All Aboard! Taking the Train from King Street to the Greenbrier

Postcards from Jiles

We’re getting pleasantly bombarded for reports on our trip to the Greenbriar so we thought we’d resurrect our Postcards from Jiles and write up our trip in real time! 🙂

Friday, 20 September 2019

Hello friends!

We’re at the Greenbrier! America’s Resort!

Pretty slick day so far today. We called for an Uber at 10:50. The Escalade dropped us off at Alexandria’s Union Station (sandwiched between the King Street Metro and the Masonic Temple). By 11:19 we were riding the rails on our way to the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Both the staff and passengers seemed happy. The employees were helpful and jolly. The passengers weren’t grumpy like when you’re flying. The stress is minimal. And you can bring on more than one bag! Which is handy since we’re planning on changing twice a day at the Greenbrier (they have a nifty dress code!).

The purpose of this jaunt is to celebrate Mummy’s birthday. The train only runs a three times a week so that ultimately dictated the dates for our stay. Here’s Mummy in the inside of the station in Alexandria. . .

The train is a unique experience. And I’d do it again but I had it romanticized like in an old black and white motion picture — like Miles and I were going to be singing Irving Berlin songs in the dining car. lol.

In all honesty, the potty was smelly. And I did not like the food in the dining car (Miles thought it was pretty good). Next time I’d pack a picnic! But the woman working the dining car was really pleasant. Oh, and if you get a business class ticket you get complimentary soft drinks. And they serve Bud Light. Miles was a happy man. lol. He also tracked our trip in real time. Maps make him happy too. Here he’s sharing some Virginia geography with Papa.

Back to the Business Class tickets for a sec. Honestly, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t book that class of ticket (it’s the highest class ticket on the Alexandria (ALX) to White Sulphur Springs (WSS) route. It’s only 30 more dollars. And we had some decent space in our area. I wrote a little. The wi-fi was iffy at spots. But it was a comfortable space to work in.

Here’s us arriving in White Sulphur Springs. The Amtrak guy in both the WSS and ALX stations helped us get our bags on and off the train. Which was great!

We arrived in White Sulphur Springs at 5:05. Their train station is literally right across the street from the Greenbrier. Miles called from the train to confirm the resort was picking us up. Sure enough, John was waiting with a shuttle bus. By 5:30 we were checking into America’s Resort and sipping on our complimentary champagne in the opulent lower lobby by reception.