Our plan was to take a train up to Santa Barbara for some scrumptious wine tasting. We missed the first Metro 33 from the Westside to Union Station (this is where we would’ve previously given up on public transportation and hopped in the car!) but made it downtown in time for the Starlight Express.
The Starlight is a sleeper train that cruises up to Seattle. It’s clean and spacious; seems a bit newer than most of the Surfliners I’ve taken.
St B was lovely (of course)…both Giessinger and the Wine Cask indulged us in some delish vino. I purchased the ’98 Lodi Zin and the ’98 Viognier at Giessinger (the Zin was not long for this world and accompanied dinner last night).
Some tips for the newbie public transporter:
- Amtrak has an easy to use site, but some of the times are slightly off (our trip to San Diego left 20 minutes earlier than we were confirmed for on our reservation; all Santa Barbara times were spot on).
- Wear layers! The sun shines beautifully into the train during day trips and keeps the cabins toasty. However, the air conditioner stays on high at night. We were all a little stiff from the chilled air on the return, evening trip.
- Pack cards! Stay tuned for complete instructions on our favorite train game, Hate Thy Neighbor. It’s a combination of Crazy 8 and Uno; always gets everyone in an uproar (the ensuing noise works well for scaring pesky kids away from your seats, too).
- Be early; prepare to wait (I have a feeling this will be a recurring theme). An on-time bus is sweet, but an early bus can take you by surprise … and, possibly cause you to miss a train. The best option is to get to the bus stop early and have a book handy to bide your time.
A thankful shoutout to the bus driver of the Metro 33 that handled our stop at 8:01am … your helpful, cheery attitude set the tone for the day and was greatly appreciated!
ttyl,
Kenya
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