advertised in the brochures – online or otherwise – it usually shows happy couples dining on a sunny morning out on their balcony. Hmmph! They’re probably on a Caribbean cruise. Here on this crisp November morning off the coast of Oregon, it was looking to be a pretty day but one best enjoyed from the warmth of an indoor perspective.

As for room service, it’s great that it’s offered but I rather like the idea of eating out and so I settled on a compromise. I called room service and requested a pot of coffee and a Danish. I was told it would be delivered in 20 minutes to half an hour – perfect! I then padded off to the bathroom for my morning ablutions and a shower. Pleasingly, the shower had plenty of hot water and came out in a good strong stream.

Speaking of television, I mentioned earlier that I had not one but two big 42” screens in my suite. I like to watch the morning news and so I scrolled through the options and found one of the usual network offerings. Truth be told, I didn’t watch a lot of TV while on this cruise but I seem to recall a mix of about a dozen channels offering some traditional network programming like NBC along with some cable offerings like CNN and a movie channel or two.

It was about 9:00am when I made my way down to the dining room for breakfast. I had planned to meet fti (John) for a trivia contest in the Vista Lounge at 10:00am, so I kept breakfast light with an order of nova lox with cream cheese and a bagel with all the trimmings.



Lox & Bagel Breakfast


Making my way from the dining room to the Vista Lounge took me past a number of attractive lounge areas established around the ship. These were not formal named lounges per se but rather just pleasant and appealing areas to sit and enjoy the view, a good book, a quiet drink or perhaps a bit of conversation. Artwork was also on display in some of the promenades, both to look at and/or to purchase. I was impressed with a framed picture by Leonid Afremov – one of my favorite artists – but alas, the price was a bit more than fiscal responsibility would have allowed one of my limited means.



Artwork on Display


Star Princess Lounge Area


Star Princess Lounge Area


The Vista Lounge looked as nice as a Las Vegas style lounge but it was just smaller. It offered comfortable seating and a large stage with good lines of sight throughout the lounge. The lounge wasn’t particularly crowded when John and I met up, so it was easy to find a seat.


Vista Lounge and Stage
Photo courtesy of cruisedeckplans.com


At 10:00am on the dot, our host arrived – a young guy in his mid-to late twenties. From that point on, he did a great job running the Trivia Quiz, peppering us with questions and arranging for prizes. Me – I’m one of those guys who watches game shows like Jeopardy and knows about 70% of the answers. And of course everybody says “You ought to get on a game show!” and I think… maybe someday. But let me tell you, the questions we were presented on this day must’ve been culled from the very best of Jeopardy, i.e. the hardest and most eclectic. We were asked questions with a chance to answer individually and then later in teams. I was as good as worthless. Indeed, nobody stood out as particularly knowledgeable but clearly Princess had done their homework on researching these questions. Either that or they didn’t want to give out many prizes. Regardless, it was all in good fun and a nice way to spend an hour on a rather chilly November morning at sea.

John and I met later for lunch – this time I joined him in the main dining room – and that’s where I discovered that the “enhanced dining” marketed to Club Class passengers was limited to just one or two extra entrée and appetizer choices. Not that I was complaining though. On the whole, the food in the main dining rooms was very good. I wouldn’t call it gourmet exactly but it was solid. Good Stuff.

After lunch I headed up to my room for a bit of reading while John headed off to do something else – I can’t recall. It’s worth noting that each afternoon we’d find a copy of the Princess Patter – essentially a listing of all of the activities available the next day. The list was long and the variety wide. My scanner doesn’t work and I tried taking a picture of just one page worth of activities but the print is too small to read via photograph so I’m going to list below just a few of the veritable cornucopia of activities available on our first afternoon at sea.

• Piano Favorites with Serena Dixon – In The Piazza, Deck 5 Midship
• Jewish Sabbath Service – Deck 15 Forward
• Grand Spa Raffle (Win $500 in spa credits) – Deck 15 Midship
• Free Footprint Postural Analysis – Deck 15 Forward
• LGBTQ+ Get Together – Wheelhouse Bar, Deck 7
• Classical String Melodies with The Adagio Trio - In The Piazza, Deck 5 Midship
• Evening Movie: Rocketman – Vista ounge, Deck 7 Aft
• Comedy Showtime starring comedian Steve Caouette – Princess Theater, Decks 6&7 Forward
• Name That Tune Challenge – Explorers Lounge, Deck 7 Midship
• Texas Hold ‘Em School followed by $1-2 No-Limit Cash Game – Grand Casino, Deck 6 Forward
• Karaoke Power Hour – Explorer’s Lounge, Deck 7 Midship
• Dance to the Music of Pinnacle – Explorers Lounge, Deck 7 Midship
• Paradise Lotto Draw $2 Tickets (Jackpot over $442,000) – Grand Casino Deck 6 Forward

Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my Princess Patter sheets from the other two days of the cruise, but rest assured each day was packed with a host of different activities and informative talks on everything from sea birds to California history.

Aside from organized activities, the ship also offered

• Art Gallery
• The Grand Casino
• Internet Café
• The Lotus Health, Fitness, Spa and Beauty Salon
• Medical Center
• Photography & Video Gallery
• A variety of Retail Shops
• Youth & Teen Centers (Offering a variety of activities geared toward the younger set)

I should note here that wireless internet was also available in the individual cabins. The only reason to go to the internet café would be if you didn’t have a laptop or some similar internet reception platform. That said, the prices were not inexpensive. Check out these rates!



Internet Pricing Plans on the Star Princess


And of course, what would a cruise be without food, glorious food! The Star Princess offered the following cafes and restaurants:

• International Café – Open 24 Hours
• Capri Dining Room – Open for Dinner from 5:00pm-9:00pm
• Amalfi Dining Room - Open for Dinner from 5:00pm-7:15pm
• Portofino Dining Room – Open for Lunch and Dinner at appropriate times
• Crown Grill (Steakhouse with surcharge) - Open for Dinner from 5:00pm-9:30pm
• Sabatini’s (Italian with surcharge) - Open for Dinner from 5:00pm-9:30pm
• Prego Pizzeria – Open from 11:00am – 10:00pm
• Sundaes Ice Cream Bar - Open from 11:00am – 10:00pm
• Trident Grill - Open from 11:00am – 10:00pm
• Horizon Court - Open from 11:00am – 11:00pm (Closed from 5:00pm to 5:30pm)

And finally, for those who enjoy a drink at a bar, there are 11 bars, clubs and lounges available:

• Lobby Bar – Open from 11:00am to 11:00pm
• Vines (Tapas, Sushi & Wine) - Open from 4:30pm to 11:00pm
• Shooters Bar - Open from 4:30pm to Midnight
• Crooners Bar - Open from 11:00am to Late
• Explorers Lounge - Open during specified entertainment activities
• Wheelhouse Bar - Open from 4:30pm to Midnight
• Mermaid’s Tail Bar - Open from 4:30pm to 10:00pm
• Calypso Bar - Open from 5:30am to 11:00pm
• Outriggers Bar - Open from 4:30pm to 7:00pm
• Tradewinds Bar - Open from 11:00am to 7:00pm
• Skywalker’s Nightclub – Open from 10:00pm Onwards

I mentioned earlier that drinks were not cheap on the Star Princess. If you were to drink at the bars and clubs, you could expect to pay between $6-8 for most bottled beers and $8-12 for most cocktails. Thankfully, Princess offers what’s called a Premier Beverage Package where for just $59.99/day + 18% gratuity you can enjoy unlimited individual beverages worth up to $12 each. Plus, you’ll get a 25% discount on all bottled wines! Imagine being able to drink $60 worth of booze a day! I think I’d be spending a lot more time on my balcony if that were the case. Either that or I’d be requesting wheelchair assistance from the bars to wherever!

On most Caribbean, Mexican or Mediterranean cruises, after a day or so at sea most of the days would be taken up at a variety of different ports of call but as this was a re-positioning cruise, it was a straight two and a half day cruise down the coast to Los Angeles. In fact, following our 8:30am arrival in LA, the Star Princess was then scheduled to depart at 5:00pm for a five day sail to Honolulu followed by a week circuit of the Hawaiian Islands. And indeed, I met a fair number of passengers who were planning to continue on to Hawaii with the ship.

John (fti) had cruised a number of times previously with Princess and so had attained a level of status that entitled him to a few perks while at sea. One of those perks was admittance to a members only cocktail hour in the Skywalker’s Nightclub, located at the rear of the ship on the very highest level. I joined him for a couple of drinks at 6:00pm.



Uphill People Mover access to Skywalker’s Nightclub
Photo courtesy of cruisedeckplans.com


Skywalker’s Nightclub
Photo courtesy of cruisedeckplans.com


Prior to the cruise, we had both made arrangements to meet for dinner in the Crown Grill Steakhouse. This and Sabatini’s Italian Restaurant are premium facilities for which you must pay an additional $29. That fee included everything except alcoholic drinks. I imagine it probably didn’t include gratuities either but Princess offers an option where for $43 one could have all shipboard gratuities taken care of in one fell swoop. I should imagine that price would vary depending upon the length of the cruise, but when you consider all of the possible service people in a position to be tipped, I felt that over three days it was a pretty fair deal.

As mentioned earlier, the Crown Grill is a steakhouse. The service was excellent throughout the meal. We were cordially
Greeted at the entrance and shown to a nice, well-lit table. As you might imagine, we both ordered steak! I accompanied mine with a nice $12 glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.



The Crown Grill Restaurant aboard the Star Princess


Steak dinner at the Crown Grill


Dessert at the Crown Grill


Fortunately, we had very nice conditions at sea for our cruise down the coast. The ride was smooth throughout the cruise. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, the temperatures were a bit cool to spend any extended time outon my deck. Remember, we’re talking early November here at about latitude 45°N and so the daytime temperatures were generally in the 40s. The Star Princess is said to have a maximum cruise speed of 23 knots or about 26 mph. I have no idea if the captain truly put the coals to her all the way down the coast, but even if we were cruising at about 20 mph the wind chill effect made the ambient temperature considerably cooler.

On our last morning prior to arrival in Los Angeles (Well, San Pedro actually, about 15 miles south of LA) I had breakfast while sat next to a man who claimed this was his 158th cruise. That is a remarkable number! I’ve come across a number of our summer cruise patrons that ride our busses in Denali National Park who claim to have ridden 30-40 cruises, but 158? That’s in a whole nother stratosphere.

Then again, I’ve flown 5.6 million miles aboard 201 airlines so I guess I can commiserate to some extent.

Arrival in San Pedro was very well organized. There were various disembarkation points combined with varying times of disembarkation dependent upon your location and room type aboard the ship. And of course, one of the benefits of my Club Class upgrade was preferred boarding and disembarkation. As such, I was amongst the first off the boat.

John was renting a car in nearby Long Beach and offered to drive me up to LAX for my 12:30pm flight. However, given that he needed to make his way somehow from the port to the rental office – probably by taxi – the timing didn’t sound as safe as the bus direct to LAX that I’d arranged and paid for prior to the cruise. As such we bid each other farewell and looked forward to getting together again in Denali next summer. Little did we know at that time that a virus emanating from a little known city (to most Americans at least) in China would plunge the world into a full-blown pandemic and effectively cancel the summer plans for many people all over the world.



The Star Princess docked in San Pedro


In closing, I was very impressed with Princess Cruises. From the reservations department to the ship to the crew, everyone did a fantastic job.

That said, I also feel that when it comes to boat rides aboard ships of this size, one cruise is enough for me. The main thing for me is that the ship is so large that often times I had a hard time enjoying a sense of being at sea. Honestly, much of the time this cruise felt more like being aboard a sea-going shopping mall. For many people, I suspect this is part of what makes cruising so attractive to them. For me however, I’m more comfortable being on a ship more in keeping with the size of the Alaska Marine Highway ferries. The largest one – the M.V. Columbia – is designed to carry 500 passengers, although during the off-season times of year that I’ve ridden it, the total number is much less. As a result, the on-board ambiance is much different and – for me at least – more to my tastes.

So – hats off to Princess for doing a really wonderful job, but I think from here on any further cruising I do will be aboard much smaller vessels.

Seat 2A

November 4, 2019
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ A321-200 ~ Los Angeles, CA to Seattle, WA ~ 1230p – 325p

It was about 11:00am when the Princess motor coach dropped me off in front of Alaska Airlines’ home in Terminal 5 at LAX. I know this terminal well. Back in the 1970s, it was home to Continental Airlines and Hughes Airwest. I was a fairly regular patron aboard CO 600, the 5:00pm DC-10 flight to Denver. That flight originated in Honolulu each morning and included the wonderful Polynesian Pub.



Continental’s Polynesian Pub aboard its DC-10


Many of you weren’t even born when onboard lounges were all the rage over American skies. And, much like the picture above accurately depicts, they were popular and well patronized places. Remember, back in the 70s we didn’t have laptops, Wi-Fi, mp3 players and the like. Inflight entertainment on 2 hour flights like LA to Denver consisted of the seat back magazine and a few channels of music listened to through plastic pneumatic headphones. Little wonder then that many passengers were more than happy to head up to the lounge where on Continental at least, much more affordable drinks flowed along with complimentary baskets of popcorn and pretzels. People mingled. They laughed and had a good time. It was so much nicer than flying is these days.

But I digress. My early arrival allowed me plenty of time to pay a visit to the Alaska Lounge, located upstairs on the mezzanine above the gates. I really like this lounge though given the amount of traffic passing through LAX, I think it could be a bit larger. Regardless, it offers comfortable seating with floor to ceiling windows providing excellent views of the tarmac below. I ordered a beer at the bar and watched as my A321NEO was readied for its upcoming departure to Seattle.



Bar at the LAX Alaska Lounge


The A321NEOs that Alaska flies were originally ordered by Virgin America. As such, the early examples were delivered with Virgin interiors including a First Class cabin with eight comparatively luxurious white leather recliners. Following the takeover by Alaska Airlines, the decision was made to standardize cabin interiors fleet wide. In the case of the A321s, the First Class cabins were enlarged to twelve seats that, while not as functionally comfortable as those early Virgin recliners, are still a pretty nice airplane seat by today’s standards.



Alaska’s new First Class seating aboard its A321


Flight time on this 978 mile flight up to Seattle was announced as two hours and ten minutes. Our midday departure meant that luncheon – or something approximating such – would be served. Today we were offered a choice between the dreaded protein plate (A collection of high protein items such as boiled eggs, olives, nuts, hummus, cheese, pita bread and grapes) or a turkey burger. It’s not that I dislike any of the items in the protein plate (with the exception of the olives) but it just doesn’t feel like a proper meal to me. That said, if I were one of those finicky calorie counting types, maybe I’d be a bit more amenable to this dish.

