Up & Coming Weekly

NOVEMBER 11-17, 2009 UCW 7 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Riding the Rails to Charleston by PITT DICKEY When was the last time you rode on a train? Probably too long. It had been almost 30 years until last month when a group of us decided to ride the rails. Eleven brave souls from the Cape Fear Kiwanis club set out from the beautiful downtown Fayetteville Amtrak station to the ancient southern city of Charleston, S.C. Rail travel is most excellent. Air travel is no longer an elegant experience. It is more in the nature of a Brucellosis-infected cattle drive. There is a limited amount of comfort available for mass transit. The law of conservation of comfort applies to air travel versus train travel. As air travel has become grubbier and more diffi cult, rail travel has become easier and more entertaining. Any grace that once existed in air travel has abandoned airlines and alighted upon Amtrak. Railroad travel has made great advances since my last ride. The cars are comfortable. There is enough room between the seats to store three large cartons of stolen ballots from Afghanistan's recent election. There is a wide aisle you can walk down without causing concussions to seated passengers. You do not have to wait in the airlines' seemingly endless lines to take your belt and shoes off to humor a grumpy TSA employee. The train arrives, you walk out, get on board and it leaves. It arrived on schedule. Trains are considerably cleaner and quieter than planes. Trains have the added advantage that you can get up and walk to the lounge car and sit at a table to consume adult beverages and resolve weighty world issues. Next time you are on a plane, try walking with a group towards the cabin to grab a brewski. The Air Marshals will have you in plastic cuffs before you can say D.B. Cooper. On the train our group decamped to the lounge car, consumed adult beverages and determined how to resolve America's various wars, who would win the World Series, whether President Obama was the Antichrist or America's savior, and who had the strangest childhood. Train travel puts you in a remarkably agreeable retro mood. Charleston is even better when you arrive by train. For the fi rst time since the memory of man runneth not, the temperature was delightful. Upper 70s with little humidity. I had never been there when it wasn't over 95 degrees with 120 percent humidity. I credit Amtrak for the excellent weather. We dined at world famous Tommy Condon's Irish Pub located conveniently next to the Market. Tommy's has the distinction of having an excellent Irish band, Guinness on tap and the fi nest shrimp and grits in the Western Hemisphere. Our group stayed at the Meeting Street Inn which is the center of the universe. The Inn is a distinguished old hotel featuring a dandy elaborate breakfast buffet and an afternoon wine and cheese event that is highly conducive to lofty intellectual discourse. Traveling with 13 people is not dissimilar to herding cats. The magic of Charleston prevailed. We are still speaking to each other. My son Dan dropped me off at the far end of the Charles Ravenel Jr. bridge. If there is a Charles Ravenel Sr. bridge I don't want to know. I walked across the bridge to see if I could. I forgot the neckerchief that I put under my hat to keep the sun off my neck. Fortunately there was a convenience store at the far end of the bridge. I requisitioned a napkin and used it as a neckerchief under my hat. I looked like Lawrence of the 7-11 walking to Charleston. The bridge is impressive, two and a half miles long and 575 feet above the water at its highest point. That's way up there land. I am not crazy about heights and felt every foot of elevation. The wind was blowing hard and I could feel the bridge swaying, particularly when I walked close to the edge. Fortunately the bridge remained standing during my entire trek. The fi nest moment of the trip was when all of us went to dinner at a toothsome Italian restaurant which does not split checks. It was a fi ne moment because I was not the one who fi gured out who should pay what. Hats off to Ray Baker of Methodist University who did the math for a baker's dozen of dinners. No fi sticuffs were thrown and dinner digested in peace. Next time you go to Charleston, take the train. You'll be glad you did. SAFE - PAINLESS - No Side Effects 70% Success Rate 530 Sandhurst Drive • Fayetteville, NC Toll Free 1-888 NOSMOKE or 910-323-0235 www.MyLaserSolutions.com • Free Consultations • Now Offering Laser Treatment For Relaxation & Stress Relief MY MY Thousands have stopped with just a single laser treatment SO CAN SO CAN YOU! YOU! PITT DICKEY, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or email editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Check Your Ego At the Door. 910.868.ROCK (7625) www.climbredpoint.com This is NOT, Just A Gym. RedPoint .OW /FFERING Muay Thai MMA Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Climbing CrossFit Budokon Neko-Ryu Goshin Jitsu Grappling Proudly Serving: 3TOP IN TAKE A TOUR TAKE A &2%% #LASS ST TIME VISITORS ONLY Gym

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