Waking up on the steamboat for the last time, the realization that our trip was almost over hit us. We had a wonderful breakfast aboard, gathered our belongings into our backpacks, and headed off the boat and walked the mile or so to the Amtrak Depot. Our departure was scheduled for 1:45 pm, so there were a few hours before we really had to be there, but we passed the time reading, talking with newly made friends from the trip and eating lunch at the Subway in the depot. We made ourselves useful by watching other people's things as they left, and were glad when they came back and told us they ate lunch at Mother's, the home of the po-boy sandwich, a great lunch spot we visited on our first trip to New Orleans. We boarded the train and it departed on time in the midst of a severe thunderstorm warning. It wasn't long before we cleared the rain and headed along the banks of Lake Ponchartrain and I55 toward Memphis. Amtrak is a comfortable way to travel even on these old tracks, but there are drawbacks. We were in the last train car and they announced they would come by and take dinner reservations for the dining car, but they never showed up. When they started announcing the first dinner seating, we got suspicious. We didn't wait any longer to go to the club car and get dinner. A good thing, too, as the second dinner seating came not long after, then the third with nary a word for those of us in this full car. We didn't even see a porter on the whole ride! Times change. But, we got to ride on the City of New Orleans, so that was fun. We arrived in Memphis and took a city bus to the hotel, along with about 100 of our closest new found friends-standing room only on the bus-got our bike and luggage, and headed up to our room and crashed about midnight.
With that, our tour officially ended, but our vacation isn't over yet. We drove to Nashville and got to spend a few great days with Caitlin and Will and celebrate their engagement, meet his parents for the first time, and enjoy some great food and time with them. Continuing our tour of antebellum houses, we toured The Hermitage, home of Andrew Jackson. Game night with Caitlin, Will, and Katherine was a blast, even though I got trounced at Ticket to Ride (congrats Will on a great victory). Marge fared a little better.
Lastly, now we are visiting Kris (Marge's sister) and Clay in Bellville, IL on our way home. Today, we went to one of our favorite places, the St. Louis Zoo. It was a beautiful day! Tomorrow, we may be out riding some of the trails, but we will see. It might be nice to be back on our bike again. It has been a wonderful vacation.
Thanks for reading!
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