That said, years ago Alaska used to offer what I considered the best burger in the sky. It was available for purchase back in Economy Class for just $6. It featured a large 1/3rd pound patty and a bag of good potato chips. The burger offered today was a little bit smaller but still not bad as airline burgers go. Unfortunately it did not include any condiments – probably a catering error. Thankfully I had a couple plenty of packets of Grey Poupon mustard in the condiments bag which I always carry with me.



Lunchtime 2019 style on the LAX-SEA flight


Alaska’s old style beef hamburger


Years of experience have taught me that you never know when you’re going to want more pepper with your eggs, some additional Tabasco Sauce to spice up your bland airline Bloody Mary or some Grey Poupon to liven up your sandwich. I carry all that and more in a small zip-loc baggie that takes up hardly any space in my day pack.

We landed in Seattle on a rainy afternoon. Following a brisk taxi to our gate at D1, I made my way out of the airport and across the parking garage to the Light Rail station where I caught a train downtown followed by a bus up to the U-District where my hotel for the night awaited.


November 5, 2019
Amtrak Seattle, WA to Chicago, IL 405p – 330p+1 Empire Builder ~ First Class

I love riding Amtrak’s Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago. This is especially true in the summer and late spring where the longer days combined with the late afternoon departure combine for some beautiful scenery to be viewed as the train rolls north along the Puget Sound before turning east and climbing up into the Cascade Mountains.

As with the California Zephyr, this is coincidentally my 27th ride aboard the Empire Builder. Even the mileage totals are similar. I’ve logged 41,310 miles aboard the California Zephyr compared to 38,820 aboard the Empire Builder. At this point, some of you might be wondering why do I ride these trains so much.

Why? Because it’s fun! Why? Because it’s a great way to see some of the prettiest parts of North America. And finally, because it’s one of the last remaining vestiges of an old fashioned style of travel that epitomizes the phrase “Getting there is half the fun.” For a guy like me who’s always enjoyed “getting there” every bit as much as “being there”, a ride on a train - especially a long multi-night journey for which you’ve booked a bedroom - is one of life’s great travel experiences.

Additionally, some of you may be asking yourselves “What kind of name is “Empire Builder” for a train?”

That’s a fair question. Many train names suggest a speedy journey or they highlight the destination. Consider the Silver Meteor, the California Zephyr, The City of New Orleans or the Broadway Limited. Still others evoke the romantic ambiance of travel such as the Sunset Limited or the Coast Starlight.

The Empire Builder is named for James J. Hill, the president and founder of the Great Northern Railway. In the late 1800s Hill reorganized several failing railroads into the Great Northern and then extended the line to the Pacific Northwest. During his westward expansion he allowed immigrants (who had arrived mainly from Norway and Sweden) to travel across the country on his railroad for $10.00, with the stipulation that they agree to settle along the route. He even arranged for agriculture experts to teach them farming techniques applicable to the rough plains of North Dakota and Montana.

By encouraging the creation of settlements and towns along the Great Northern's route, Hill set the stage for the region's economic development in the production of agricultural and other products that his railroad would then carry to the rest of the country. In the process he became known as "The Empire Builder". The train that honors him was inaugurated by the Great Northern in 1929 and quickly displaced the Oriental Limited as the railroad's premier train.

From my hotel in Seattle’s University District, it was a short bus ride down to Seattle’s International District. Alighting outside a Bartell’s Drug Store just three blocks from Seattle’s King Street Station, I stepped inside and purchased a 375ml bottle of Knob Creek bourbon along with a couple bags of mixed nuts. Now properly prepared for the 45 hour journey ahead, I made my way over to the station.



Walking to Seattle’s King Street Station along 4th Ave


Over the years I’ve ridden a lot of trains into and out of Seattle’s King Street station. The Empire Builder, The Pioneer, The Coast Starlight, The International, The Cascades… it’s been a busy place. And, during this time dating back to 1978, I’m happy to report that the King Street station has been transformed from a dirty, run down facility into a clean and attractive station worthy of its place amongst America’s finest train stations.

The story of this rebirth is one that has been retold with many of the nation’s large inner city railroad stations. Back when they were built, railroads were the primary mode of transport around the country and the railroad stations built to serve those railroads were architecturally grand edifices that were truly monuments to the importance of rail transportation in American life and culture.

With the advent of the jet age combined with post war prosperity that allowed more people to own cars and take advantage of the new and convenient interstate highway system, rail travel began to wane and with it the overall condition of many of these grand old railroad stations.

In the case of King Street Station, it was designed by the same architects who created New York’s magnificent Grand Central Station. It was constructed of brick and granite from the quarries at Index, WA. The interior of the station was white marble, and ornate plaster decorated the ceiling. Most of the floors were terrazzo and mosaic tiling, forming borders and dramatic designs. The building's most notable feature, the clock tower, was designed to mimic the bell tower at St. Mark's Church in Venice, Italy. The King Street Station truly looked like and indeed was a place where great rail journeys began. The Empire Builder, the North Coast Limited, the Western Star – they all departed from the King Street Station.

The decline in the nation’s passenger rail traffic was mirrored in the once grand central waiting room. For years this station sat dirty and neglected, looking more like some third world bus station than the glorious big city station it once was. Over the years I saw many posters promising renovation, but the pace was glacial at best.

Imagine then my surprise and delight as I walked into King Street Station in the spring of 2014 and discovered that the long renovation project had finally been completed! The high ornate ceiling, once hidden behind dingy particleboard tiles, had been completely restored. The beautiful white marble walls that were once covered with dry wall now provided an elegant backdrop to the attractive main hall. Even the terrazzo and mosaic tiling on the floor had been beautifully restored and polished. The end result was a station every bit as beautiful as the city it serves.



Seattle’s King Street Station Inside


Seattle’s King Street Station Inside


Restored tilework along the walls and floor


Boarding for the Empire Builder commenced at 3:45pm, starting with First Class passengers in the sleepers. For this trip I’d been assigned room 11 in the 831 car. Room 11 is my favorite room, located downstairs on the left side of the train. Sleeping cars start forward of the diner and are numbered starting with the train number followed by 30, 31, 32, etc. The eastbound Empire Builder is train #8, and so the 831 car was located not next to but one car back from the diner. My favorite of course would have been the 830 car but even more important to me is having room #11, so as such I really had no complaints. After all, what’s another 88 feet to walk to the diner? Well I suppose that depends upon the quality of the tracks and how much of that Knob Creek I’d drunk, but hey – first things first.

Waiting at the door to the 831 car was my car attendant Luisa. After checking my ticket against her printed manifest, she welcomed me aboard with a pretty smile and a promise to deliver a bucket of ice to my room shortly after we departed Seattle.



Boarding the Empire Builder at Seattle


Your Sleeper Awaits


Judging by the size of the crowd in the station waiting room, I’d say we were departing Seattle at about half full. That said, unlike a nonstop flight the train makes a lot of stops along the way, and of course it also drops off people as well. It’s been my experience that early on more people will be boarding than detraining, so by the time we reach Spokane later tonight, we’ll likely be closer to 75% full.



Route of the Empire Builder


The “All Aboard” cry rang out right on time at 4:05pm. Since it was first cried out some one hundred and seventy five years ago, this call has become one of the classic departure announcements of our time. Although its origins are nautical, here in America “All Aboard” is most closely associated with rail travel.

To anyone standing trackside - be they a passenger or a visitor saying goodbye to a friend or loved one, the meaning is crystal clear: The train is ready to depart the station! Get on board NOW. Hugs and kisses are exchanged, promises to call or write are made, the doors are closed, the whistle blows and the journey begins.

Amongst those facing an overnight or cross country journey on the train, whose heartbeat wouldn’t quicken in anticipation of the adventure ahead? For those standing trackside to see off friends or relatives, who wouldn’t wish they too could board and come along for the ride?

From my roomette I could hear Luisa shut and bolt the entry door. Moments later I felt a gentle tug and watched as we began to roll past the stanchions supporting the platform roof. Then it was into the underground beneath the downtown district, finally emerging into dirty daylight amidst the inner city detritus of Seattle’s downtown as seen from the not so pleasant vantage point of the concrete ditch through which the tracks ran.

About twenty minutes out of Seattle, the tracks joined the shoreline of the Puget Sound where they would remain for the next twenty miles or so. This is one of the prettiest parts of the trip, and for eastbound travelers this time of year was the perfect time to see it. Had I come through here in late December or January, it would have been dark. Had I done so in June or July, the sun would have still been high in the late afternoon sky. But now, in early November, blessed with a totally clear evening, we were treated to a beautiful sunset. Although this didn’t include the actual setting sun, the illuminated twilight sky was just as beautiful.



Sunset along the Puget Sound


The view from my lower level sleeper


Still Life with Trees, Water & Sunset at 60 mph


The view from my lower level sleeper


Reservations are required for dinner. Rather than have everybody traipse back to the dining car to do so, Amtrak sends a member of the dining car staff back through all the cars. They start with the sleepers and make their way back to the coaches. On the Empire Builder, this happens shortly after our departure from Seattle.

Typically, three or four seatings are offered, starting at about 5:30pm with the last being about 7:30pm. I settled on the 6:30pm seating and was handed a small slip of paper with the time and the number 1 signifying the number in my party. Amtrak has been handing out these slips of paper for years and yet II can’t recall ever having been asked for one upon presenting myself in the diner. As a longtime recycler, this seems like a waste of paper to me but who knows – maybe people forget.

After stopping to pick up a couple dozen people waiting for us in Everett, WA, the tracks took on an eastward bearing as we began the long climb into the Cascades. By now it was dark which was a real shame because this is one of the most scenic portions of the trip. That’s why perhaps the best time to ride the eastbound Empire Builder is during the late spring and early summer when you can take advantage of the long summer days that are even a bit longer up here around latitude 48°N. Oh well. Luisa had delivered a bucket of ice shortly after our departure from Seattle and I loaded up a glass with ice and poured a full load of Knob Creek over it all. Ah…

For dinner tonight I was joined by Simon and Beth, a couple from Chadderton, a small town outside of Manchester, England. Shortly after we’d settled in we were joined by Howard, a retired auto mechanic from Minot, North Dakota. Add myself, bus driver and tour guide extraordinaire and we had quite the quartet. There were some interesting stories amongst us all, but before we look into that, let’s check out tonight’s dinner offerings… Click HERE for the menu.



Empire Builder Dining Car


Hmm… If this looks suspiciously like the menu from my ride on the California Zephyr last month, it’s because for some time now Amtrak has standardized the menus on its long distance trains operating west of Chicago and New Orleans. While there are still a decent variety of offerings, I miss the days when some of the entrees were route specific. For example, on the Coast Starlight we used to see one or two California/Mexican cuisine influenced options. I remember Rainbow Trout on the California Zephyr.

Unfortunately, from its inception in 1971 Amtrak has yet to ever make a profit and if its current president Richard Anderson (who some of you may remember as the president who presided over Delta’s return to profitability) has his way, Amtrak’s meal services will be stripped down to be more like airline meals. This has already been implemented on trains operating east of Chicago.

While this approach might make sense in a cold, clinical kind of way, it fails to take into account that train trips are not airplane rides – especially on the longer services west of Chicago where many passengers are onboard the train for 30-40 hours or more. As such, a chance to leave your seat and walk up to the dining car for a proper sit down meal is a much cherished break from the ennui of long distance travel.

The current service on western trains includes a basket of rolls, a salad course, the main course and dessert if desired. It flows at a comfortable pace that’s conducive to enjoying both your meal and your table mates. As I’ve said before, social interaction is one of the main attractions and benefits of train travel. And, I should note that aside from the dining car – for those who might prefer a more solitary existence onboard the train – it is easily afforded by remaining in your spacious leg-rest equipped coach seat (approximately 55” pitch) or in your sleeper accommodations where meals can be brought to your room if you desire.

I varied my usual steak dinner slightly this evening by replacing the baked potato with wild rice. Simon and Howard also went with the steak while Beth opted for the Vegetarian Pasta without the soy sausage, please. Additionally, you may note the highlighted Land & Sea option. It’s basically a steak dinner with the addition of a crab cake. $14 more for a single crab cake? Since my meals are complimentary in the sleepers, I have tried this option once but found I didn’t particularly care for the mix of crab cake and steak. One of these days I’m going to have to go out to coastal Maryland and get myself a proper crab cake dinner.



Steak with Wild Rice


So as things turned out, all of us were traveling in the sleepers. Simon and Beth were on the final legs of a rail tour around America, having essentially circumnavigated the continental US by starting out of New York aboard the Crescent which took them down to Atlanta and New Orleans. After a few days visiting with a friend who was a professor at Louisiana State in Baton Rouge, they continued on to Los Angeles aboard the Sunset Limited. Following a brief visit to LA, they continued on to San Francisco aboard the Coast Starlight. They stayed three days in the city and then rented a car and drove down California’s famous Highway 1 to San Luis Obispo. Eventually it was back onboard the Coast Starlight to Seattle and then on to Chicago aboard the Empire Builder. Assuming we’d arrive on time, they were looking at about a six hour layover in Chicago before connecting to the Lake Shore Limited to Boston from where they’d fly home to the UK. Whoa, Nellie! What an adventure! It should be noted here that fares on Amtrak – even sleeper fares – are considerably less expensive than those for similar accommodations on trains in Europe or Australia. Indeed, I t hink Amtrak is one of the great rail bargains anywhere in the world. Additionally, when it comes to coach or economy class travel, I think I can say with reasonable confidence that Amtrak’s long distance coach seating blows the competition out of the water. Add to that the impressive Sightseer Lounge Car and for everyday long distance train travel, I cannot imagine a better product than Amtrak.

Take it from me. I’ve ridden a multitude of trains on all six continents and if they ever put one down on Antarctica, believe me I’ll find a way to get down there and check it out.

Howard’s journey was considerably more pedestrian. He’d merely taken the train from Minot out to Seattle to visit his daughter who lived down in Kent. Now he was on his way back home. Minot’s a bit of a ways from any airports with nonstop or direct flights to Seattle, and while there is a jet airport in Minot, fares to Seattle were pretty expensive. His wife had died a few years earlier and she’d always preferred to fly but now that he was on his own he’d discovered that buying a sleeper on the Empire Builder was only a little bit more expensive than flying, plus he liked the timing of the train. The westbound departed Minot at 9:00am while the eastbound arrived back in Minot at 9:30pm. Howard said this was the third time he had made the 24 hour trip to Seattle by train and he’d always found it a relaxing way to travel, especially in a roomette. He’d taken his first trip in coach and quickly discovered that he was just not cut out for sleeping upright in a seat.

