Trip Report: November 8 - December 10, 2006
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
31 Day Grand Tour on Amtrak and the Mississippi Queen
Sunday November 20 thru Tuesday November 22, 2007
Memphis to Pittsburgh by Lincoln Town Car
After a 4 hour deep sleep, I was 90% recovered from my cold. We had sent my brother and his lady ahead in a rental car, so that they would not be in close proximity to my condition during the two day auto trip to Pittsburgh.
Our first choice of a plan to reach Pittsburgh was to take Amtrak’s “City of New Orleans” out of Memphis to Chicago, where we would wait all day, then transfer to the “Capitol Limited” to Pittsburgh. We made our reservations to leave at 1040pm, then asked the Marriott van to drive us to Walgreen’s at 8pm to replenish our portable medicine bag. Inside Walgreen’s there was a Memphis police officer standing near the checkout counter. We had a short chat in which we mentioned we were from Oregon and planned to take Amtrak to Chicago later tonight.
As I left the store, the officer followed me out and earnestly recommended that we don’t go to the Amtrak Station, as it is in a rough neighborhood which has been subjected to assault, robbery, and murder. He said Amtrak has only two police officers in Memphis and are sorely understaffed, as are the Memphis police.
We had read this morning’s Memphis newspaper, in which the entire first section was devoted to crime in Memphis, a city which has been named the 2nd most dangerous city in the US after Florence, SC. (I will have to look up Florence on my map.) The section included personal stories of Memphis citizens with pictures of the powerful handguns they are purchasing in an attempt to protect themselves.
My brother, a retired police sergeant, was by now in his room at The Brown Hotel in Louisville. He recommended that I follow the advice of the Memphis officer.
So I cancelled our Amtrak reservations, booked a Lincoln Town Car from Hertz and made hotel reservations in Louisville.
Monday. Interstate 40 is a major East West truck way. There are more trucks than cars and absolutely no traffic enforcement. The speed limit is 70mph, and 18 wheelers will tailgate you at 80mph, until you pull to the right so they can pass. It is total anarchy. We followed this miserable highway for 200 miles into Nashville.
Our planned lunch stop is at the Wyndham Hotel Nashville Union Station, a beautifully restored edifice from the late 19th century. We enjoyed cold martinis (to calm down from the Interstate Truck way) and a bowl of delicious gumbo, while enjoying the ambiance of the great barrel vaulted dome of the main waiting room. Behind the registration desk was a chalk board with the schedules of arriving and departing trains of the Louisville and Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroads. If there had been a train leaving for Pittsburgh, I would have gladly turned in my Town Car in favor of a Pullman Car, but there have been no trains out of Nashville for decades.
After lunch we continued on to Louisville on a northbound Interstate, where a semblance of sanity prevailed. After checking into our hotel, we dined at The Brown, enjoying one of the most exquisite dinners of a lifetime. It is hard to believe that at one time, hotel dining rooms suffered from a reputation of mediocre food, while cruise lines were serving elegant meals. Now I find that the finest food in town can usually be found at the finest hotels in town, while cruise fare can be disappointing.
The Brown Hotel
Tuesday. We continued on the Interstate highways towards Pittsburgh, stopping at the Columbus, Ohio, Westin Hotel for lunch. The Westin was originally the Great Southern Hotel, another edifice from the late 19th century, which included an adjacent Great Southern Theater. The theater is still in use for small group classical music such as chamber orchestras and string quartets.
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Westin Hotel (L)
Great Southern Theater
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The dining room was quiet, except for one business man working on his laptop, who suddenly burst into loud conversation on his headset equipped cell phone. We moved to the other side of the dining room, but Sylvia could not resist making a comment to this poor man. “If you would only speak a little louder, then we could hear everything you are saying.” He apologized profusely, then went out to the lobby to answer his next incoming call. When it was time for the check to be presented, the waiter informed us that our meal had been taken care of. I asked the waiter to thank our benefactor, and we continued on our next 200 mile leg to Ambridge, PA, 18 miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, to the old family homestead, arriving just after sundown.
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