I am spending a few days...well more than a few days, at a conference center located just west of Baltimore, Maryland. Now, I could have gassed up the little Ford Fiesta and jumped onto Interstate 95 and sailed on down there in about four hours. However, if anyone of you has ever travelled on Interstate 95, you are fully aware that if nothing goes awry, the trip is a breeze. However, if there is even the slightest glitch in the journey: a back up on the New Jersey Turnpike, an accident on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, a jack-knifed tractor trailer on the Maryland road, any of these will have an adverse affect on your ability to get to your final destination with your sanity intact. My rule of thumb for driving on Interstate 95 is that there will always be a problem, so either be prepared, or find an alternate means of transport.
I did just that for this journey.
This is the third year I am attending a gathering of deacons from across the nation and Canada for a meeting at the Maritime Center for Technology in Linthicum, Maryland. I currently sit on the Board of Directors of the Association for Episcopal Deacons, and we have an annual face-to-face meeting and, luckily for me, the past three have been in this lovely facility outside of Baltimore. This is a training place for mariners and they have several graduate and undergraduate programs for the men and a growing number of women who are involved in the merchant marines and other seafaring occupations. This place has great technology related to the navigation and upkeep of various types of sea going vessels. It also has great meeting space, and the food is pretty good.
Now, I could drive or even fly, but I chose to take the train. I have begun to value the ability to travel by train between several cities along the east coast and have used Amtrak and others to go to and from Boston, Philadelphia, Williamsburg, Washington and Baltimore. The trains are basically clean, mostly quiet, and the Metropark station in nearby Iselin, New Jersey with its convenient long term parking at $8.00 a day, makes it an attractive and affordable mode of transit. I like the convenience of getting my tickets online, and the fact that I am able to travel "off peak" and am of certain age, makes the ticket even more affordable. Once or twice I have opted for business or "quite" class, but I have found that as long as I am not travelling during the "rush" hours, I can pretty much anticipate a relatively quiet journey.
I have also traveled by rail in Europe, specifically in England and Germany, and found it a pleasant experience. One trick is, of course, to limit what you are carrying with you: limit any luggage to a small roller type carry-on size with a shoulder bag to carry the important stuff. Traveling light is the key to travel success anywhere.
Study the routes and places you are intending to visit. Sometimes Amtrak will have "special fares" and if you are planning to go there anyway, you can take advantage of them.
The thing I like most about training it is that you arrive in the middle of the city you are visiting. No worry about paying an exorbitant fee to taxi it into the city itself.
So, don't dismiss taking a train to get to a nearby destination, you will arrive less frazzled and calmer than if you had driven from your home to your hotel.
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