Me, I could totally concur. I shared with everyone how when I was younger I used to buy Amtrak’s All Aboard America rail passes and spend days at a time riding various trains all over the country – always in coach. Back then I was a lot more flexible and could sleep well in just about any position. Beth asked how I managed it all without any showers in coach. No problem. I would just sponge bath in the bathrooms. I used to carry a wide mouthed water bottle that I could fill up and then pour over my head for washing my hair. Paper towels worked great for drying it. And I kept a wash cloth and used the available soap for washing the rest of me. This probably wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea but what can I say? You just find ways to make do. I used to schedule my travels so that I always had a day or two off so that – amongst other things – I could do laundry. None of this was really any great imposition on me. I was so thrilled to be riding all over America by rail that I never considered any of these things to be hardships. Those of you who’ve read my trip reports may recall that for many years I used to sleep in airports. I had some great spots in some airports where it was dark, quiet and I was out of the way. I wish I still could do this because it’d save me about $75 per night but alas, my back says otherwise. As a side benefit, all those nights that I’ve subsequently had to sleep in hotels have netted me Diamond Status with Wyndham Rewards and Gold Status with Choice Hotels.

After dinner, Simon and Beth and I headed to the far side of the dining car for drinks and a bit more talk. Now I was wishing I’d bought a full sized bottle of bourbon but even then, it would have been difficult to discretely enjoy it in the brightly lit dining car as opposed to the more dimly lit Sightseer Lounge Car.

And why wasn’t there a lounge car, you ask?

The Empire Builder operates in two sections from the west coast. One section comes out of Seattle with the dining car while the other section originates from Portland with the Sightseer Lounge. They both meet in Spokane and the train then continues as one the rest of the way to Chicago.

The section that comes out of Portland runs up the Columbia River Gorge and during the summer months it is every bit as pretty as the Cascade crossing out of Seattle. However, because the Portland section doesn’t include a dining car, sleeper class passengers are offered special pre-made cold meals while everyone else has food via the café located downstairs in the lounge car.

It was approaching 10:00pm when we called it a night. Simon and Beth were also in my car but upstairs. After hearing the logic behind my preference for downstairs rooms, they said they’d try that out upon their return to America in a couple of years. They already knew that they wanted to ride the California Zephyr and they also wanted to find a way to work in a trip on ViaRail’s Canadian between Toronto and Vancouver. So much to look forward to!


* * * _  _ * * *


I awoke the next morning to clouds and light snow. Although the calendar indicated that winter was still more than a month away, outside my window it could have been January. Inside my roomette, I was nice and warm, especially given the full sized wool blanket that always accompanies me on my train travels. The blankets that Amtrak provides are fairly thin and though I’ve rarely ever heard anyone complain that they couldn’t sleep because they were too cold, I prefer my soft and thick wool blanket.

Surprisingly, the load was light when I presented myself in the dining car for breakfast. As such, I ended up with a table to myself – always a rare occurrence on Amtrak. I ordered my usual veggie omelet and was pleased to find that the potatoes were hash browns as opposed to the usual roasted potatoes. Hot coffee and orange juice completed the meal and left me in great shape to enjoy the day ahead.



A snowy view out the diner window


Still Life with Breakfast menu


Breakfast of Champions – Empire Builder Version


Looking back as we travel through Glacier National Park


After breakfast, I headed back to my roomette to reclaim my daypack and laptop, said a quick good morning to Simon and Beth and relocated to the Sightseer Loungecar. Hot coffee accompanied me as I grabbed an open booth, plugged in my laptop and set to work on this report. I assure you I was nowhere near current. I take good notes though and have a good memory, both of which combine to allow me to write of this particular portion of the trip many months later.



Sightseer Lounge Car Ambience


Glacier National Park


A lot of people might envision a train ride across the northern plains of eastern Montana and North Dakota as a fairly mundane experience but I find it oddly calming and enjoyable. I love to read and so stretching out on my bed with a good book is always a pleasant experience, made all that much more so by the occasional glance out the window at the land rushing by.



Comfortably stretched out in my roomette


Snowy plains of eastern Montana


Leaving the Rockies behind


Sunset in Nort Dakota, eh…


The rest of the day passed by pleasantly – if not surprisingly quickly. Many people fear the prospect of boredom on a long one or two day train ride but honestly, if you’re comfortable with social interaction and/or can entertain yourself by whatever means – be it a good book, some good music or perhaps just sitting quietly while enjoying the passing scenery – you should be able to have a good go of it and hopefully come away with good memories of the trip.

When I awoke the second and final morning of the journey, we were sitting in the station at St. Paul, Minnesota. I had not totally closed the curtains on my window and was mildly surprised to see people wandering around just outside, as in like, two feet away. Thankfully none of them paused to peer inside – at least not while I was conscious – so I shut the curtains, sat up and threw on some lounge pants to pay a visit to the bathroom.

Uh oh! I had only managed to stand about halfway up when I was struck with a sudden sharp pain in my right buttock and lower back. I tried to stand again. Same response. It was bad. I could not stand all the way up. My neighbor across the way noticed my distress and asked if I needed some help. Normally I’m used to looking after myself and would be loath to accept any kind of assistance and so initially I held off, thinking I could eventually work it out. It wasn’t happening though and so I accepted his help. He led the way and I followed behind using his shoulders for support. Once I was in the bathroom there were plenty of handholds and handles available, so I had no problem there.

Thankfully, the gentleman across the hall who’d helped me out was kind enough to also help me back to my roomette, after which he went upstairs and brought me back a cup of coffee from the service center. I used that to wash down a Vicodin, and then a bit later another half of one. That was a big help and finally I was able to stand up on my own, get fully dressed and slowly make my way to the dining car. I barely made last call for breakfast and as such once again ended up with a table to myself. Thankfully, someone had left a copy of that morning’s Minneapolis Star Tribune in the dining car and so I had a chance to catch up on the news and sports while the misty Mississippi River provided a beautiful backdrop out my window.



Morning on the misty Mississippi


Cell phone service is available over most of the trackage of all Amtrak routes in America, so I called my neurosurgeon in Colorado and explained my predicament. Thankfully he was able to send a six-day med-pack of Methylprednisolone, a strong steroidal medication that I’d be able to pick up later today upon my arrival in Chicago. Oh thank God! Until then I was thankful to have some pain medication and ibuprofen available to help me get by.

It’s worth noting that two nights earlier I’d crashed and burned on the sidewalk in Seattle. I have a bit of a right foot drag and the muscles in my feet have begun to get progressively weaker as well. I had just alighted from the bus and was walking down the sidewalk when I caught an uneven crack. It’s not like this hasn’t ever happened before – I should have known better. Every step’s an adventure and has been for a while. I hadn’t fallen in a good three months or more but am pretty good at falling these days and so escaped with little more than a skinned knee, torn pants and some bloody knuckles. Even so, I can’t help but wonder if the shock of the event may have exacerbated ongoing issues in my lower back that presented themselves this morning.

Either way – don’t worry about me. I’ve got yet another surgery scheduled in early December and the way I see it, there are a lot worse things I could be suffering from. I mean, imagine dealing with depression or any mental illness or something like cancer. Me – my situation doesn’t sound good relative to normal healthy people but I’ve been living with it for years and progressive or not, I’ve got things to do and places to be. I don’t have time for this stuff so it’s damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. Life is good! I mean, look at this trip I’m on! Who gets to do stuff like this? Or even wants to? For sure a trip like this wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea, but for a railfan like myself it is one of the most enjoyable that I have ever been on.

Whereas some people might have cancelled the upcoming cruise on the Mississippi, I was convinced to have a go at it. Yeah, I might be gimping around with a cane and unable to take advantage of some of the shore excursions, but hey, I’m not dead yet. This is what I do. And when this pandemic is over, I’ll be looking to fly into Pittsburgh, rent a car and visit railroads in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland – but not before first going to the Seychelles Islands and taking a First Class trip with Rovos Rail between Capetown and Dar es Salaam. Life goes on. Carpe Diem! Now if only BA will keep a few of its 747s for just a while longer… (I am just one intercontinental flight away from having logged over 500000 miles aboard 747s of all variants.)

When we arrived at Chicago’s Union Station, arrangements had already been made for an electric cart to get me into the station and from there I was able to slowly make my way outside to catch a taxi for the ten block ride across town to my hotel. Thankfully a bit of onboard research aboard the train had revealed a drugstore only a couple of blocks from my hotel so I was able to easily pick up my waiting prescription along with a cane which I was going to need for the time being.


November 8, 2019
Southwest Airlines Economy Class ~ 737-700 ~ Chicago MDW to Memphis, TN ~ 200p – 345p

I’m not used to taking taxis and being shuttled about in wheelchairs but if that’s what I have to do, I’m certainly not too proud to do so. On a positive note, the medication that I picked up last night had an immediate and positive effect on my recent pains and while it didn’t totally eradicate them, it made getting up and around quite a bit easier from my low point on the train yesterday morning.

I rarely fly out of Midway and indeed would have preferred to bank a few miles and enjoy lounge access by taking American out of O’Hare. Then again, Southwest was offering a $59 fare down to Memphis while American’s offering was nowhere near that, so Southwest out of Midway it is.

In the decades before O'Hare International Airport opened, Midway was the world's busiest airport. At its peak in 1959 it served 10 million passengers. O'Hare Field opened in 1955 and, with its longer jet capable runways, gradually took over as the number one airport out of Chicago. By 1961 passenger traffic through Midway had plummeted 60 percent and through much of the 1970s and 80s it was practically a ghost town with just a handful of DC-9s and 727s passing through.

Deregulation of the airline industry helped resuscitate the beleaguered airport with the emergence of Midway Airlines. It became the airport's flagship, supplying more than half of its passenger volume by 1990. American Trans Air and Southwest later established hubs at Midway and as of today Midway is Southwest’s largest hub.

Check-in went smoothly and I was more than happy to accept wheelchair assistance down to the gate, especially since the gate was about as far from the counter as one could possibly get. When it comes to gates, this seems to be the story of my life of late. Southwest was even kind enough to save me an aisle seat.

As for the flight, what’s there to say? An hour and a half flight, a comfortable seat, a glass of ginger ale and a bag of peanuts. All for $59. Therein lies the essence of Southwest. Good quality, inexpensive travel with great people and comfortable airplanes without all the hoops one has to jump through with the legacy carriers. If I didn’t live in Alaska and only flew now and then for the odd wedding or vacation, Southwest would very likely be my go-to carrier. A true American success story. Well done, Southwest!

My hotel for the night was the Sheraton Memphis Downtown. The hotel room was an included part of my cruise fare and of course I enjoyed the convenience of boarding a buus directly from the cruise to my waiting riverboat the next morning. In the meantime, I enjoyed a couple of beers at the bar, had a nice barbecued ribs dinner and slept well on the nice mattress provided in my comfortable room.

Seat 2A

November 9, 2019
American Cruise Lines ~ Single Room with Balcony ~ Queen of The Mississippi
Memphis, TN to New Orleans, LA ~ 130p – 800a(November 16th)

Although I awoke to a clear sunny morning, it was not as warm as it looked outside. Temperatures were in the fifties and rather amazingly, snow flurries were forecast for the Memphis area later in the week. Funny how when most of us envision cruises, we envision sunshine and warm weather and, given that most cruises this time of year are in the Caribbean or Mexico, those sunny scenarios are generally true. Not so much when you’re cruising on the continent though…

My cruise today is down the Mississippi River – a seven day journey aboard a paddle wheeler named the Queen of The Mississippi with a total passenger occupancy of just 150. Compared to the 2600 passenger Star Princess, I think this boat will be much more to my liking. The Queen has a total of 78 staterooms, all outside and 66 of them with balconies.



The Queen of The Mississippi
Picture courtesy of American Cruise Lines


The Queen of the Mississippi Layout
Picture courtesy of American Cruise Lines


Back in the late 1970s I went to a seminar put on by the Delta Queen Steamboat Co. It was a most impressive presentation and I was quite taken with the size of the company’s two paddle wheelers and the beauty of their furnishings. They had beautiful dining rooms, lively bars and even a swimming pool. There were multiple ports of call along the way and of course in between those you had the beautiful scenery along the shoreline as opposed to endless miles of ocean as you’d have with a cruise. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise down an American river. It should be noted here that river cruises have been around for years over in Europe, but unlike the U.S., there are no paddle wheelers over in Europe. Indeed, the European boats I’ve seen look more like luxurious barges.

River cruising here in America is a lot more expensive than hopping on a big ocean liner for a week’s cruise around the Caribbean or Hawaii. The only reason I finally bit the bullet and decided to pay out nearly $6700 for this one week river cruise was that I’d just sold a property up here in Alaska and – what can I say? It was an impulsive, spur of the moment decision. I had a bunch of discretionary income on hand, over the past three or four months I’d been seeing all these ads for American Cruise Lines in a magazine to which I subscribe and, what the heck – it just felt like it was time to finally do it!

And so here I am along with about one hundred fellow cruisers standing in the lobby of the Memphis Sheraton while awaiting bus transport down to the Mississippi River where our boat awaits. There were three busses parked outside and soon we were on our way to the river.

Prior to this morning, I had envisioned our boat being pulled up alongside some well-established dock. I had imagined there’d be a large departures area, maybe a big deck with some type of a formal ramp leading onto the boat. I didn’t have long to ponder as it was only about a ten minute ride to our waiting boat.



Boarding the Queen


Whoa! I definitely wasn’t expecting this! What a change from last week’s boarding of the Star Princess! The Queen of The Mississippi was pulled up to the bank of the mighty Mississippi as easily as a rowboat might have pulled ashore for an afternoon picnic. I was impressed! Is there anywhere this boat can’t go?

The medication I’d been prescribed two days earlier definitely made getting about easier, but by no means was I pain free. Additionally, one of the long term problems I’ve faced with my condition is a right foot drag. Some days are worse than others and on uneven ground, every step is an adventure with potential for misadventure. As such, I was thankful for the presence of electric carts to assist in getting those of us who needed a bit of extra help to the boat.

You know, I’ve never taken advantage of early boarding at airports. Even though I’ve walked with a limp for some time now, I’ve always felt like I get around well enough that I didn’t need to take advantage of that. If anything, I would have felt more old and decrepit had I done so. Not so, today. Today, I can definitely empathize with those who utilize these services. At the same time, I look forward to once again being able to get around to the point where I can make do without these extra services.

As our bus approached the river, I got my first view of The Queen. I cannot imagine a prettier or more fitting departure point for our boat. This was much nicer than boarding from some large established building. I loved the simplicity of our boat sitting all alone at a pretty river landing with a nice shade tree to provide contrast. As for the shade, we really didn’t need it. Remember, temperatures were only in the fifties with snow flurries on the way later in the week.

