From this hotel room in the warehouse district of New Orleans, I walked everywhere I wanted to visit.
Destinations – art galleries and fine restaurants. Favorite gallery, Martin Lawrence. Favorite restaurant, Restaurant Revolution.
The last walk I took was to the train station to board the Amtrak Sunset Limited back to LA. Almost everyone I talked with in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) were still in the after glow of the New Orleans Saints victory over the Eagles to go to the NFL Championship game to play our own Los Angeles Rams.
I did not realize the Superdome was right next to the train station. Hence, the photo you see above.
Traveling alone on long train trips have a solitary, meditative portion mixed evenly with a social, interactive portion. In the roomette I was fortunate enough to afford was blissful solitude. I sit for hours staring out the large window to scenes like below of the mighty Mississippi.
Socializing comes with every meal on the train because it’s communal seating. I met a couple from Columbus, OH taking a train trip around the states. Another couple headed to San Antonio to visit their daughter, a software engineer from Washington state, and a woman going back to LA to the hotel she runs on skid row. The conversations were mostly one-sided thanks to the active listening skills I’ve picked up over the years. I did end up giving a signed copy of my book to the software engineer. Wes was in the roomette across from me so I got to know him well.
A perfect four days…now I’m back home blogging and enjoying two weeks off before the start of the Spring semester at SMC.