NYC-Bound!

What a crazy week! I wrote this blog last weekend, with intentions of posting it and writing more, but here I am 8 days later, just getting it posted. It was a happy discovery on my iPad when I checked my blog and realized it's been nearly two weeks since I posted....

I'm writing this on a train, bound for NY City. It feels so romantic, writing from a train, and I feel as though I should have something weighty to express, but so far, nothing has materialized.

My husband and daughter have never traveled by train before, and although I'm hardly a seasoned traveler, I did take a few trips this way when I was in my 20s. I remember loving them, and being impressed by the grandeur of the Harrisburg train station and the bustle of 30th Street Station.
Today, we left from the Amtrak station in Lancaster, PA, which has truly seen better days. I imagine that it was beautiful some time ago, but now, renovations have made it dusty, and peeling paint has chipped away at its beauty.

When we got on the train, we had difficulty finding seats together, which got things off to a frustrating start, but once we were seated and underway, I began to remember why I had suggested this idea in the first place. And now that we have left Philadelphia, and I have upgraded myself to a seat alone, the romance has returned. Riding backwards now, I try to read the billboards and exit signs along the highway to get a sense of where I am before the conductor calls out the next station stop.

In my work-in-progress, two of my characters take a trip by train, and until today, I had to rely on memory and poetic license. It occurred to me as I stood on the platform in Lancaster that I could do some fact-checking, too, making sure that my details were in fact true for today's travelers.

And, when I got on the train, I of course checked the seat back for the Amtrak magazine, as Lori advised. I plan to leaf through that in just a little while, but right now, I have to check my phone. I think my friend just texted me a restaurant recommendation.