Stepping onboard, I was greeted cordially by a crew member and informed that my room – a single with balcony – would be on the level above, the last one down on the left. I had dropped off my roll-a-bord with a cruise representative at the hotel in Memphis and was told it would be delivered directly to my room onboard the boat. Below is a floorplan for the Queen. My room was #203, right next door to the Magnolia Lounge.



Floorplan for the Queen of the Mississippi


Halfway down the hallway was an open foyer with an elevator to access the upper levels. On a nearby wall was a plaque commemorating the Queen’s construction seven years earlier. As for the elevator, I took an immediate liking to it. When I pushed the button, the doors opened quickly, closed after a reasonably short period of time and ascended smoothly to the level above. I can’t stand those super-slow elevators like they have in the concourse C/D Alaska Lounge in Seattle that take forever to open, close and go anywhere.



Certificate of Construction


I was thankful for handrails that ran the length of the hallway. Those, in addition to my new cane, made getting around fairly easy. The door to my room was open when I arrived and inside I found a folder of information as well as two door keycards. I was immediately impressed with the size of the room as well as the natural daylight flooding in and the spacious balcony with its nice wrought iron table and chairs.



My home for the next seven days


Spacious balcony


Promotional material published by American Cruise Lines claims that the Queen of the Mississippi has on average the largest staterooms of any boat of its type. This includes ocean going cruise ships. To be sure, the wide angle lenses used to photograph most rooms for brochure purposes can make a broom closet look like a ballroom, but on the whole I was pleased with the space afforded me in cabin #203. The bed was reasonably firm and comfortable. The same held true for the pillows. I can’t stand super soft pillows. The bathroom was spacious and included a nice sized walk-in shower – my favorite! There was a decent sized desk with a Coffee Maker (Keurig style) and a small flat-screen television with about a dozen channels. Very nice. I can definitely make do here.

For those of greater means who require a bit more space, the Queen has some lovely suites. Imagine yourself with this as your home base while cruising the waterways of America…



Where the really well-to-do get to stay


Keep in mind it was still fairly early in the day. Our busses departed the hotel at about 10:30am and now, as I stood here admiring my new home, the time was just approaching 11:00am. Departure time was scheduled for 1:30pm. In the meantime, a nice welcome reception was being held next door in the Magnolia Lounge. It’s worth noting that at the time I booked this trip I got the last single cabin with balcony available. I had expressed concern about the proximity of the Magnolia Lounge but was told that the cabins are very well insulated and that the people that typically booked cruises on the Queen tended to call it a night fairly early. To be sure, most people on this cruise looked to be in their 60s and 70s, but then hey – 70 is now the new 50, n’est ce pas? I was thankful to discover that the claims of good insulation were accurate though. Despite the growing crowd in the Magnolia Lounge, when my door was closed I could hardly hear a peep from them.

So then, let’s head next door to the lounge and join the festivities.



The Magnolia Lounge


The Magnolia Lounge
This large television was a popular spot for Sunday evening’s football game


Crew members circulated amongst us with trays of hot hors d’oeuvres. At various stations around the lounge were attractively stocked trays of salmon with capers and onions. Other locations offered vegetables with dips and crackers with cheese. In the corner an open bar served everything from beer to bourbon to Beaujolais. I was happy to see that the bar stocked Abita, a tasty beer out of New Orleans. It had been years since I’d last had one so it was nice to reacquaint with an ice cold pint glass. I then found a seat and enjoyed the Dixieland type jazz being played by a small ensemble set up in the front of the lounge.



The Beal Street Strutters


While enjoying the music, I took a few moments to check out the day’s activity sheet:



Day One: The plan for the day


Lunch was available from 12:00n to 1:30pm. There were no set seatings or table assignments. With capacity for only one hundred passengers, we could show up whenever we wanted to and there would be plenty of seating available. There were also plenty of tables, so those desiring to dine on their own either singularly or as a couple or group could usually do so.



Queen of The Mississippi Dining Room
Picture courtesy of American Cruise Lines


I’d been chatting with a couple from Tulsa, Oklahoma as we were listening to the band and munching hors d’oeuvres. Once 12:00n rolled around, we decided to go in and check out the offerings. Although I’m usually pretty good with my notes, somehow the man’s wife’s name escaped me but I remember that his name was Lowell and he owned a construction business in Tulsa. This was he and his wife’s second time cruising with American Cruise Lines. Their first cruise was on the Ohio River from Pittsburgh down to Cincinnati.

As I mentioned, seating was pretty casual. Just walk right in and find yourself a table. Menus had been set at each place setting and shortly after we’d sat down a server arrived with water and a basket of bread rolls. Good bread rolls, too! Well alrighty then, let’s check out that menu!



Luncheon Menu Day One


Our server indicated that there was an additional entrée choice, barbecued pulled pork atop macaroni and cheese. Whoa! That’s some serious comfort food there. But hey – we’re in Memphis where barbecue is a big deal, so that’s what I decided to go with.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised that the menu wasn’t a bit more extensive but I guess with a smaller boat comes a smaller kitchen and cold storage facilities. That said, with soup, salad and an entrée choice there was more than enough to eat each meal. On the whole I’d say all of the meals on this trip were good but not gourmet. Some of the evening appetizers seemed gourmet at times but the main meals seemed more on par with what you’d expect at a good local everyday restaurant.



Barbecued pulled pork atop macaroni and cheese


It came to me! Lowell’s wife’s name was Pam! It’s weird how that can happen – sometimes months after the fact. Anyway, we had a good chat, exchanging travel stories and wished for future destinations. And, talk about coincidences, we had both ridden across the breadth of Australia aboard the Indian Pacific. I have done it twice – once in First Class back in 1988 and once in Economy in 2005. Lowell and Pam had ridden it more recently – about five years ago – and had traveled in Gold Kangaroo Class a.k.a. First Class. From their descriptions the onboard product and service was very nice – considerably nicer than my experience in 1988. But then, back in ’88 I snagged a large shower equipped room to myself for the special rate of just $350.00 or there about whereas their transit had cost them over $1500 each.

The comparisons continued when it turned out we’d also both been to South Africa and Namibia, though their trip included a wonderful sounding safari through Kruger National Park with a side trip up to Victoria Falls. I’m still waiting to get to Victoria Falls, and I want to do so on the train from Bulawayo. Someday… after we get past this virus…

Departure time from Memphis was scheduled for 1:30pm and by the time we decided to break from lunch, departure was imminent. Lowell, Pam and I said our goodbyes, looking forward to meeting again later in the trip. I headed back to my room to watch our departure from the perspective of my balcony. Alas, it was nowhere near as formal as the Star Princess’s departure from Canada Place just one week ago, but it was still cool to power out into the main current of the mighty Mississippi.

The very beginning of the trip is always such an exciting part of it for me. When flying in International First Class it comes once you’re finally airborne and you’ve adjusted your seat to a comfortable position. You’ve gratefully accepted that first glass of your favorite libation and can now begin to truly relax and unwind. As your First Class cabin crew moves unobtrusively about the cabin delivering drinks and taking meal orders, from the galley come the faint clinks of glass and cutlery as the promise of the wonderful inflight service ahead begins to be realized. Ah… Taking another sip from your drink, you gaze out the window and revel in the wonder of it all… Ah… it’s a good life, indeed.

Here on the Queen of the Mississippi, while my accommodations were not quite the same as a First Class suite, sitting out on the balcony and watching us pull away from the shore was a perspective unavailable from an airplane. Seeing the magnificent Mississippi River and the quaint small towns along the way from the perspective of a grand river boat is a special experience and knowing that I had another seven days of relaxation and fine service to look forward to also contributed to an overall sense of excitement.



Cruisin’ on the Mississippi
Picture courtesy of American Cruise Lines


Although the passing scenery of the lower Mississippi is not particularly dramatic (If you want dramatic, do the Columbia and Snake River Cruise) it was a pleasant experience as we glided along under brilliant blue skies, enjoying the peace and tranquility of the passing scenery. Occasionally we’d encounter long barges with several units in tow, plying their way up or down the River. These barges were interesting and entertaining in their own right, some pushing up to 5 or 6 units! I found it doubly interesting from the perspective of my considerable experience rafting western rivers. Most of them out west can be thought of in terms of recreation whereas here on the Mississippi, the river was more one of commerce. Indeed, I don’t recall seeing even one pleasure boat or craft during the entire trip.

At 2:15 pm there was a Shore Excursion Briefing in the Magnolia Lounge where ship personnel explained the many different excursions offered during our 7-day cruise, most being complimentary with only a few being available for a fee, usually about $35. We were given a schedule of all shore excursions and asked to indicate our choices, keeping a copy for our personal reference.

Were it not for the recent escalation of pain in my lower back and legs, I would love to have taken advantage of most of these excursions. They offer a great opportunity to see what southern living is all about both past and present, the latter being served by plenty of time to walk about and explore the towns we stopped at if you so choose. Additionally, there were often walking tours offered, another great way to get some exercise while also exploring the surrounding environs. Indeed, I would say that the opportunity to explore and learn about the South would have to be the highlight of this cruise for most people because the riverside scenery, while verdant, was otherwise fairly bland. Additionally, given the sheer size of the Mississippi – over a half mile wide in some areas – the shoreline is often fairly distant.

That said, as experienced readers of my reports all know by now, I’m into the actual travel experience every bit as much as the destination - sometimes more! – so even though I’m unable to take advantage of most of the shore excursions, I’m perfectly happy just enjoying shipboard life while cruising down the Mississippi.



Afternoon Delight


Soon after the Shore Excursion Briefing had concluded, we had a brief break before the afternoon’s next scheduled activity, a presentation called “Meet The River” with historian Mike Link, a retired history professor and still president of the Northern Minnesota Audubon Society. This was one of the daily presentations available discussing everything from the history of the river to the geology and biology of the region. Additionally, there were talks about the South and its unique history – including that of the Civil War as seen from the perspective of our other guest speaker who just happened to be the great great grandson (I might’ve missed a great in there!) of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. For me these talks were a much enjoyed benefit of this cruise, and I think a good number of the other passengers shared my enthusiasm as well.

As to the make-up of those other passengers, I’d say at least half of our total was comprised of British tourists associated with a tour operator called Noble Caledonia. According to its website, Noble Caledonia is generally recognized as being the leading small ship cruise specialist in the UK. Its stated purpose is ”to provide a unique, interesting and educational travel experience; a journey shared with like-minded travelers”. Given the structure of this week long cruise down the lower Mississippi River, I’d say they’ve delivered on that promise in spades.

Be that as it may, small ship cruising does come at a price considerably higher than a similar week long cruise aboard a large cruise ship. Again, allow me to quote from Noble Caledonia’s webpage which describes the hoped for cruise experience quite nicely:

“Noble Caledonia’s raison d ètre, has from our earliest days been to offer varied cruises on vessels of a certain style and size. Such small ships allow us to create itineraries and an onboard ambiance that is conducive to exploring the world and learning of its wonders in the company of like-minded travelers. It is our view that the best way to achieve this ideal is to limit the number of passengers to such a size that allows the camaraderie to grow between passengers thereby creating a warm and friendly atmosphere onboard. Small numbers onboard also allow the crew and staff to provide a more personal and caring service, something which is not feasible on larger vessels.”

I’ve heard it said that the Britain has five distinct social classes. If I understand it correctly, at the top of the order would be Aristocrats, comprised of the Royal family and people with titles such as lords or earls. Next level down would be the Upper Class, populated by those who are generally well off via good and/or well-paying jobs (Think company CEOs, etc) or even family money. Middle Class is next, including shop owners, white-collar professionals (businessmen and office workers), teachers and journalists. The list is long and varied. Below them are the working Class, comprised of those with no university or college education such factory workers and general laborers. And finally, scraping the bottom of the barrel would be the Lower Class, rather a derogatory term used to describe the chronically unemployed or homeless types.

Where this all comes into play was in my interactions with the Brits - All of the Noble Caledonia travelers that I met were seemingly well educated, assumedly well off and definitely well-traveled. On those occasions where circumstances conspired to have us sharing a table at mealtime, most of them were very nice although in some instances I did catch a whiff of occasional condescension, an unfortunate byproduct perhaps of having been steeped for years in that British class system.

How much of that perceived condescension might have been brought about by me and how I carry myself? I mean, I certainly don’t hide the fact that I live in a cabin without running water and I drive a bus in a national park for a living. College education notwithstanding, in some people’s minds those two aspects of my life would definitely knock me down a rung or two in perceived social standing. Add to that my penchant for sleeping in airports, hitchhiking and preference for staying in budget motels make me rather an oddity amidst people who generally comport themselves in a much different style at home and while traveling.

That said, should people ask I have no qualms about describing how I live and what I do and have done. If it’s a bit awkward for some people to accept, so be it. It’s not like I’m a criminal or anything. Truth be told, I’d gladly live my life all over again, health impediments and all. I feel blessed to have had such a fun and – to me at least – interesting and exciting life. I mean, who else do you know who lives in a dry cabin and just last week got a sweet deal on a nice Harris Tweed jacket at the local thrift shop yet has also logged fifteen flights on Emirates – all of them in First Class? So, on those rare occasions where I’ve encountered a whiff of condescension or dismissal as being irrelevant, I just row on. There’s seven billion people on the planet and most of them are pretty nice and interesting.

In any event, I mention this all not because I take offense – life’s too short to get uptight over such things, especially when they don’t happen with regularity – but rather to provide a bit of color to the tale of my interactions with people who were for the most part not only very successful and well off but were also quite a bit older than me.

One thing that might have cast me in a different light amongst some occurred on the first night during happy hour. Earlier in the day at the 2:15pm Shore Excursion Briefing, we were handed a pre-printed form asking us to list three things about ourselves that we’d done that probably nobody else on the boat would have done. Participation was not mandatory. It was just a fun little thing to add a bit of color to the onboard experience. The completed forms needed to be turned in the Purser’s office by 5:00pm and would be read off during Happy Hour in the Magnolia Lounge at 5:30pm. Here are the three things that I listed:

A. I have been to over 125 Grateful Dead Concerts
B. I have flown over 5.5 million miles on 202 airlines
C. I have not lived in anyplace that has running water since 1994

I do remember that when the Cruise Director asked me to identify myself and she then read off my list, the response amongst the fairly straight-laced assemblage was perhaps best described as stunned silence. Or was it polite silence? Perhaps I should have added that I’ve hitchhiked on four continents, spent over 600 nights sleeping in airports and read every one of Ace Atkins’ army Ranger Quinn Colson series books.

Anyway, given the age differential between myself and most of my fellow cruisers along with the general eccentricity of my listings, I suspect many of them probably didn’t know what to make of me. If I’d told them that I used to train people on airline computer systems (Apollo and Sabre), spent two years managing a travel agency and currently held Diamond Level status in Wyndham Hotels’ loyalty program, I’ve no doubt we’d have found much more in common but hey – where’s the fun and originality in those accomplishments?

