BON-FOR

On something of a lark, Emily and I decided to take the Amtrak Downeaster plus a bus to Freeport this weekend. It was a fun trip, even if four hours of forced retail therapy was a little more than I really wanted. The train+bus combo worked pretty well for a day trip; the bus ride was short (Amtrak wants you to believe it takes 45 minutes, but it actually takes about 20, and the bus left Portland when the train had unloaded rather than at the later time Amtrak claimed it left) and the driver was friendly. In spite of being the last weekend shopping day before Christmas, Freeport wasn't totally mobbed. The conductor on the train back told us that Friday seemed to be the big day for that particular trip. (We were the only two people on the Portland-Freeport bus, both ways.)

The train was comfortable. There weren't lots of people, but without baggage any Amtrak car has lots of room anyways, especially if you're not sharing a seat with a stranger. The one big downside was that, when we were travelling, we were forced to eat both lunch and dinner out of the cafe car. I recommend the chicken noodle soup as something that microwaves well and isn't gratuitously overpriced ($2.50 for a reasonable cup), just be careful to not burn your tongue on it. :-) Also, usual Amtrak recommendation of "bring your own water", since $2.00 for a 12-ounce bottle is gratuitously overpriced. Every seat had power; it did in fact turn out to be one of the better Amtrak cars I've been on.

( obligatory rail geeking )