Vacationing without a car 2

Our goal in Washington DC was to locate close to public transportation, and Tom found a great hotel right across the street from the subway. DC has a wonderful subway system, and we had no problem using it to get our luggage to the hotel, and then on our daily adventures. I had a flashback to our time on the subways in Tokyo.

In Williamsburg we stayed at Kingsmill, a resort about 4 miles from Colonial Williamsburg. Tom had found a bike rental place ahead of time, so on our first full day there we hopped on the Kingsmill shuttle, and they dropped us off to pick up our bikes. You might notice from the picture that my bike was rigged with a piece of cardboard on the back (no fender - I wanted mud protection) and a nice little basket in the front. The owner of the shop was happy to accommodate my requests. It was wonderful biking to and from our destination, and we really got a great cardiovascular workout from a couple of strategically placed hills.

I will say that we, as bikers in Colonial Williamsburg (and Kingsmill), were definitely an oddity. We did see a few other people biking, but it was unusual. That surprised me. The place is huge and it's nice to traverse it by bike.

One thing that posed a challenge for us: eating. Since we were there for a week, we wanted to buy groceries, and not eat out all the time. Kingsmill did not have a grocery nearby, and we did not encounter one on our 4-mile rides to Williamsburg. So we fired up the computer and made use of Google maps...and found a store about a mile out on the other side of the colonial area - no problem on a bike.

So my main message about a carless vacation is that it's a lot of fun, but it requires flexibility and a bit of work. We're scheduled to do the same thing again next year. We've already inked it in.

Vacationing without a car

Tom and I recently returned from another trip without a car, and we really loved it. We wanted to get to Williamsburg, VA, and decided to take the Amtrak train. The whole thing is a process, certainly not as easy as driving, but train travel has its rewards. Here's how we did it: First, we found out that we would have a short stopover in Washington DC, so we decided to take advantage of it, and we simply extended the layover to a few days of sightseeing. So the trip became a 2-city vacation. And who can resist a trip to the capitol?

The next obstacle: we found out that we had to board the train in Toledo....at midnight (boarding it in Detroit would take us to DC via Chicago). No problem - we were up for an adventure. We took a bus from Ann Arbor and arrived at the terminal in Toledo to discover that the train was an hour late, so we boarded at 1 AM. We were in a sleeper, which meant we had a tiny room - and let me emphasize the word tiny - and it was a goat rodeo figuring out how to undress and get into our little bunks. But we managed - sleep was a powerful incentive. We actually slept pretty well. Do you have any memories of your mother rocking you to sleep? Not quite like that, but you are rocking.

Now let me tell you some wonderful things about train travel. The next morning we woke up, showered (!) and headed for breakfast in the dining car. We shared a table with a nice couple traveling out to their daughter's wedding. Yes, people actually seem to like each other on trains, as opposed to how we barely tolerate each other on planes. The atmosphere is so relaxed, mainly due to the fact that on a train the one thing you have a lot of, in addition to leg room, is time. So we shared a leisurely breakfast and then went back to our little room to find the beds had disappeared and in their place were 2 comfy chairs with pillows. Due to some very admirable engineering, the bottom bunk transformed in the daytime to chairs, and we saw that the top bunk had been sort of pushed up and attached to the ceiling. So, given the fact that we had had an abbreviated night, we fell asleep and awoke just in time for lunch. We arrived at Washington DC's Union Station refreshed and full. When was the last time that happened to you while traveling by plane or car?

This is getting long....the next post will describe how we got around once we arrived in DC and Williamsburg.

Lasagna Season Extension

Spring is finally arrived, and gardeners all around Michigan are waiting for the soil to warm and dry up, so they can start planting. But look: raised beds (aka Lasagna Gardens) warm quickly and while they keep moisture, they won't be soggy. So, with the help of a little plastic tunnel, I already started my cool season veggies...

This neat raised bed is waiting for some seedlings. It is nice enough to be in the front of the house, ... but it has been my compost pile during the winter. Lasagna Gardening wonders!

--[[User:Erica|erica]] 09:53, 14 Apr 2008 (EDT)