Truth be told though, I enjoyed this cruise and met a lot of nice people of all nationalities along the way.

One of them was Mike Link, who was serving as the boat’s historian on this trip. Mike was an engaging guy who has authored 27 books and was able to dispense with his plethora of knowledge in an interesting and folksy style. In talking with Mike during Happy Hour, we discovered we had something in common. When I mentioned that I lived in Alaska and worked in Denali National Park, Mike mentioned that his wife’s brother used to drive buses in Denali. Really? Who was he? OMG! John was my neighbor in employee housing for five years. I’ve been down to visit him, his wife and two girls down in Seattle on a couple of occasions as well as having gone out to eat with John and his mom on a couple of occasions. John was the youngest in a family of five. Mike’s wife was the oldest. Sadly, John passed away at a young age from cancer just a few years ago. I still have on my music library in my laptop the playlist of a CD I once made for John comprised of his favorites. I later made a copy of that and mailed it to Mike.



Sunset on the river


A couple things should be noted here - Happy Hours feature open bars with complimentary cocktails and a large selection of wines, beers, and A nice assortment of hors d'ouevres. The appetizers were good, too. We’re talking trays of crudités, cheese and crackers, sliced sausages and other meat preparations – I had to make myself stop so I’d still have room for dinner. As for the drinks, normally they were complimentary during meals and Happy Hour but as I later found out, due to specifications for the Noble Caledonia group that included complimentary drinks throughout the trip, that benefit was extended to all of us.

Additionally, given that this is an American-flagged riverboat, the crew was all American made up primarily of college kids who were very enthusiastic and helpful but had little to no training. They would try to do anything that was asked of them but – as I heard noted by some of the more well-traveled Brits amongst us - they did not have the training to provide high-level service commensurate to the price of the cruise. Well, no doubt this was a very expensive cruise but the over-all service atmosphere was what I would call friendly American laid back. So yes, these kids were not what I would call “polished” with regard to how they went about providing service but they were all really friendly and respectful and I felt they all came across as sincere in their desire to be helpful. To that end, I can forgive a lot of technical mistakes in exchange for a friendly, can-do attitude.

Dinner was served between 6 and 7:30pm. One downside for some might be the fact that there were no dine anytime options onboard this boat. If you missed a meal or wanted to eat later, your only option was granola bars and banana muffins in the lounge.

At dinner I was joined by Mike Link along with David and Valerie from England. Here’s tonight’s dinner menu:



Dinner Menu


I ordered the soup, the seafood ravioli and the seared red snapper. Mike and David went with the prime rib while Val opted for the chicken breast. All of the food from appetizer to main course was very nicely presented, of decent size and of course taste. Over the course of the cruise I did hear some grumbling from a few people who, based upon the price paid for this cruise, had expected more or fancier food. While I could certainly understand and concur with their complaints to a point, overall I found the meals served to be tasty and filling. I rarely ever ordered dessert on this trip because I was reasonably sated after the appetizers and main course, especially at dinner after loading up on hors d’oeuvres at Happy Hour.

David and Val were on their first cruise with Nobel Caledonia, but they were seasoned veterans of North American travel. Their son lived and worked in San Francisco and they had traveled widely around the American West as well as New England and much of the east coast all the way down to Florida. This was their first time visiting “The South”, inspired partly by Val’s having read Paul Theroux’s book The South earlier in the summer. I’m familiar with Theroux, having read a few of his books, especially those covering his epic train journeys. I had no idea he’d written about the American South and made a mental note to add that to my book list. Both David and Val were looking forward to spending a few days in New Orleans upon completion of the cruise.

Mike regaled us with stories of his own travels which included walking around the entire perimeter of Lake Superior, a five month 1,555 mile hike that he did with his wife. One of his 27 published books is about that trip. It’s called “Going Full Circle” and is an excellent read. Of course I bought a copy when I got home and finished it back in December. The journey is told both from Mike's and his wife Kate's viewpoints and focuses on flora and fauna as well as the many different people they encountered along the way.

One of the most enjoyable parts of traveling aboard the Queen of the Mississippi was the nightly entertainment, which was varied and of universally good quality. It began each night at 8:15pm and lasted until about 9:30pm. It was a shame that it couldn’t have lasted longer, but as I quickly discovered most of the elderly passengers were off to be by 9:30 and so it wasn’t worth playing much longer. To be sure, you would never mistake the [i]Queen of the Mississippi” as a party boat. Me personally, I guess I was hoping for something in-between and as for the nightly entertainment, I could have easily enjoyed another hour or so. But then, I was definitely one of the younger passengers on this boat!

Tonight’s entertainment offering was a four-piece bluegrass/folk outfit that was pretty good. The songs were interspersed with some humorous stories about the background of the song or some aspect of the band’s personal history. I would have enjoyed hearing these guys again, but they were only booked for one night and would be disembarking at Vicksburg the next day.

Other acts included a singer/comedian named Judy Davis, a large black lady who was really good! She had loads of good energy with a lot of hilarious material interspersed with an occasional song or two, also quite good. On another night we had a wonderful jazz duo with a piano player and a trumpet player. They played really well off each other in addition to offering quite a bit of education about the music, its writers and some famous performers of each song. On our last night we were treated to a show by a trio of ladies called the Victory Belles, performing music of the 1940s much like the groups that entertained soldiers during wars of old. These gals were based out of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and apparently maintain a fairly extensive touring schedule. We were lucky to have them.

Once the music was over, the bar closed down. You were welcome to hang out in the lounge if you wanted to but with no bar, it quickly emptied out. After that the only food and drink available was coffee, soda, juices and a couple trays of snacks that included Sun Chips, peanut butter crackers, breakfast bars, etc. I would really have appreciated bar service – even a cash bar – until say, 11:00pm, but again, given the advanced age of most passengers on this boat, it’s easy to understand why this was not offered.

Returning to my stateroom I found my bed turned down and the drapes pulled. I looked on and under the pillow but alas, there was no chocolate mint. I turned the television on and watched a bit of CNN before switching over to my book and calling it a night at around midnight.


* * * _  _ * * *


Here is a picture I took of our planned itinerary for this cruise:



Cruise Itinerary


Although our scheduled arrival time into Vicksburg was 12:30pm, we actually docked there at around 7:30am. Shore excursions would not begin until 2 pm, which led me to wonder why they had scheduled such a late arrival time. I mean, it’s not like there was traffic or even any locks to be traversed. As such, it had to be a bit awkward for those who were up and raring to go to have to sit onboard the boat for so long. That said, people were welcome to get off and walk into town if they so desired, but since I couldn’t clearly see anything that looked like a “town” within eyesight of our dock, I suspected walking into town wouldn’t be so popular with some of the older passengers.

With regard to shore excursions, there were a good number of them available, many of them complimentary. Rather than type them all out, allow me to provide you a link to an excellent listing. Just click HERE and then be sure to click on the “Day by Day” tab and then click on “Excursions and Entertainment” at the upper right and you’ll get a comprehensive listing of the shore excursions available at each port stop. ] and then be sure to click on the “Day by Day” tab and then click on “Excursions and Entertainment” at the upper right and you’ll get a comprehensive listing of the shore excursions available at each port stop.

Meanwhile, back on board, after a nice hot shower I made my way down the hall to the elevator, took the elevator down one level and then made my way into the dining room. Breakfast is served from 7:30 am until 9 am and my arrival around at around 8:30 found the room already fairly full.

It should be noted here that when American Cruise Lines’ promotional material states that “Open seating dining allows you to dine where and when you want," it doesn’t really account for the fact that with only a single dining room and relatively short meal times, most passengers go to the dining room at about the same time with the result being that most tables fill up quickly and the young and inexperienced staff can occasionally become overwhelmed. Such was the case at breakfast this morning.

I found an empty seat at a table with four other people who were just finishing their breakfasts. They might have spent five minutes chatting with me before excusing themselves and leaving the dining room. Meanwhile, with the detritus of their breakfast service littering the table, perhaps the wait staff saw me sitting amidst it and thought I was just lingering over coffee. No one ever came over to bring coffee or take my order. And, once they finally did, my Western Omelet was a long time in coming. The solution would appear to be to arrive early on, but as I am not by nature an early riser, that never did happen as a result my breakfast woes continued. In this instance perhaps we might be better served by a breakfast buffet, something which I dutifully mentioned to my servers on a couple of occasions.

I might add that as a single traveler, this problem of arriving at tables while others already there were having, say, dessert was a bit awkward. Given the overall size of the ship, it might be unreasonable to add another dining room but I might recommend increasing the dining times for each meal by an hour. Then again, with the majority of the clientele being in the 70+ year old age group, it could be there’s no getting around the current system. Below is my not so unusual view dining alone – mainly at lunch – after others had departed the table.[/url]



Tasty salad and crawfish bisque


I generally did not take pictures of the food after the first day. I’m not shy about taking pictures of food from an airplane seat but somehow, when seated amongst a table of new acquaintances, taking pictures of each course seemed inappropriate, so I just left the camera in my room. This was good because I was able to then use my free hand to grab onto things for balance.

Anyway, at this point I don’t think it’s really necessary to go through a day by day accounting of my time on the boat. As I mentioned earlier, for most people a major highlight of any cruise like this would be taking advantage of the many shore excursions – especially given that most of them were complimentary. Unfortunately, given the recent worsening in my condition I was unable to do take advantage of most of these.

That said, I still had a good time aboard my floating hotel. I had a comfortable room, three meals a day, free booze and a variety of nice lounges outfitted with charts, maps, books, and DVDs for in-room viewing in which to sit quietly and read or just enjoy the pretty river scenery. Add to that the afternoon talks on everything from southern history to natural history and the occasional organized activity such as card games or – yes! What group of septuagenarians wouldn’t enjoy a rousing game of bingo?! Along with free Wi-Fi throughout the ship and all told, I never felt bored. There’s even a putting green is located on the top deck, along with a few pieces of exercise equipment and complimentary washer and dryers.



The view from the Paddle Wheel Lounge


Traveling overnight from Natchez, Mississippi n our fourth night out, we arrived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana early in the morning of November 14th where, after some expert manipulation in the fast-moving waters of the Mississippi River, our riverboat tied up to a new pier near downtown Baton Rouge. Our location was adjacent to the permanent home of the destroyer USS Kidd which is open to the public. An electric cart delivered me from the boat down to the dock where I was met by fellow Flyertalker jlemon and his wife Kate. We had a nice lunch in town before I was dropped off back at the boat while JL returned home to Lafayette, 65 miles away.

On our last day I felt well enough to take advantage of the afternoon trip to Houmas House, an antebellum plantation located just down river from Baton Rouge. One of the attractions was that this place had electric carts to assist in getting visitors around the grounds. Well then – sign me up! As it turned out, the Houmas House was more than just a simple plantation. It was a full on estate with numerous outbuildings, a restaurant and an extremely well stocked bourbon bar complete with a rather snooty but otherwise competent bartender. Check out these bourbon listings!



Bourbon Menu at Houmas House


Bourbon Menu at Houmas House


The Big House


Returning to our boat, I passed to grab a couple pictures of the pretty setting along with the setting sun.



The Queen docked at Houmas House


All Aboard!


Louisiana Sunset


The Victory Belles provided the entertainment on our last night out. I’ve always kinda liked 1940s music, but never enough to go see it live. Well I’m glad I did on this night because these gals definitely brought it to life in a rollicking and overall excellent show. Performing on board the riverboat has got to be a great gig for them as all they have to do is catch a short ride up to Houmas House, perform and sleep on board the boat and arrive home at New Orleans the next morning.



The Victory Belles
Photo courtesy of the WWII Museum


On my final morning, I awoke to find our boat already docked in New Orleans. I had pre-booked a shuttle direct from the docks to New Orleans International Airport, and that shuttle departed at 9:00am. I barely had time to grab a quick shower, finish throwing a few things in my daypack and make my way to the Magnolia Lounge next door where hot coffee, fresh muffins and a few of my fellow travelers were saying their goodbyes. I ran into David and Val in there as well as a couple of others who I’d met over the past week. Good byes and well wishes were all the rage and I was surprised that amidst this group of well-traveled folks, most everyone still seemed shocked that I would be back home in Alaska by tomorrow. Truth be told, I could be back home tonight if I wanted to take the red-eye, but my preference is and always has been to get a hotel in Seattle or Portland and then fly home at a more civilized, not to mention more scenic hour the next day.

Disembarkation went incredibly smoothly. We had been told to put our tagged bags out at midnight, and when we walked off the ship, our bags were laid out in neat rows on the tarmac. From there it was about a one hundred yard walk to the waiting bus and thus ended my nice week on the Mississippi.

In closing, the river boat is a great platform on which to tour the American heartland. Its ability to nudge up against the shore at just about any point and drop its bow gangway allowing shore access is unparalleled. The pace of life on the river was just right for me and over all I had a really good time.

That said, I do not believe I would want to do the Lower Mississippi again, even though I missed out on taking advantage of so many of the interesting shore excursions. From what I’ve seen of the Upper Mississippi while riding alongside it on Amtrak’s Empire Builder, I think I’d enjoy seeing that from the river. The river is not quite as wide up there and the landscape is more varied and hilly, less industrialized than on the Lower Mississippi. Additionally, the cruise up the Columbia and Snake Rivers sounds like a real winner as well. I’ll just have to wait until I get on a game show or win the lottery to do that trip in the style I’d like to.

On a final note, I think the concerns of some of my fellow cruisers about the quality of service and meals on board the boat relative to the price paid for the cruise are valid. I paid almost one thousand dollars per day for this cruise and although my sense of adventure and overall joy of travel allowed me to enjoy this cruise, I do believe that those who are expecting a luxury experience a la an ocean going cruise ship could be disappointed. For those folks, I would recommend one of the many excellent European river cruises such as those offered by Viking River Cruises.

And here’s one more bit of good news – Viking River Cruises will be coming to U.S. rivers soon!

Seat 2A

November 16, 2019
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-900 ~ New Orleans, LA to Seattle, WA ~ 630p – 925p
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-900 ~ Seattle, WA to Portland, OR ~ 1115p – 1203a

It was about 9:45am when the bus dropped me off at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Since my flight didn’t depart until 6:30 that evening, I rented a car and drove US 90 out along the Gulf Coast to nearby Gulfport, Mississippi where I paid a quick visit to the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum. I’d read about this place in the excursion railroad guidebook I’d purchased to plan the railroad portion of this trip. The museum has numerous model train displays in gauges Z through G in addition to LG scale riding trains. The model trains notwithstanding, perhaps the most amazing part of this museum is its LEGO displays. The Museum is the home of the largest LEGO railroad display in Mississippi but also on display are sets covering everything from Star Wars to pirates to Ghostbusters to the Taj Mahal and more. In all over two million pieces are involved.



Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum


I took the Interstate back to New Orleans, checked in my rental car and then headed inside to check out the new airport. I’ve been flying in and out of New Orleans since the ate seventies and over the years I’ve seen a number of refurbishments and additions to the old airport. Over the past couple of years I’d watched with interest as the new airport took shape. It’s located just across the field from the old airport terminal. When the new airport officially opened to the public just a couple of weeks ago, the total price tag was 1.3 billion dollars.

On first impressions, I’d like to think the city got its money’s worth.



Artist’s Rendering of the new Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport


Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Terminal
Photo courtesy of NOLA.com


Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Concourse Commons
Photo courtesy of NOLA.com


All of my lounge memberships notwithstanding, I had nowhere to go here at MSY given that the only facility currently available was a Delta Sky Club. Signage indicated a United Club would soon be opening and early in 2020 a Club MSY. For today however, I was plumb out of luck.

Doing the honors up to Seattle this evening was my old friend 737-990 N494AS. Truth be told, our relationship isn’t all that friendly as I’m trying to fly aboard every jet in Alaska’s fleet, so when I saw ship 494 taxi into gate C3 at MSY I was mildly disappointed. Alaska was the launch customer for the -900 variant of the 737 and currently has 91 737-900s in its fleet. This would be the sixth flight I’ve logged on this particular aircraft. If that sounds like a lot, consider that as I type this I’ve logged 325 flights totaling 422710 miles aboard Alaska 737-900s. I’ve flown aboard all but fifteen of them, with the most flights – 16 – having been logged aboard three different aircraft (N318AS, N319AS & N323AS). In terms of total mileage flown on a unique 737-990, that honor goes to N319AS with 21070 miles logged. In terms of total mileage, my most heavily flown jet in Alaska’s fleet is 737-890 N549AS with 18 flights totaling 27610 miles. In terms of total flights, that honor goes to 737-490 N767AS upon which I’ve logged 33 flights totaling 19220 miles. If you’re wondering how I could log so many flights and yet have less miles flown than some aircraft with less flights, consider that many of my flights aboard ship 767 were within Alaska, specifically on the 60 series flights operating the milkruns up through the southeast such as AS 065 SEA-KTN-WRG-PSG-JNU-ANC or AS 066 ANC-CDV-YAK-JNU-SEA. If you fly aboard AS 64 with three stops and four flights between Anchorage and Ketchikan, your total mileage will come to just 800 miles.

More than a few people have wondered why anyone in their right mind would willingly take such a long flight. Well for starters, if you’re going to Ketchikan you don’t always have a choice depending upon what time of day you want to travel. For me though, one of the great benefits of these milkruns down Alaska’s rugged southeast cost is that because the flights sectors are often so short (Petersburg to Wrangell is just 30 miles) the flights don’t get that high and so offer a wonderful air tour of the region. Check out a couple of pictures that I’ve taken from flights in this area.



Malaspina Glacier as seen between Cordova and Yakutat


Devil’s Thumb as seen between Juneau and Petersburg


Sensible types flying the nonstops between Anchorage or Juneau and Seattle would never get to see these views as nicely presented as this. Then again, they could probably care less so long as they got to their destination as quickly and comfortably as possible. I’ve got no complaints with that approach. It leaves more seats on the milkruns for weirdos like me to better enjoy the view.

The three letter identifier for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is MSY. It stands for Moisant Stock Yards.

Dinner this evening was a choice between a Butternut Squash Enchilada Casserole or Soy Glazed Rockfish. I’ve had the enchilada casserole before. It’s not a bad dish but I miss the flavor and texture of meat. Sorry vegetarians, but like the bumper sticker says – If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?



Soy Glazed Rockfish


That said, I wasn’t a big fan of the rockfish I was presented tonight. I don’t eat a lot of fish anyway, but when I do it’s usually trout of salmon. Aside from its bland flavor, the stewed/broiled apples accompanying the fish just didn’t work for me. Sometimes it seems like in an effort to please picky vegan and/or "healthy eating" types Alaska’s Inflight Commissary chefs are trying to get cute with an abundance of kale, arugula, those weird egg rounds and things like the stewed/broiled apples accompanying the fish. There are a few good dishes of course such as the Peruvian Chicken, but more and more they seem to be the exception rather than the rule - at least per my relatively omnivorous tastes. Anyway, you'll never please everyone in this regard and quite possibly I'm in the minority with my viewpoint on this latest iteration of Alaska's catering. It would be nice if they had some type of a compromise between one choice of "comfort food" (like a bacon and Tillamook cheddar omelette with fried potatoes, fresh fruit, and a Danish or muffin) and then one of the "weird" choices packed full of kale and arugula. But anyway, now I know with regard to the fish. Next time I’ll go with the Enchilada Casserole.

In Seattle we parked on the North Satellite – Alaska’s main terminal of operations here at SeaTac. As luck would have it my connecting flight down to Portland was departing from just two gates over, leaving me plenty of time to pay a visit to Alaska’s excellent new Alaska Club that opened above the North Satellite this past summer. This lounge seemingly took forever and a day to complete, but when it opened in July, it was well worth the wait.

In particular, I think it offers far and away the finest airline club bar I have ever been to. This includes bars at First Class lounges overseas. While they may have a better selection of spirits, none of them come close on craft beers – many of which are complimentary – or overall ambience. Check it out!



North Satellite Alaska Club Bar at SEA


North Satellite Alaska Club Bar at SEA


North Satellite Alaska Club Bar Menu at SEA


By the way, the reason why I’m continuing on down to Portland for the night is because I’ve come to really like the Rodeway Inn located nearby the airport. Additionally, I’m pushing for Gold status with Choice Hotels, not to mention MVPGold 75K status with Alaska. That I’ll accomplish next week with a final mileage run out to Boston, then down to El Paso, back to Boston and then home to Alaska. The week after that I’ll be flying down to Denver for a lumbar laminectomy in early December. As gimpy as I presently am, there’s no way I’m throwing in the towel. Life goes on and with it quality of life via those hotel and airline status achievements.


November 17, 2019
Alaska Airlines First Class ~ 737-800 ~ Portland, OR to Anchorage, AK ~ 1135a – 235p
Alaska Airlines Economy Class ~ 737-700 ~ Anchorage, AK to Fairbanks, AK ~ 310p – 405p

Another reason I really like transiting through Portland is that my Priority Pass membership allows me up to $28 worth of complimentary dining at Caper’s Restaurant, located in the commons area just beyond security for the A and B concourses. My go-to meal in the morning is either the Veggie Scramble or the Omelet of the day, served with toast, potatoes and delicious coffee. In the evenings they have a salmon and pasta creation that’s to die for. Each of these is well under the $28 limit and is one of my most cherished benefits of having the Priority Pass membership.

Luncheon on today’s three hour and forty minute flight up to Anchorage was a tasty Roasted Pomegranate Glazed Chicken. I don’t recall and apparently did not make note of the alternative entrée choice but no matter – that chicken was quite tasty, especially now that I’ve learned to like Brussel Sprouts.




Roasted Pomegranate Glazed Chicken


Following a short layover in Anchorage, it was on to the final leg of this two and a half month odyssey. As always, while it’s good to be home, I could just as easily take a few days off at home and then start this entire trip all over again, from trains to boats. If you haven’t figured it out by now, allow me to remind you once again of one of if not my favorite and defining travel quotes as penned by the author Robert Louis Stevenson:
...And so, as my journey now comes to an end – at least until next Thursday – so too does yours insofar as this trip report goes. Congratulations on making it all the way to the end. And Thank You as well. I believe this was my second longest report and while 60000 words doesn't compare to "War and Peace" it's definitely quite a long read. Here's hoping you enjoyed it!

Happy Contrails ================================>

And if after reading this report anybody should post “Great report so far! Can’t wait for the next installment!” I’ll take that as a clear indication from the masses that it’s probably well past time for me to permanently retire from trip reporting . Truth be told, it's gonna be a good long while before I write another trip report. What with the Covid-19 virus going full throttle here at home and the ability of not only America but the rest of the world to implement universally safe environments once an effective vaccine is developed, it could be a couple of years before I'll be heading off to any overseas locales. Ideally, once this virus is under control (By all indications, the virus might never be totally eradicated) I would like to fly off in style to Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands for two to three weeks of quality lounging followed by a trip on the luxury Rovos Rail train from Capetown up to Dar es Salaam. Hopefully BA might retain a few of its 747-400s because I am just one intercontinental flight away from having flown over 500000 miles aboard the "Queen of the Skies". Long live the Queen!

Seat 2A

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I’ve been receiving a number of requests of late for directions to more of my Trip Reports. Here they are with a brief description of the contents. Bored? There are over 1000 pages worth of travel reporting here. Just click on the highlighted title.


TWA FIRST CLASS DEN-JFK 1972 ~ The Good Old Days

What started out as a simple post of a menu from a TWA flight of 30 years ago evolved into a forum for many flyers to reminisce about their experiences from the “Good Old days” of commercial aviation. It's worth noting that in 1972 TWA's First Class service on the 3.5 hour Denver to New York flight was on par with what you'd expect in international First Class today. Really an amazing service!

FIRST CLASS ON AMTRAK’S COAST STARLIGHT

The Coast Starlight is the finest train in Amtrak’s system. Here’s my first ever report about riding this train from a First Class perspective

DENVER TO HONOLULU VIA CANADA IN 1976 (On a trip that was supposed to go to Mexico)

When I was in college, I inherited $3000. Whereas most kids back then might have bought a stereo, a car or a quarter pound of good weed, for me it meant Time to travel! After flying from Denver to Vancouver, I thought I was going to Mexico and had the tickets in hand to do just that. Two hours later though, I was booked into a First Class seat aboard a Qantas 747 and on my way to Hawaii. But that’s only the beginning. The journey continues on to Alaska, New York and back to Hawaii before finally returning home to Colorado at Summer’s end. Lots of good old fashioned First Class service which was vastly superior to what passes for "First Class" today.

DENVER TO ALASKA ROUNDTRIP via SO, TI, DL, AA, AS, WC, CP, PW and UA

Travels from Colorado to Alaska and back aboard a wide variety of airlines and aircraft. Five of the airlines no longer exist and most of the aircraft I flew on back then have long since been scrapped. This trip was a great way to start the summer.

EP's MILEAGE RUN ~ AN AMERICAN ODYSSEY

My first ever Flight Report here at FlyerTalk. A pretty typical jaunt back and forth around the country a few times, all in the pursuit of miles. Travel is on Alaska, American and Northwest. I had lots of fun writing this in the early days of Post-911 travel.

ALASKA AIRLINES FIRST CLASS ~ SEA-ANC

This is a continuation of the above thread, covering the last flight back up to Alaska.

SEATTLE TO ANCHORAGE ~ Detailssss

This is a spoof on some of the incredibly detailed Trip Reports some people used to publish at FlyerTalk years ago.

14 Flights, 17000 Miles FAI-SFO-MCO-SEA-MCO-FAI in First and Coach on AS & UA

My first mileage run with United was back in 1988. This was my final Mileage Run on United (for the time being) before many of its nicer First Class services disappeared for good.

ALASKA TO NEW ZEALAND ~ THE LONG WAY

One of my all-time favorite trips ~ First Class aboard British Airways for the first time, across to London, Singapore and on to Melbourne before connecting to Air New Zealand’s excellent trans-Tasman Business Class to Auckland and on to Christchurch. Over 20,000 miles of pampered flying in four days.

NEW ZEALAND TRAIN ADVENTURE ~ Christchurch to Greymouth Aboard The Tranz Alpine

Come with me for a ride aboard New Zealand’s Tranz Alpine from Christchurch across the South Island to Greymouth.

CHRISTCHURCH TO MELBOURNE WITH NZ & UA

The title says it all. This trip included an op-upgrade to Business Class on United’s 747-400 between AKL and MEL.

FROM THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC TO THE SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC

In the middle of my trip to New Zealand, I made a quick trip back to Alaska. Now I had to get back to New Zealand. Travel aboard Alaska Airlines, Amtrak, United and Qantas are highlighted.

TE ANAU to TASMANIA via DC-3, 737, 767 and 717

A surprise flight aboard a DC-3, hitching a ride with some crazy Germans, being mistaken for a famous marathoner, Business Class meal service aboard a 25 minute jet flight from Queenstown up to Christchurch, and fine inflight service aboard aging 767-200 aircraft across the Tasman Sea to Australia where a shiny new 717-200 awaits to get me down to Tasmania. This report has a bit of everything.

TASMANIA TO ALASKA - via FINLAND!

My first ever visit to Finland, but first I must get there – First Class aboard British Airways via Singapore and London, then an SAS MD-90 and an Air Botnia Avro RJ-85 (Bae-146-200) into Helsinki. Travel back to Alaska is in a First Class Suite aboard GE powered 777-200 to Washington, DC, followed by my first experience with Alaska’s First Class trans-con service between Washington DC and Seattle. The report closes with a flight aboard the 3000th 737 ever produced taking me back to Alaska.

VANCOUVER TO LAS VEGAS – via Plane, Train, Bus, Boat and Newfoundland

Starting in Vancouver aboard an ancient ex-Canadian Airlines 767-300, the journey continues across Canada via Toronto and Halifax and on to St. Johns, Newfoundland - the easternmost community in North America. Travel from St. Johns back to Montreal takes 51 hours and incorporates a bus across Newfoundland, an overnight ferry over to Nova Scotia and a First Class bedroom aboard ViaRail’s crack streamliner “The Ocean” for the twenty hour journey into Montreal. As if that weren’t enough, I then head out to the Montreal airport for Economy class travel aboard a pair of Continental 757s down to Newark and on to Las Vegas.

SIX DAYS OF WINING AND DINING ABOVE AMERICA AND CANADA

Seventeen flights on five airlines all over the continent, including one with Mary Tyler Moore. Lots of First Class travel.

NOTES FROM THE OVERFED ~ What's Cookin' at AS & NW This Month

Weekend breaks from my job in Alaska to take advantage of really cheap Mileage runs down to Houston and one Airline Collectibles convention down in Los Angeles. If you're wondering what domestic First Class used to be like in 2002, this report will provide a good historical record.

THE GREAT AUTUMN MILEAGE RUN OF 2002

The first of the big Autumn Mileage Runs ~ 34,880 miles around America on Northwest, Continental and Delta. Total cost to me for the airline tickets: $852.00. Total mileage accrued: 140,610 miles. Not a bad haul if I do say so!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ 2 weeks, 23 flights and 19790 miles around America and Alaska

Twenty three flights on six different airlines, including many dinner flights aboard Alaska Airlines First Class when Alaska's catering was so good that even other airlines talked about it!

