This may seem a crazy way to get the New Orleans, but I was wanting to do the most scenic routes and Chicago is the rail centre of the USA; many long distance trains start there.
The Cardinal
The Cardinal only runs 3 times a week and leaves Washington DC at 11am arriving in Chicago at 10am the next day. It was my third rail trip and is one of the routes which might get the chop, so go soon if you want to do the trip. It is beautiful as one first passes attractive farms on the way to the Blue Ridge Mountains and through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and then spends the afternoon travelling through the Appalachians (West Virginia ?) with the river running beside one and passing tiny old abandoned towns and holiday hideaways. I read that somewhere here is the bunker for Congress to decamp to in the event of a nuclear attack. At one stage a faint blue smoky haze obscured the mountains and I realized why part of this range are called the Smoky mountains.
On this trip I first became aware of the immense amount of rolling stock in the US, often parked on sidings beside the tracks. One can travel for miles passing stationary carriages.
Chicago
By morning one is in the flat farm land approaching Chicago. I noticed some windfarms which surprised me. I only had part of a day in Chicago so I walked to the Art Institute, which is one of the best art museums in USA with a famous collection of Impressionists. I was not well with a terrible cold and the museum was packed with children, which may account for why I did not appreciate it as I should have. I do recall walking into one room and thinking “What a hideous bunch of paintings”. and walking out again. However it does have many famous paintings including Edward Hopper’s Night Hawks and Seurat’s large Sunday on la Grande Jatte and an enormous Georgia O’Keefe of clouds seen from an aircraft. It also has some lovely examples of Chicago modern design, a collection of paperweights and a fascinating collection of miniature rooms in period design. Chicago has some exciting buildings and one of my favourite pics is a view of them from inside the museum.
Train Travel
I staggered back to the station to catch my 4th train, the 5pm Spirit of St Louis to New Orleans. This was the first time I had been on one of the Superliner “double decker” trains where the coach class seats are upstairs and the toilets and baggage storage is below. (Never any showers in coach class). They also have lovely observation cars with windows in the roof. Below the observation lounge is a cafeteria selling coffee, snacks, drinks (alcoholic and non)and some fast food -fairly dire. This is where I bought most of my food. I did occasionally go to the dining car, as the food was much better but also quite pricey. I was travelling coach class. If one has a sleeping car, one gets all meals in the dining car included, but sleeping cars can cost 4 times more, unless one gets a special deal.
The couch class seats are very comfortable and with practice one can sleep. There is a foot rest on the back of the seat in front of one as well as a drop down table and a socket to charge cellphones/cameras etc. One’s own seat can recline far back and has a flap one can lift up to extend it.
When I packed for the trip I was ruthless and limited myself to 7kgs in a small backpack and big handbag. I knew there were days I would have to carry my luggage around with me. I included a neck cushion, bedsocks to sleep in on the train and a small blanket and usually managed to sleep quite well especially if the seat beside me was free, which it was 80% of the time.
New Orleans
I went to sleep in flat Illinois farmland and was pleased that I woke briefly in the night as we arrived at Memphis Tennessee, the home of the King. The next morning I awoke to jungly vegetation and houses that looked a lot more like home – single storey. We travelled down close to the Mississippi to New Orleans where we arrived at lunchtime. The station is in the “modern” part of town where there are many high rise buildings, but wisely there are none in the heritage part of town.
I hotfooted it to my airbnb, dumped my pack, had a shower and set off to the heritage section, the french quarter. It reminded me a bit of Long street in Cape Town. Very touristy and a little seedy. I was just in time to visit the lovely chapel of a convent and then had a juice and beignets at the famous Cafe du Monde and listened to some lovely jazz; later had some gumbo soup for supper; took a trolley bus along the front and stared at the lazy big river (the Mississippi) rolling by.
Sadly I did not get to the Gardens district which has the pretty mansions, but I did walk past one of the famous cemeteries on my way to my airbnb. It could only be visited with a tour group and did not seem worth it. Later on my trip I met a couple who said they loved visiting New Orleans and the food was great and the Gardens district beautiful, so maybe I missed some of the best bits.
I was up bright and early next morning to catch the Sunset Limited to Los Angeles.
Read about the Sunset Ltd & Los Angeles
To New Orleans via Appalachians and Chicago gallery
