This is not a game. Dude, seriously.

I had a lot of different ideas about how I might be getting back to NC when this fantastic trip was over. I mulled over going to Boston for a while on a Chinatown bus, and thought about heading to Charlottesville for a few days. But after my favorite airline closes Thursday — the one that shuttled me to and from S in particular and DC in general many times last year, and that I had my very first fight on — I would lose my free flight. After recounting the distinguished career of a cousin of mine, Amtrak sprung to mind.
So instead of flying or driving I’ll be aboard the Carolinian for over 6 hours, watching the countryside roll by. After hearing my dad talk about trains, and his aforementioned cousin’s 11 years at the helm of Amtrak, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s interesting to think about the generations of travelers who never even thought about flight as a way to travel from D.C.; for them, Union Station was the exclusive gateway to and from here.

It’s been a wonderful trip. I reconnected with some old friends–some of them places and some of them people–and realized that this really is the place for me, at least for a little while longer. As someone said the other night, D.C. is a town that you seem to miss more once you’re actually here. I did, and I do, and I’ll be back before you know it.