You know, it’s weird … I have never actually taken a trip on Amtrak but I always enjoy a good Amtrak trip report. And this one by CMK10 certainly qualifies.

CMK10 begins by introducing us to the “cast of characters” starring in this trip report:

CMK10. Known Flyertalker, day drinker, lover of food photography and everyone’s favorite law student. … his Father, namesake, benefactor and all around good guy. These two hilariously mismatched chuckleheads will once again be taking a trip by train across 2,000 miles of America. A trip filled with the usual mix of fun times, good food and of course…copious amounts of alcohol.

Two better traveling companions you are unlikely to find. The report is a fun, informative, at times uncomfortable, but mostly heartwarming account of a cross-country air and rail trip shared by a father and his grown – if not fully matured – son. I particularly enjoyed CMK10 and his father’s sleeping photo ambushes and card games:

The account of the racial cabby:

Our cab driver decided we were just a bunch of good old white boys so he could tell us his paranoid theories on how black people, especially black women, try to stage accidents with him because he’s a cab driver. Wrong audience buddy, you’re talking to someone who goes to a historically black university and thinks ignorance is the enemy. But I wasn’t going to let that ruin a good evening

And the photos of the old train stations:

When it comes to airports, I want em brand new. When it comes to train stations however, I want em at least a hundred years old. ~CMK10

A great report from start to finish. And yet another enticement for me to go ahead and book that first Amtrak trip.

Read the report in its entirety: Going Back to New Orleans Aboard an Amtrak Train – Plus AA JFK-LAX 321 C