Planning the trip
I love trains and for years I have been wanting to do an AMTRAK trip around the USA. Finally in 2018 I decided to go for it before I became too doddery to cope. I planned the trip with the help of an old copy of the Bradt USA by Rail guide which I bought years ago from Amazon and the AMTRAK website which has schedules. I wanted to see as much of the country as possible and do the most scenic routes. As I also love gardens and art, I wanted to stop in cities with good museums and gardens.
In January I bought an AMTRAK ticket allowing 12 train trips in 30 days for about USD 689. This was less than my plane fare from SA to USA and the route I planned gave me almost 12,000 miles or 20,000 kms of rail travel; crossing 33 of the 50 states of the USA and 12 nights’ accommodation (sleeping in a couch class seat). I booked seats on all 12 trains and accommodation for the other nights using airbnb before I left. I also bought myself a tablet to use for internet apps.
New York
I landed in New York early on 23 April, a lovely spring day and took the JFK airtrain to the Jamaica subway/metro station. There I bought a Metro card and a US sim card for my tablet at a kiosk ( much cheaper than the dealers inside the airport) and caught the subway to Penn station in Manhattan where I collected my railpass and 12 tickets and and stowed them safely in my money bag. No mercy is shown if you lose them!
Then I was free to enjoy New York and after grabbing a wrap for lunch at Penn station decided to walk the High Line and visit the Whitney museum. The High Line is an old disused elevated railway track in SW Manhattan which has been developed as an urban park/ walkway. I found it provided stunning views of many of the buildings,especially the new buildings going up in W Manhattan, and was a lovely way to walk to the Whitney museum which features American art and had several paintings by Edward Hopper one of my favourite artists.
Then I made weary way to Brooklyn where I was staying. I like Brooklyn, especially the part with the brownstone buildings, many enhanced by flowering magnolia trees at this time of the year.
Another sunny day and I walked to the Brooklyn botanical garden where the cherry trees were looking lovely. Quite a bit of the garden was closed for extensive renovations, but there was lots to see before heading down to Manhattan for a day of museum trawling; but first a bagel with cream cheese and a coffee from a street cart to enjoy in Central park, which was full of joggers and nannies.
I started at the Guggenheim, but although the building is stunning, I was disappointed that very little of their permanent collection is on display. They had a lovely Kandinsky. I then headed down to the Met. What an amazing place! There is so much to see that the ticket is valid for 3 days as they appreciate that no one can absorb it all in 1 day. I spent most of the day there and then popped into the Frick on the way home. What an astounding private collection. How wealthy those American collectors were. It reminded me a little of the Wallace collection in London.
On day 3 I visited the Brooklyn art museum in the morning as I had read that it had an extensive collection, but I was a little disappointed. The early afternoon saw me back at Penn station ready to embark on my first train trip – the overnight Silver meteor down to Charleston, South Carolina.
Read about Charleston and Washington DC
New York Gallery