SEATTLE TO HELSINKI AND BACK FOR ONLY $95.00

Back in November 2001, British Airways offered – either by design or by accident – a $20.00 round trip fare between any of its western US gateways to any city in Europe. Here’s how I discovered that fare and the trip that followed.

Further Ruminations on the BA World Traveler Plus Experience

A continuation of the above report

A WEEKEND JAUNT WITH NORTHWEST ~ DEN-LEX-DEN

A short Mileage Run taking the long way from Denver to Lexington. Lots of First Class upgrades and surprisingly nice service made this a memorable trip.

Further Thoughts on Coach Passengers Using The First Class Lavatories

What started out as my response to a debate at the Alaska Air Forum regarding whether Economy Class passengers should be allowed unfettered access to the First Class lavatory became fairly spicy with many weighing in with their views. For the record, I grew up flying when nobody from the main cabin was ever allowed in the First Class cabin.

DENVER TO SACRAMENTO ABOARD CALIFORNIA’S CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR

If you like riding trains, especially around the American West, you might like this report. It's one of the very few that describes what it was like to travel in economy class aboard one of Amtrak's long distance trains. I even get to stay in a mansion in Sacramento.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ 106,000 miles via plane, train, boat, bus, truck and thumb

106,000 miles of traveling via plane, train, boat, bus, truck and thumb through America, Canada, Alaska, Australia, Finland, a music festival in Florida and a Red Sox game at Fenway Park in Boston. First Class travel aboard British Airways between the US and Australia is featured.

FROM TUNDRA TO TROPICS ~ FAI - MIA in First Class Aboard Alaska Airlines

A weekend with nothing to do in Alaska turned into a round trip First Class jaunt down to the Florida tropics courtesy of a bump ticket from Alaska Airlines.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ In Pursuit of Bonus Miles

Back in Autumn of 2003, Alaska Air Group offered its Mileage Plan members a chance to earn 100,000 free miles. The catch? You had to fly at least thirty-five separate segments between October and the end of November. I did that and more. Lots of flights aboard smaller propeller and regional jets.

FAIRBANKS TO KALGOORLIE - THE LONG WAY

This report describes my First Class trip from Alaska to Australia via Los Angeles, London and Singapore, including a bump from British Airways’ flight out of LAX that resulted in my getting to sample American’s First Class Flagship Suites aboard it’s new 777-200 between Los Angeles and London. From Melbourne, the journey continues across to Perth aboard a Qantas A330-200, followed by a rail journey across the Western Australian hills to the gold mining center of Kalgoorlie.

FROM TASMANIA TO SOUTH AFRICA – In A Roundabout Way

Description of an eleven day journey that began with First Class travel from Tasmania back to Alaska via Singapore, London and Los Angeles. After running a quick load of laundry, it was back to the airport for a trip across the continent to New York where we'll relocate to a First Class suite aboard Cathay Pacific’s 747-400 back across the continent to Vancouver. From there Canadian low fare success story WestJet takes us into Edmonton where a First Class rail journey aboard ViaRail’s famous streamliner "The Canadian" takes us back across the Canadian Rockies to Vancouver. Thank goodness we were on time because six hours after arriving in Vancouver we're back in First Class aboard Cathay’s long range A340-300 for the thirteen hour flight across the Pacific to Hong Kong, connecting to another thirteen hour flight across south Asia and the Indian Ocean to South Africa. South African low fare carrier Kulula jets us down to Durban where we'll continue in First Class aboard the South African Railways’ “Trans Natal” back up to Jo’Berg connecting to the “Alcoa” down to Port Elizabeth.

WINDHOEK TO SWAKOPMUND ABOARD THE DESERT EXPRESS ~ Luxury Train Travel Across Namibia

A First Class all suite luxury train trip from the Namibian capitol city of Windhoek across the Namib Desert to the Atlantic coast town of Swakopmund.

FROM NAMIBIA TO NEVADA

Travel from Namibia by train down through South Africa where I fly my first ever A340-600 with SAA before returning to Cathay Pacific’s First Class from Jo’Berg back to New York via Hong Kong and Vancouver. A pair of American DC-9-80s deliver me to Nevada.

DENVER TO ALASKA ROUNDTRIP via SO, TI, DL, AA, AS, WC, CP, PW and UA

Memories from a 1979 trip involving a lot of airlines, aircraft and service standards that no longer exist today.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - 108,000 Miles Around America on Planes, Trains and Automobiles

A bunch or Mileage Runs with Northwest, Alaska, Horizon, and American wrapped around a drive from Alaska down to Montana, a First Class rail journey aboard Amtrak’s Coast Starlight and a music festival in Florida.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - Three Weeks of Mileage Running around America

Life aboard American, Alaska, Northwest and Continental Airlines during a mega-Mileage Run back and forth between Denver and Florida

FROM LARAMIE TO LONDON (and on to Melbourne) ~ First Class on AS & BA

Spur of the moment travel in First Class luxury aboard British Airways 747s from the US to Australia via London and Singapore.

MORE CHAMPAGNE, SIR? ~ Life and times in BA's First Class Between Australia and California

This trip starts in Perth with a flight aboard Virgin Atlantic to Melbourne. The journey continues from Seat 2A aboard British Airways from Melbourne to London to San Francisco.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: From the Top of North America to the Bottom of South America

Travel from Alaska all the way down to the very tip of South America via First and Business Class with Alaska and LAN Chile. Also included are accounts of luxury bus travel around Argentina along with a four day ferry trip down through Chile’s Inside Passage.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES: From the Bottom of South America to the Top of Australia

Continuing from Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, I fly fly a variety of LAN Chile aircraft (Business Class) through six South American cities back to Miami. On to Alaska for a change of clothing, then down to Vancouver Island for a 24-hour ferry trip up to Prince Rupert, BC. ViaRail's "Skeena" provides the transport over to Prince George, AC to YVR, then First Class aboard Cathay Pacific daytime flights to Hong Kong and Sydney. Virgin Blue to Adelaide is followed by a ride on the world's only South to north transcontinental train trip aboard "The Ghan" up to Darwin.

FIRST CLASS TRAVEL FROM AUSTRALIA TO AMERICA (via HONG KONG)

We'll commence our travels out of Hobart, Tasmania aboard a Boeing 717, upgrade to a 767-300 up to Sydney and finally relocate to a First Class suite on Cathay Pacific's A340-300 up to Hong Kong. The next day we'll continue on aboard Cathay's 747-400 across the Pacific to Los Angeles and on to Fairbanks, Alaska. Travel between Tasmania and Alaska does't get any finer!

FROM FLORIDA TO ALASKA via Planes, Trains, Cars, Ferries and Churchill, Manitoba

We begin our travels in Miami, Florida - flying to Denver where I'll pick up my truck and commence a long and round about trip back to Alaska. We'll head west to Utah's canyon lands before tracking north to Canada where we'll park the truck at the Kelowna airport and fly Westjet to Winnipeg. From there we'll board ViaRail's streamliner "The Hudson Bay" for the 38 hour journey to Churchill, Manitoba. A six hour tour complete with a distant polar bear sighting will follow before heading back down to Winnipeg and Kelowna and continuing over to Prince Rupert through winter weather. There we'll board the MV Taku to Haines, Alaska only to find that the 158 mile road up to the Alaska Highway is closed due to heavy snows. Relocating to Skagway, we barely make it over White Pass before continuing on through three fat tires to Fairbanks. Definitely one of my more memorable trips!

British Airways First Class Inflight Dining – The Trip Report

Descriptive account of First Class travel between Phoenix and Melbourne, Australia on British Airways. This means travel via London and Singapore. Lots of pictures of fine BA inflight cuisine.

FOUR DAYS AND 25,610 MILES FROM NEW ZEALAND TO HAWAII (via BA FIRST)

Why fly from New Zealand straight to Hawaii when you can travel in First Class via British Airways through Singapore, London and Los Angeles before connecting on to Hawaii via Northwest? If you agree this is a good way to go, read on...

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Around North America

Starting with a drive around the Desert Southwest, continuing on to Florida, Nova Scotia and on down to Mexico with First Class train travel through three countries and some flights on obscure airlines. A fun trip.

Dear Diary ~ Random Thoughts and Observations From Three Weeks of Flying Around America

The title pretty much says it all. This was a mega-Mileage Run

From One Extreme To Another ~ Adak, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina

Travels by plane, train and bus (Business or Executive Class most all of the way!) between Adak, Alaska (Located way out in the western Aleutian Islands) and Ushuaia, Argentina (Located way down at the bottom of South America)

LAN Business Class From Argentina to Miami

The title pretty much says it all. The highs and lows of Business Class travel on LAN Chile

Fast As Freedom On Good Wind ~ Travels Around The West via Air, Rail & Road

What could have been a simple round trip from Alaska to Colorado turns into a 10,500 mile adventure including a First Class ride aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr.

Further Tales of First Class Decadence as Experienced On British Airways

“Good evening, Sir. May I offer you something to drink? A glass of Champagne, perhaps?”
Welcome to the world of International First Class travel as practiced by British Airways. With all the attention being given to the next generation of First Class suites and services as offered by airlines like Singapore, Emirates and India’s Jet Airways, how does BA’s service stack up? Is it still worth paying the big bucks for? I’ll report on my recent experience and let you be the judge.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ From Alice Springs, NT to Tecopa Springs, CA

Starting from the Australian outback town of Alice Springs, we'll log our first flight aboard a Qantas 737-800 down to Sydney where we'll then pay a visit to the fabulous Qantas First lounge before boarding the first of three long flights in First Class with British Airways from Sydney to Miami, Florida. In London we'll visit the Concorde Room in the newly opened Terminal 5 where a sewage backup chases us from the Concorde Room down to ;the decidedly inferior Business Class lounge. In Florida, we'll take a drive down the Florida Keys before heading to Colorado where we'll drive across the Rockies to the Mojave desert community of Tecopa Hot Springs, located just outside of Death Valley National Park.

MY 1000th FLIGHT ON A 737 (And Other Aviation Milestones)

Have you ever wondered how many times you've flown? Or how many of those flights have been on a particular type of jet or airline? I've logged all of my flights since I was just six years old. Here are some of the more entertaining statistics.

Winter Wanderings Around America by Plane And Train

With temperatures dropping to -46°F in Fairbanks, leaving town to go harvest some miles seemed like a good idea. Come along on a one month trip around America involving eight airlines, one national railroad and a variety of First and Coach Class travel.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ Spring Travels Above And Around North America

Seven airlines, a couple of trans-con mileage runs and a nice mixture of First Class and Coach travel

Miles and Milestones from 2 Weeks of Flying Around America

From the Desert Southwest to the shores of Tampa Bay - and many points in between - this report covers flights on a variety of airlines along with certain milestones such as flying my 169th flight on Northwest, which just happens to also be my 250th flight on a 757 and my 4000th flight overall.

Tales From The Troposphere ~ Random Thoughts & Observations on 3 Weeks of Air Travel

Tales of travel all over America interspersed with schedules and reminiscing from flights forty years ago

6 Trains on 6 Continents ~ Connected by 44 Flights on 14 Airlines ~ PART 1

A fantastic journey incorporating primarily First and Business Class travel with premium class train travel. Part 1 covers First Class train rides in the United States, Scotland and Africa along with First Class air travel on Cathay Pacific. Flights with American, flyBE, Aer Lingus, Mango and 1Time are also covered

6 Trains on 6 Continents ~ Connected by 44 Flights on 14 Airlines ~ PART 2

The journey continues from Hong Kong down to Australia with extreme budget accommodations in Singapore and Australia contrasted with Premium Class train travel through Western Australia and Malaysia. Cathay Pacific First Class gets us back to North America followed by LAN Airlines Business Class down to Argentina where a ride aboard the third highest railroad in the world awaits.

Dispatches From The Railways, Roadways, Runways and Marine Highways of North America

Starting with a ride aboard the Alaska Railroad from Denali Park up to Fairbanks, we continue aboard a ferry from the Alaska Marine Highway from Skagway down to Ketchikan. A road trip through the desert southwest is followed by some mileage running with Alaska and Delta before relocating to Colorado for a beautiful autumn ride aboard the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad’s La Veta Mountaineer.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Traveling From -23°F to +27°C in Style

First Class all the way from the chilly climes of Interior Alaska to the warm and sunny city of Cape Town, South Africa. We'll fly from Alaska to Johannesburg via Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, then relocate to a room aboard South Africa's Premiere Class train for the 25 hour journey to Cape Town.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: From The Bottom of Africa to The Top of Alaska

It's a long trip, one best appreciated from the comfort of a First Class suite. We'l start with Cathay Pacific from Africa to the U.S. followed by a ride on Amtrak's Southwest Chief from LA to Chicago. A western road trip follows before finally returning home with an intermediate stop in Barrow, Alaska - the northernmost city in the U.S.

AUTUMN PERIGRINATIONS - 50000 Miles of Air and Rail Travel Around America

This one's all over the map! It's essentially a mileage run in bits and pieces all over the country. In between are road trips and train rides with visits to a couple of spectacular stations.

Wintertime Travels & Tribulations ~ Through The Last Frontier by Air, Land and Sea

One of my most enjoyable trips, taken in the dead of winter through America's northernmost state. After flying up to Barrow, its off to Sitka where I board the MV Taku for a 4 day sail down to Prince Rupert and back before delivering a car down to Denali National Park and catching the once weekly Winter Train back up to Fairbanks.

Not For The Faint Hearted ~ 82 Flights and 87830 Miles of Mileage Running

The title says it all - How to go from zero to MVP Gold 75K status in just 30 days while battling winter storms along the way. As always, this includes the usual road and rail interludes... along with lots of First Class air travel on Alaska Airlines.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Another Boring Trip Report on Cathay to South Africa

Starting with a springtime ride aboard the Alaska Railroad's once weekly winter train from Denali Park up to Fairbanks, we continue in plutocratic comfort in First Class aboard a pair of Cathay Pacific 747s routing San Francisco - Hong Kong - Johannesburg.

Cookin’ Up An Adventure: Traveling From Cape Town to Chicago in Style

One of my favorite trips to both travel and subsequently write about. Starting with an appetizer of First Class travel aboard South Africa's Premiere Class train between Capetown and Johannesburg, I offer a main course flying across the Indian and Pacific Oceans in First Class aboard Cathay Pacific before finishing with dessert in First Class aboard Amtrak's Empire Builder between Seattle and Chicago. Bon Apetite!

