Text 17140, 115 rader
Skriven 2011-10-27 12:15:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DALE SHIPP
Ärende: WV Trains, day 109
==========================
Thank you for the reports. Sounds like you had a pretty good
time, and one doesn't really do these things for the food.

 DS> Day 5:
 DS> Breakfast was the standard Holiday Inn Express free breakfast.  Only
 DS> thing new to us was a pancake machine instead of the usual waffle
 DS> machine.  Push a button and in a few minutes out comes a pancake. 
 DS> Push it twice and you get two.  We did not try them, so cannot comment
 DS> on how they tasted -- but they looked decent enough, thin enough to
 DS> have been cooked through.

I've seen the pancake machines various places. They are
amusing to watch and produce decent product (I've had bites
of other people's, mostly, because pancake batter of course
has lots of dairy in it).

 DS> The train trip today was on a line called the Potomac Eagle,
 DS> http://www.potomaceagle.info/.  Lunch aboard the train was another box
 DS> lunch type affair.  I think that this one was the lunch where they
 DS> gave you a bun but the meats with lettuce and tomato wrapped
 DS> separately. Given the amount of moisture in the meat package, that was
 DS> probably a wise decision:-}}

Makes more sense, doesn't it. I'd go with vacuum sealed irradiated
with each item packaged separately, but I guess that's not fashionable.

 DS> The train engine this time was a diesel.  The seating was much more
 DS> comfortable than the previous hardwood seats had been.  The rail line
 DS> followed the Potomac river.  The brochure claims that "this south
 DS> branch of the Potomac is so clear that you can see the fish as they lie
 DS> resting in the shade".  The brochure mis-spoke.  The water looked like
 DS> the same muddy water we see on the Potomac as it approaches Washington

Given that you'd been having rain, that's to be expected, with
all the topsoil and crud being washed down into the river. But
after a spell of clear weather, it's likely that the water would
run clear for a while.

 DS> DC.  The path takes you through what they call the Trough, a narrow
 DS> passage between the mountains.  Here they say that "with the steep
 DS> canyon and high perches, this forested canyon provides the perfect
 DS> nesting place for the bald eagle."  Although the narrator said where an
 DS> eagle nest was, we really could not make it out.  Nor did we see any
 DS> eagles in flight.  So much for their claim of a 90% chance of spotting
 DS> them.   

As I recall, not a big deal. The American bald eagle fetish
is something I don't get. Of course, one would prefer
delivery on promises.

 DS> other was called the Baltimore Grill and promised that they had a
 DS> number of Cajun dishes.  I asked the desk clerk for directions.  It was
 DS> turn left for the ice cream parlor, turn right for the Baltimore Grill.
 DS> We opted for the Baltimore Grill because of the Cajun menu offerings. 
 DS> BIG mistake. 

Amusing. I hope your review (which I looked up) drags their
Trip Advisor rating down a notch, but I bet it won't make any
difference.

 DS> We are frequent visitors to New Orleans and really like Cajun food.
 DS> Gail had a "spicy chicken sandwich" which was essentially a fried
 DS> breast meat with Buffalo wing type spices on it.  She judged it fairly
 DS> good, and as expected.

Not particularly Cajun, unless it had remoulade on it or
something. What about the bread? Cajuns are serious about
their bread.

 DS> I was not so lucky.  My first order was their seafood gumbo.  What I
 DS> got looked like they forgot the first step in making gumbo -- first you
 DS> make a roux.  Instead, what was there looked and tasted like a pale
 DS> powdered gravy mix.  The amount and quality of the seafood was good,
 DS> but this was not a gumbo.  

I'd guess it might have been a homemade pale powdered gravy mix,
using bouillon for the flavor.

 DS> For drinks, I tried to order the draft Yingling that their pamphlet
 DS> had touted.  Sorry -- No draft tonight.

Strange how places can shoot themselves in the foot this way.
Beer in kegs is hugely cheaper for them, and they can charge
almost as much as for bottled - if they get fancy brands,
much more.

 DS> Day 6:
 DS> Breakfast was a buffet in a private dining room at the Holiday Inn.
 DS> This was one of the worst breakfast buffets that we have been
 DS> subjected to.  The steam table had cold scrambled eggs, cold and soggy
 DS> potato squares that were supposed to have been hash browns and bacon. 
 DS> The bacon was ok, but the other items were not.

Be thankful for small favors. I've had breakfast buffets where
the best thing is the sausage in the generic fake Jimmy Dean
breakfast sandwich, once I've scraped the cheese off. Or sometimes
a banana is the only available edible thing.

On the other hand, I've seen some luxurious breakfasts in the
past year. Though I don't eat breakfast, "included" is a powerful
incentive. In such cases, the rule is altered to "no starchy
breakfast food."

   They did not even have
 DS> any dry cereals as an alternate.  There was a table with juice
 DS> containers -- but the orange juice was empty.  We had arrived at about
 DS> half way during the serving time, with an hour before our coach was to
 DS> leave.  Many tables had not been cleared of the dirty dishes.  They had
 DS> one attendant on duty, who seemed to be slowed down by a bad foot and
 DS> considerable limp.

Speculation: he's paid extra to be slow! That way, they
save money on unprovided dry cereal, orange juice, and so on.
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