No white tablecloths or Bing Crosby playing a piano

So, I went home to Maryland for two weeks in December. My mother has a phobia of flying which she passed on to me. I don't really have a phobia, though. I've flown quite a few times and even went to Paris, but for some reason, my mother's voice is in the back of my mind when I'm maing travel arrangements.

Anyway, I made plans to take the Amtrak from Pittsburgh to Washington DC. The ride was supposed to take 8 hours. By the way, did I tell you I had to get from Ohio to P-burgh by bus because there is no train station close to me? Also, I should mention that the bus and train schedule aren't very compatible so I ended up at the Amtrak station at 11pm. . .waiting for the train to depart at 5:45 am. *deep sigh*

As I'm typing this, I know how ridiculous this sounds. Anyway, the train is delayed. Not 1 hour. Not even a semi-respectable 2 hours. The train doesn't leave until almost 9am!!!! I was so pissed. I wasted 10 hours of my life sitting in an Amtrak station in the middle of nowhere with bums waiting for the train. At one point, Pittsburgh's finest showed up to "escort" the non-passengers out of the station. I felt very unsafe sitting in the train station at that time of the night/morning. This obviously mentally disturbed guy kept trying to talk to me. I put my headphones on to tune him out. He didn't get the message cause he kept talking.

Anyway, by the time I got on the train, I was pretty much up. You know when you're so tired that the tiredness phase passes and your body just stays awake? I tried to find a plug for my laptop so I could at least watch movies, but unfortunately, there were none in the car. The Amtrak guy wasn't keen on letting me search for an outlet either. Eventually I fell asleep to be woken up about an hour later. The train had stopped and apparently it had broken down. I was delayed for ANOTHER hour. That train ride was without a doubt one of the most miserable experiences of my life. Now, I've made the journey from Ohio to NY and Ohio to DC by Greyhound. Although it's no picnic either, I tolerated it.

Well, suffice it to say, once I got to my destination, I cancelled my retun ticket. Once I got home, I booked a one way ticket home on Southwest. Total flight time? 1 hour and 30 minutes. Amount of sanity sacrificed? None. Amtrak is great: comfortable, roomy, clean. But Amtrak is ONLY for short trips (i.e. 4 hours or less). I would gladly take to train from DC to NY orNY to Boston. Never for trips longer than 4 hours, though.

If you're wondering about the title, it's from Sex and the City. Carrie and Samantha thought it would be old world romantic to take the train cross country. Upon realizing the reality of the situation, Carrie says, "I thought there'd be white tablecloths and Bing Crosby playing the piano." They took a flight back home, too.