Coast Starlight Proves Train Travel Can Be A Good Experience
I had a sudden need to get from San Diego to Salinas, CA (Monterey County) and really did not want to drive.
I especially did not want to have to deal with last-minute flight fares when suddenly the light bulb went off over my head: “hey, there’s a train right out my door!”
So I walked to the train station to talk with an Amtrak representative. I could get there all, right, but the trip was 13 hours. Still, I booked it, and later added a return flight on Southwest.
My friends looked at me like I was crazy. Thirteen hours, they would say. There’s one thing you have to know about people who live in California: they want to be places as fast as possible. Why spend 13 hours going someplace when you can fly there in an hour and a half? The fact it was last minute and on Thanksgiving weekend did not register with them.
So at 5:30 on Thanksgiving morning, I arrived at the San Diego train station and embarked on a journey that would have me going to Los Angeles to change trains and arriving Salinas at 7 that evening.
And I must say, it was quite the enjoyable experience. So much so that once the train got near Salinas, I had to quickly jam loose stuff into my backpack and race to retrieve my roller bag so I would not miss the stop. Hard to believe after 13 hours, I know.
Not that I didn’t experience a few bumps along the way. At the outset, I settled into a seat on the left side of a car so I could catch the Pacific Ocean views, which are pretty spectacular up the coast.
At the first stop, Old Town, a couple plopped down behind me and proceeded to talk non-stop. They were the kind of people who actually enjoy getting up this early in the morning and get cranked up on coffee. In 10 minutes I learned of everything they had done the past three days. It was driving me crazy!
So I relocated and, tho I was now facing backward (half the seats are this way), managed to not only get nice views of the coast but also an hour or so of sleep.
In L.A., I nearly missed the connecting train because I was on the track where its departure was posted. Ten minutes before it left an employee hollered at me and a couple other people to join them on another platform. Apparently, trains change platforms like airplanes change gates.
Once on board and after a few confusing minutes trying to find my assigned seat (yes, you need an assigned seat on the long train trips), I got some more sleep. Even tho I had a seat mate, I was able to spread out and was very comfortable. The space was twice that of an airplane.
I was itching, tho, to get to the observation car. That’s where things could get social. I imagined it to be the train’s version of those 1970s 747s lounge areas that I’ve seen in bachelor photos of the day, men chatting it up wth single women while beautiful stewardess served them drinks.
That is also the spot where my friend, when she took a train from LA to the wine tasting area of Paso Robles in Central California, met a guy. Of course, this girl could meet a guy drifting on a raft in the middle of the Pacific.
I had no such luck, of course. There was a lone good-looking girl on on the train and she did a quick walk-through of the observation car but the seat next to me was occupied and she did not pause. Had that seat been open…
So I just spread out in a seat facing the Pacific, put on some tunes and had a few drinks. Amtrak, as the food car guy keeps reminding riders over the loudspeaker, sells cocktails and “ice cold beer.” He’s like a vending guy going through the stands at a baseball game.
Caught up in all this and the spectacular scenery between Ventura to Paso, I was lost in my own world. And even though the rest of the trip was through farmland in the fading sunlight and eventual darkness, I found myself scrambling as we rolled into Salinas.
Thirteen hours turned out to pass by without any “are we there yet” moments. Part of this was the view also also the fact that on a train, unlike a plane, you have plenty of personal space and can even walk around a bit.
At one point, when we passed over the 101 freeway in Ventura – a place I have driven through too many times to count on my way to Monterey County – and saw cars stuck in traffic, I knew my decision to take train was the wise one.
I had so much fun I would like to do it again with a group of friends. And I invite you to join our party – in the observation car, of course.
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