THE GREAT AFFAIR IS TO MOVE - Travels by Plane, Train, Boat & Car Around America

There's a little bit of everything in this one - a road trip through the desert southwest, a train ride in First Class aboard Arizona's Verde Canyon Railroad followed by yet another train ride aboard the famous Cumbres & Toltec Narrow Gauge Railway, the longest and highest narrow gauge railway in America. Then it's off on a road trip through Michigan's Upper Peninsula followed by a boat ride across Lake Michigan aboard the S.S. Badger, last coal fired ship still operating in America. Next up, a pair of Air Tran 737s deliver me to Washington, DC where I board a pair of Amtrak trains to Chicago and on to Austin, Texas. Delta delivers me to Florida where a ride aboard Amtrak's Silver Meteor awaits before I relocate to Colorado for a short road trip through the Rockies. The trip closes out with a drive around Washington's Olympic Peninsula including a visit to Olympic National Park. Definitely one of my favorite trips!

MY WEEKEND JAUNT TO CALIFORNIA - All 23000 Miles of it!

The analogy I like to use is that in the process of creating a good trip, I'm much like a full blown alcoholic after two or three drinks in that I then gain momentum and what started out as a weekend getaway eventually becomes a full blown three week, 23,000 mile adventure. Such was the case with this trip involving the usual collection of planes, trains and automobiles all over America. Here's hoping you enjoy reading about it all as much as I enjoyed traveling it all.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale on a SAAB 340 and other great flights!

After a while, I got tired of reading trip reports covering premium class travels aboard Star Alliance carriers. I've got to get me some of that! So I did a status match with United Airlines and embarked upon a 31 flight, 33000 mile mileage run all over the country. Many of those flights were in First Class and eventually I acquired enough miles to support my Business Class trip between San Francisco and Johannesburg later that year (Two reports down).

ALL ABOARD: A Photographic Rail Adventure Through The American West

My only photo report - three days by First Class rail from Denver, Colorado to Havre, Montana via the California Zephyr, The Coast Starlight and the Empire Builder. I was blessed with beautiful weather throughout which allowed for some beautiful photos from the trains. All aboard!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Spending My Hard Earned Miles on The Suite Life

How does 70000 miles of travel around the world aboard fifteen airlines sound? Those travels include four flights in First Class aboard Emirates along with some quality Business Class flights aboard United, Austrian, Turkish, South African, Asiana, EVA, Singapore and All Nippon. Also included are train rides in Portugal, Scotland and South Africa. In all, a 90000 word chronicle of the good life aloft.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Strolling Down Memory Lane Between London and Sydney in 1969

British Airways predecessor Imperial Airways used to fly 'Empire class' flying boats on an 11 day journey from Southampton to Sydney, Australia. Using the 1937 schedule as a guide, I tried to recreate this trip with schedules from a 1969 OAG. The beauty of this was lots of flights with exotic aircraft like VC10s, Convair 990s and Hawker Siddeley Tridents, not to mention a raft of F.27s. If only I could travel back in time... This is my attempt to do so - if only in a literary sense.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Alaska to Singapore and Back via Argentina and Dubai

After acquiring 1K status with United, my Mileage Plus and Mileage Plan accounts were well enough stocked to allow me to purchase First Class travel from Alaska down to Buenos Aires, then on to Southeast Asia highlighted by First Class flights aboard a pair of Lufthansa and Asiana 747s. First Class flights from Bangkok back to the US aboard Emirates close out this 8 day odyssey.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Seeing America from "See Level"

Trains are a wonderful way to travel and here in America we have some of the finest examples of long distance train travel combined with fantastic scenery along the way. This trip is all-First Class from New Orleans to Seattle aboard the City of New Orleans, the Southwest Chief and the Coast Starlight. Lots of detail and railroad history included...

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Goin' Where The Climate Suits My Clothes

One of my favorite trips! This one starts with a quick First Class jaunt to Hawaii, followed by First Class travel from Honolulu to Santiago, Chile with a brief break in the U.S. where a couple of great outdoor concerts and a 10000 mile First Class rail tour of America are thrown in for good measure. From Santiago, a Business Class award to Capetown, South Africa allows us to experience flights with Avianca and COPA along with South African Airways' excellent Business Class service between Sao Paulo and Johannesburg. In South Africa we'll rent a car for two weeks of exploring and close the trip out with First Class passage aboard Emirates from Johannesburg back to the US. Definitely one of my favorite spring time trips!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Breaking Through The 5 Million Mile Threshold in Style

Not many people have flown 5 million miles. It's a significant milestone - one that I wanted to cross in style. So, on 16 hours notice I put together a fantastic five day itinerary that included First Class on Cathay Pacific from Vancouver to New York to Hong Kong to Singapore followed by First Class on Emirates from Singapore to Brisbane to Dubai to San Francisco. I crossed the 5 million mile mark over the Java Sea, comfortably reclined in a First Class suite aboard an Emirates 777. Now then - on to the next 5 million!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: On The Run From Old Man Winter

An Arctic cold front over New Year's weekend with threat of high winds and power outages chased me out of Alaska and down to Northwest Illinois where I visited friends in Galena before driving to Milwaukee where a roomette awaited aboard Amtrak's Empire Builder across the northern plains to Seattle where more bad weather brought my train ride to an early end in Spokane. By the time I returned home after a week's sojourn, it was sunny and 10°F - much nicer!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Across Siberia to Southeast Asia, Fiji and the American West

This trip was months in the planning and worth every every bit of time and money spent. Starting with a First Class flight aboard British Airways 747 from San Diego to London, we continue with my first ever flights aboard a KLM Fokker 70, an Air Baltic CS300, LOT Polish Airlines, Norwegian Airlines and Aeroflot. From Moscow we board the Trans-Siberian where the finest possible accommodations await for the seven day journey across Asia to Beijing. Hainan Airways delivers us to Bangkok, after which I make my way to Denpasar, Bali in style aboard an Ethiopian 787-8 and a pair of 737s with Malindo and Batik Air. Following a three day respite in Bali, it's off to Singapore in Business Class aboard a KLM 777-300, then on to Taipei in Business aboard a brand new 787-9 from local discount carrier Scoot. A Business Class award from Taipei to Nadi, Fiji sees travel aboard Thai, Asiana and Air New Zealand. Following a few days at a wonderful Fijian resort, it's back to Taipei in Business Class with Air New Zealand, Air China and EVA. But wait - there's more! We'll check out the Business Class service on Japan Airlines' 787-8 up to Tokyo, followed by the First Class service on JAL's 777-300 across the Pacific and North America to New York. Making our way up to Boston, we then board a roomette across the country to Seattle aboard Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited, California Zephyr and Coast Starlight. A brief road trip from Arizona up to Colorado is next before finally returning home to Alaska just in time for another exciting summer in Denali National Park.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: From Colorado to Alaska in a Roundabout Way

After having flown over 190 different airlines, it's not so easy to find a new airline that also operates jets here in the U.S. - but find one we do, in style aboard a Dornier DO328JET from Denver to Sheridan, Wyoming. Then it's a bus through inclement weather in the middle of the night to Billings, Montana where I stay in my kind of motel before relocating to Seattle for a show with Dark Star Orchestra before heading east to Baltimore where the train takes us to the plane - in this case a First Class leather recliner aboard Virgin America's A320 to San Francisco and on to Seattle before returning home in First Class aboard a pair of Alaska 737s.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: From Connecticut to Alaska by Road, Rail, Air & Sea (and SE Asia)

The narrative for this trip starts in New Haven, Connecticut where I make my way via MegaBus up to Boston whence we commence a four day trans-continental journey aboard Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited, California Zephyr and Coast Starlight to Seattle. Then it's on to Denver and Los Angeles where a First Class suite awaits aboard Cathay Pacific's midday 777-300 departure to Hong Kong. The journey continues the next day - again in First Class - aboard yet another 777 down to Bangkok where we'll relocate to Bangkok's Hua Lamphong Station for a train ride across the border to Vientianne, Laos. Following a few days of bliss in Vientianne, we'll check out a pair of A320s from Lao Airways and Bangkok Airways before continuing on to Ho Chi Minh City aboard a Vietnam Airlines A321 (But not before checking out a variety of premium lounge options at Bangkok's airport). Japan Airlines gets us back to the U.S. in style via Business Class in a 787-8 and First Class to New York aboard a 777-300. A quick visit to North Carolina ensues, followed by First Class from Raleigh to Ketchikan, Alaska where we'll board the Alaska Marine Highway's MV Columbia for a two day sail up to Juneau before flying the final leg home to Fairbanks. What a trip!

FROM ALASKA TO AUSTRALIA : In Hot Pursuit of my 198th, 199th and 200th Airlines Flown

We'll start by flying First Class across the Pacific to Tokyo with Japan Airlines. The next day we'll continue to Kuala Lumpur in Business Class aboard JAL's new SkySuite equipped 787-9. At KL we'll pick up airline #198 - Uzbekistan Airways aboard a 767-300 down to Singapore. The next morning we'll head back to KL aboard Air Mauritius' A330-200 before heading up to Phuket aboard a Malindo 737-900. Finally, we claim airline #200 via a SkyBoss seat aboard a VietJet A320 up to Bangkok. Following little R&R at the Summit Mill Golf Resort, we'll relocate to Singapore aboard a Singapore A330-300. And finally, a First Class suite aboard an Emirates 777-300 proves a stylish and comfortable way to get down to Melbourne. This was a much more enjoyable way to get down to Australia than taking the late night nonstop out of LA.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Selling Postcards at Airline Collectible Conventions

We'll start with American's First Class domestic product between Denver and Charlotte (meh) before continuing on up to Philadelphia where a Business Class seat aboard AA's 767-300 delivers us nonstop to Amsterdam. Following a full day of action at Europe's largest airline collectibles convention, we'll board an Arkia A321LR from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay longer in Tel Aviv, but some consolation could be taken via First Class passage back to London and New York via British Airways' 777-200 and 787-9 aircraft. The First Class adventure continues aboard Alaska Airlines across the country to San Francisco for yet another airline collectible convention before eventually making our way back to Alaska via Denver aboard a new Frontier A320NEO. Unfortunately, a planned ride aboard the California Zephyr was cancelled due to weather, so First Class aboard a pair of Alaska jets returned me back to Alaska.

ON THE RAILROAD AGAIN: Trains, Planes, Boats and More Trains Around North America

dat4life

You know, I was thinking the other day I hadn’t seen a Seat 2A report in a while. Then I woke up to this today, and there went most of my morning. Fantastic stuff as usual, sir. Whenever this is all said and done, if you’re ever in Texas or Louisiana I’d be more than happy to buy you a beer or ten.

GLOBALFLYERCT

That was the most comprehensive trip report I have. read on FlyerTalk. Very enjoyable. Thanks for the efforts and the pictures. Having spent time in Vermont, CT and The Canadian transcontinental routes loved the memory jogging images.

Seat 2A

Whoa - it's a good thing I went back and checked out post 1 - my introductory preamble. There was a huge part of it that did not show up on the display and yet, when I pushed edit and checked it out, there it all was. The affected section started with mention of the Queen of the Mississippi riverboat and went through my description of how I came to include ViaRail's Canadian in the trip as well as the subsequent cruise between Vancouver and LA. On the screen the report resumed with pictures of the Princess suites. So, if you read this early on you totally missed that portion.

It was weird though - The above mentioned text and pictures were there, they just would not show up. As such, I think I found the source of the problem - the picture of the Queen of the Mississippi. Why or how I don't know but in any event I went ahead and removed it and all seems well.

Any of you reading this that have already read part one - you might want to go back to get a clearer picture of how the trip developed.

Sorry for the trouble there. I am gobsmacked as to how it came about or how to fix it short of removing that one photo of the riverboat.

theshaun

All those words, and I have just one for you: EPIC!

Thank you for sharing your adventures.

steveman518

Another lovely TR Seat 2A, words and all. I feel like with every TR my bucket list grows longer!

Seat 2A

Per dat4life: You know, I was thinking the other day I hadn’t seen a Seat 2A report in a while. Then I woke up to this today, and there went most of my morning. Fantastic stuff as usual, sir. Whenever this is all said and done, if you’re ever in Texas or Louisiana I’d be more than happy to buy you a beer or ten.

Thank you, dat! When this Covid business is finally past, I'd love to take you up on your offer. My partner in crime over at the Old Timer's Airline Quiz - jlemon - lives over in Lafayette. I've been down to visit him and his wife Kate on a few occasions. Houston's not too far to the west, and I've been meaning to finally fly into or out of Hobby. Can't believe I haven't already! Whereas JL plies me with fine wine and Cajun Bloody Mary's, a little beer might be a nice break Glad you liked the report!

Per GLOBALFLYERCT: That was the most comprehensive trip report I have. read on FlyerTalk. Very enjoyable. Thanks for the efforts and the pictures. Having spent time in Vermont, CT and The Canadian transcontinental routes loved the memory jogging images.

Thank you, GLOBALFLYER! Connecticut is almost an unknown gem, what with Vermont, New Hampshire and New York garnering most of the attention. I spent three years in school not far from Greenwich and had the good fortune to spend a lot of time traveling the back roads of Connecticut. It was particularly nice to get back on this trip. The Google Maps function definitely took me through some rural areas I would not otherwise have seen. I look forward to my next visit as well as another train ride in Canada.

Per theshaun: All those words, and I have just one for you: EPIC! Thank you for sharing your adventures.

Many thanks, Shaun! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Per steveman518: Another lovely TR Seat 2A, words and all. I feel like with every TR my bucket list grows longer!

Hey now steveman - if my TR's inspire anybody to do anything, that's quite the compliment. Here's wishing you well on your future travels and I'll look forward to meeting up with you in FT Fantasy Football if the season actually happens!

Duck1981

Sensational trip report - many thanks for taking the time to write this.

Being a train geek myself as my whole family was working for the German Railways I am always tempted to use the California Zephyr during one of my work trips to the US, but unfortunately it hasn't happened so far. Will do once though!

Greetings from London
D

roadwarrier

What an amazing read. Sitting here at home during partial lock-down on a cold Johannesburg day and I stumbled across this TR. Thank goodness I downloaded your great adventure before we lost power. So, all that was left to do, was to get some liquid libation, settle into a comfy armchair with two Jack Russels (my heating pads), and my laptop and be transported far away.

Your writing style really brings every situation to life and I felt that I was experiencing everything that you did - the hallmark of a true storyteller.
Thank you so much for taking the time to put pen to paper (in a manner of speaking), and sharing yet another one of your amazing tales with us.

Good luck with the surgery and I am sure that it will go well, and you will be back on the road pretty soon. Looking forward to your next installment!

Tocsin

I'm one that started reading yesterday, and have only just got to the end - so thanks very much for the heads-up on the missing bit in this post! Back I go to get through the preamble proper...

But before I go - many thanks for the report!

lb8001

Seat2A - I just spotted this and only read your preamble​​​​. It’s just awesome to have another of your TRs to look forward to reading. Thanks as always for taking the time to put this together and never apologize for the length or number of photos - these are so enjoyable every time.