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Friday morning I took a San Joaquin down to Bakersfield, passing through the Sacramento delta and tens of thousands of flowering plum, pear and almond trees in the central valley. On time. At Bakersfield, throughway bus to Santa Barbara arriving around 5:30. I stayed 2 nights at the State St. Hotel which is steps away from the station. From my room I could see the station and an impressive lot of train action, all on time. Very little freight though. Beautiful weather in a beautiful town full of beautiful people. Sunday the Coast Starlight arrived on time and remained so til San Luis - we actually arrived 20 minutes early. Thereafter, we lost about half an hour around Santa Margarita and Paso Robles waiting for #11 to pass and a single SB freight. We arrived in Oakland about 40 minutes late where I detrained, a happy camper. California is so beautiful and I had renewed my acquaintance with quite a bit of it! The coaches (3 of them) seemed to be about 1/3 full. I had my least satisfactory diner experience to date wherein the party of three, after initial greeting, excluded me completely! The service and food (seared ****** of chicken, broccoli, baked)was good. Butcher paper. Once again I was very impressed with the Superliners themselves.
Posts: 326 | From: San Antonio Texas USA | Registered: Dec 2003
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It sounds as if you had a great trip and I'm glad you enjoyed my hometown. Your review of the State St. Hotel pretty much fits what a flight attendant friend said. She and her mother take the train up from LA a couple of times a year. It was for sale for quite awhile. $6 Million if you have the pocket change. Did you have a shared bath?
I hope you got out and were able to see some of the city. The 25 Cent shuttles up and down State Street and to Montecito should have helped. If you decide to do this trip again let me know and I can offer some local tips.
Frank in cold, dark, wet SBA!
Posts: 2160 | From: Santa Barbara, CA, USA | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Seems like those dining car cutbacks are really starting to show, what with Amtrak serving up the seared asterisks... Posts: 108 | From: Culver City, CA, US | Registered: Oct 2004
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