Friday, April 24, 2009

Get Up and Go


1. Last night, traveled the last seven hours by Amtrak and arrived in San Antonio an hour early on one of the designated high speed corridors. Cost: $38. Lots of cool people along the way. Things to tweak: timetable can be compressed and layovers reduced; more regional trains needed to supplement the line (there's only one daily Amtrak train coming and going) and all trains could use wireless internet connectivity. But cell phones work.


2. Way back when I was delivering pizzas in Chapel Hill, met all sorts of co-workers back at the Pizza Transit Authority base (plus friends from earlier were working there). There was one women from Iowa, I think she was taking graduate classes at the time, who'd taken a class in Iowa with John Clellon Holmes, a lesser known writer who'd come out with the novel GO in 1952. It revolves around the Beats in New York City but is less maniacal than most writing characterized as Beat. Wouldn't have read the book if I hadn't delivered pizzas, I'm sure. Might also have travelled less in the meantime . . .

More from San Antonio as catch can. The Fox & Hound Tea Party folks are long gone, mercifully.

Today's Rune: Journey.

8 comments:

Johnny Yen said...

Happy traveling! What a great deal! I love train travel.

jodi said...

Sounds so fun! I want to take the bullet train sometime, too. Rock San Antone, Eric!

JR's Thumbprints said...

The Beat Writers weren't my gig. Never liked "On The Road." Perhaps a newer, hipper version, how 'bout "On The Tracks"?

Adorably Dead said...

Have fun in San Antonio ^_^. And the book sounds pretty neat. I've never read any beat material before.

the walking man said...

I suppose the Beat poets and writers are to be commended, they didn't have LSD to blame for their madness. They made themselves insane...with the run of the mill alcohol, heroin and their own sense of entitlement of inheritance bound in the disdain if what came before.

Good travels Erik.

Anonymous said...

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE PHOBE SNOW, TRAIN THAT USED TO RUN FROM CHICAGO TO HOBOKEN IF MEMORY SERVES ME RIGHT. I HAVE BEEN ON THE BULLET TRAIN IN JAPAN, RODE TRAINS IN SWEDEN AND EUROPE, GREAT WAY TO TRAVEL.

Charles Gramlich said...

I have been to San Antonio. Nice place.

nunya said...

Sounds cool :)