Okay. I promised to send some pictures of the Great Thanksgiving Key West trip (and provide some insight into the Autotrain for some who asked). Here's how the trip went. Left Lorton, VA Autotrain Station at 1600, Friday 16 Nov. First picture is of the cart used to secure motorcycles for the "choo choo" ride. These folks were very professional. You assist and watch over them securing the bikes. The carts are towed onto the autotrain by a small John Deere tractor and then secured in place for the trip. Trip takes 17 hours - non-stop. You have a choice of coach class (simple reclining seat), a roomette (this is what we had) or a bedroom with private bath facility. The roomette has two reclining seats facing one another. These fold down to make the lower berth and then an upper berth is folded down at night by the rail car attendant. These folks were first rate. Took great care of us. Each Sleeper car has bathrooms/showers/etc. Dinner seatings were at 1700, 1900 and 2100. They showed movies in the lounge car at 1700 and 2100. A continental breakfast service began at 0600. The train arrived in Sanford, FL at 0900.
We rode to Tamarac, FL first night. Visited my wife's Uncle (he's 88) in Sunrise. Met up with Jorge (jgomez) at the new Sunrise HD dealership. Jorge introduced us to folks at the dealership and then lead us to a fantastic little restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. Left the next morning for Key West. Great ride down. Ate lunch at the Islamorada Fish Market (highly recommended!) Spent three days/two nights on Key West - did the tourist thing ("southern most everything"
)... Tuesday rode to Clewiston near Lake Okeechobee. Wednesday AM took an air boat ride on the lake - fun stuff. Got into Melbourne late Wed. Thanksgiving day spent with old friends and new turkey and fixings. Left Friday AM to head back to Sanford for the return trip home. (Insert autotrain comments here in reverse order
).
First before the pictures - Jorge is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. His lovely wife Martha is a joy. He graciously offered his home to us on our return trip north and the chance to meet up with AJ (Sorry we couldn't make that work out, AJ - hope to meet you soon). As he has said many times on this site, if you're ever in South Florida - give him a call - he certainly knows at least ONE great place to eat!
Hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the trip.
Best and happy holidays to all,
Tony
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Topic: KEY WEST 18-21 NOV (Read 6939 times)