Blog 152 Days 25 and 26 of 30 Synopsis of the first 25 days.

Washington DC to Niagara Falls

This is the life!

Today is the 26th of this “unplanned” and unexpected return to North America primarily to attend the marriage my great nephew Reuben to his partner Ainsley both of whom I had the great pleasure of meeting in Washington D.C. during a “planned and expected” vacation two years previously.

I stayed in Washington D.C. for the first two days, and nearby Bethesda in Maryland for the next three days, close to where the ceremony, in the lovely Brookfield Gardens, was to take place.

My aversion to eastbound overnight transatlantic flights meant that I had 19 days to “fill” between the happy occasion and the next QM2 sailing to Southampton. There were not quite enough days to take the Amtrak across to the West Coast without it being all travel and little time in the places visited.

I am now on the last leg of what has become yet another journey of a lifetime. I am settled comfortably in one of those gorgeous single cabins on deck 2, close to everything, including the casino! The sea is calm, and the crossing is most agreeable.

It feels an age ago since I showed up at Heathrow Teminal 5, presented myself to a bewildered check-in person who directed an equally bewildered me to the Business Class lounge where a plethora of lovely food was on offer. Despite being a daytime flight, most of us opted to morph our wide seats into fully flat beds and sleep throughout an artificial night with the cabin area darkened. My lack of success pre-bookiing my Premium Economy seat proved to be unexpectedly advantageous. I remember, vaguely, the taxi journey to the hotel that I enjoyed staying at in 2022.

Next Stop Chicago.

My five days in Washington and Bethesda passed with indecent haste. Now, I was on my own with five Amtrak train journeys ahead of me. The first train ride would be an overnight 780-mile 18-hour run from Washington D.C. 16.05 hrs to Chicago, arriving on time at c08.50 hrs. We would pass through the Potomac Valley, past Harper’s Ferry and the Allegheny Mountains, calling at Pittsburgh, Cleveland (Ohio), and South Bend (Indiana) among other places along the route.

*The Main Hall, Union Station, Washington D.C.*

*Bed made up for the overnight journey on board the Capitol Limited.*

Chicago

*I ascended both the Sears (now, Willis Tower) and the John Hancock Tower. My guess is that this, and the next photo were* *shot* *from* *the* *Willis* *Tower*.

*Jay Prtizker Pavilion, venue for th*e Grant Park Music Festival..

*Corrine Bailey Rae*, *live at the Grant Park (Jazz) Music Festival.* *I was determined to return after coming across the* *Grant* *Park* Festival in 2022.

Buffalo, New York

After 4 nights in Chicago, the next train journey was to Buffalo, around a mere 20 miles from Niagara Falls. I would travel on Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited. I had just two nights, almost three days, to become slightly acqainted with a town I visited briefly in 1969. Fifty-five years ago, aged just 20, I was one of a party of 49 railway enthusiasts on an extremely well organised two week tour of railways in Canada and the United States. We called briefly at the Arcade and Attica Railroad, which runs intermittently to this day. Its next opening was the day I would be moving on to Niagara Falls ON. (Not ONT as previously written.) At Buffalo, I rode the train (more like a modern tram) the full lentgh between University and the Canal Harbour, took a boat trip on the Erie Canal, and took a guided tour of what I understand is the second largest city hall in the United States. The population of 1,000,000 it was built to cater for never materialised.

*4 views inside and outside the Lake Shore first at Chicago and then after arrival at Buffalo*

*At 96 ft tall, the McKinley Monument honours the assassinated 25th president of the United States.*

*The Buffalo and Erie Naval Park at the Waterfront.*

The “train” runs between University and Canal Side, a short walk from the Buffalo and Erie Naval Park, and various boarding points for river trips. The route is 6.4 miles, 5.2 of which are underground. The overground 1.2 miles are free to ride, the underground section, just $2.00. *It was anticipated that the network would expand, and maybe it will now that* a *once declining* *population* is *increasing* *gradually* *once* *again.*

*I was intrigued by th*e *Statler Hotel. While no longer a hotel today, the 1923 building appears in good structural condition*. *Huge photographs depicting the hotel’s history are displayed in large ground floor windows facing the side-walks* *along* at *least* *two* *sides*. The building is in use as for e.g. weddings, private and corporate events, etc. and I understand rooms are being repurposed as apartments.

*The Delaware Ave. entrance to the Statler Hotel.*

*The Council Chambers on the* *13th floor of the Civic Hall, Buffalo,* NY.

*View from the observation deck of the Civic Hall, Buffalo, NY.* *The tall structure was once the New York Central Railway Station. Apparently, all fixtures and fittings have “gone” leaving merely the* *shell* *the once hugely elaborate* *structure*.

*Art Deco details above the lift entrances*. *Such intricate details were throughout the entire building, which is said will* *stand for* *500* *years.*

*One of the numerous significant friezes around the ground floor of Buffalo’s Civic Hall*

NIAGARA FALLS

*c 45 minutes dwell time at Niagara Falls,* NY

The journey to Niagara Falls on Amtrak’s Maple Leaf involved crossing the border into Canada. The train stands at the NY station (at Niagara Falls) for someone like 40 minutes. With the café on the train closed from Buffalo, I find it disappointing that some kind of refreshments are not available at the station or nearby. I had relied on patronising the café for some kind of snack. If I wasn’t into trains so much, I could have reached Niagara Falls ON much more efficiently. On the Canadian side, all passengers are ordered off the train with all of their luggage. Passengers are then lined up against the wall, opposite their baggage. Some wagnerian young but intimidating woman clad in severe police attire shows up with a sniffer dog. A test parcel was placed against my suitacses. Trust me to be singled out! The dog, which itself seemed high on something, sniffed the lined up baggage, paying particular attention to mine! (I didn’t dare try to take photographs!) Dogmatic jokes about barking up the wrong tree might have gotten me detained.

Four gloriously enjoyable days ensued.