Is there such a thing? Amtrak says so and my wife, myself and my grandson, Josh, age 9 rode from Charleston, SC to NYC round trip in one back in about 2003. It was his first trip to the Big Apple. I was also 23 years younger then. It was a fun adventure — then.

My daughter and I tried it again, just a few weeks ago. Still an adventure, but some of the fun has dissipated with age.
The deluxe bedroom is the largest sleeper accommodation in Amtrak’s menu. It is , in fact, tiny. In 2003 we fit two adults and a 9-year old in one.
He and I will never forget him in the “deluxe” bathroom banging from wall to wall as the train sped on rather roughly while he was in it. A true adventure.

Let’s talk a minute about the deluxe bathroom and shower. No, it’s a deluxe bathroom shower. The whole enclosed bathroom IS the shower. Better cover the toilet paper. Shower when you get home.

Here are the highs and lows of my latest similar adventure with my daughter.
It started out fine. The beds were ready. That was ok cause it was 11 PM when we boarded the 8:35 train at Charleston. Christine lithely climbed into the top bunk. ( not trusting her ancient, arthritic dad to do it without calling 911). We slept ok, eventually and got up to have a nice breakfast in the dining car and watch DC go by.
Saw a little, but not much. We had fallen a couple hours late due to freight train traffic, which has priority over Amtrak since freights own the track. Hence Amtrak will most probably be late.

The steward said our room would be made up so we could sit in it comfortably when we returned from breakfast in the dining car. NOT.
Our one and only steward could not keep up. Too many beds to make. We didn’t get to sit in our made up compartment until about an hour out of NYC, about 3 hours late. Arrived in NYC at 2:30PM.
That was ok, cause we couldn’t check in to the Edison til 3PM. Worked out fine.

After a great visit to my City, we boarded Amtrak again for our “sayonara” NYC trip home This segment was more comfortable than trip up, but we still encountered a three + hour delay. The ” meantime” on this trip was fun
Since we boarded on time at about 2PM, we enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner in the dining car; with a nice glass or two of red wine. We also met and enjoyed dinner with a great couple, Lynda and Obie.
Because I blab a bunch, I told them about my Scoolerisms Blog. A cool result — Lynda found it, commented on our meeting in the blog and is now a subscriber. How cool is that?

The reasons for our delays were threefold. First a barge ran into a bridge we were to cross between Phillie and Baltimore. We got to sit and wait for inspectors to survey damage and clear us to cross ( or not).
Second, the usual fright train delays, and third, a vehicle was stuck on the track.
The good news about the delay is that the sun was up when we arrived. I got to drive home in daylight. Yay.
I was exhausted. And yes, glad to be home, after quite an adventure. I vowed I’d never do it again. When are we going? LOL Enuf.
.