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America, Countries

Take it Easy with Amtrak in the Deep South

20th August 202520th August 2025 funtime65

And the news we’ve all been waiting for, that we can now take it Easy with Amtrak in the Deep South.

With the launch of a new rail service, for the first time in 20 years.

Linking the Deep South’s two great Mardi Gras towns of New Orleans and Mobile.

With our friends welcoming us to their new service in good ole Deep South fashion.

With a Y’allllllll aboard cry!

Take me to the Mardi Gras

The Amtrak Mardi Gras Service connects the jewel of Louisiana, New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama.

With stops along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

And with Amtrak’s guarantee of a super affordable price point.

You are, of course, only a short walk in New Orleans to the Superdome and Smoothie King Center.

On game days and for concerts.

While it is only a quick taxi or rideshare to the French Quarter.

While you can hop aboard the streetcar, which picks up right across from the entrance.

Coast with the most

This scenic 3hr 45mins coastal journey includes stops in Mississippi‘s Gulf Coast destinations.

And includes Pascagoula, Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay Saint Louis.

Now what can we tell you about your stop-offs?

Well, Pascagoula, MS boasts historic architecture or the chance to relax at Beach Park with views of the Mississippi Sound.

While Off the Hook Seafood and Cajun Grille serves up local specialties like po-boys and hushpuppies.

The Gulfport, MS is home to beautiful beaches and the Mississippi Aquarium.

Head to the marina for fishing or dig into Gulf shrimp at spots like Half Shell Oyster House.

A safe bet

You can even win back your fare at the Biloxi, MS casino, although at from $15 each-way that won’t break the bank.

Eat at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, or check out the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum for artsy vibes.

In the artsy fishing village of Bay Saint. Louis, MS you’ll be won over by the seafood joints.

And the famous County Beach.

The final stop features charming architecture, the Historic Mobile Bay, and renowned Southern cuisine.

And our insiders recommend the Mobile Museum of Art or a stroll through the historic districts.

So take it easy with Amtrak in the Deep South.

And having let the train take the strain through New England I’d say it is the most relaxing way to travel.

Easy then just like New Orleans.

Africa, America, Asia, Canada, Caribbean, Countries, Europe, Oceania, UK

Your train is early after 200 years

7th July 20247th July 2024 funtime65

What’s this… your train is early after 200 years?

Yes, the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham has only stolen a march on the birth of the railways.

By announcing that 2024 should be the year to mark the bicentenary of the first train journey.

On account of the creation of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company.

Do the Locomotion

Only that it was not until the next year, 1825, that the first passenger train took off.

When George Stephenson’s steam-powered Locomotion No. 1 travelled 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton.

Which is what Railway 200 have begun planning.

It is no exaggeration to say that trains transformed Britain.

And that makes it all the more galling to see the state the service is in today.

So it is understandable that Mayor Burnham should want to claim the genesis of railways.

And push for a 35-minute super train journey between Manchester and Liverpool.

On the right track

Steamin’ ahead: Channel your Casey Jones

For the full story of how Britain’s trains used to work then the train has moved on from Darlington south to York.

And so should you to the National Railway Museum, a wonderland for all Casey Joneses and their train-spotting daughters.

If trains could connect this island and expanded our work and early travel horizons.

Just think what they could on a larger scale in the US, in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

America we know was built on the backs of Irish navvies.

And north, south, east and west there are towns and states celebrating how railroads were at the heart of their story.

Station to station

We all have our own romantic visions from cowboy movies of train tracks snaking through the Wild West.

All of which I saw for myself at the Colorado Railroad Museum with a nod to a far more patriarchal time.

Trains tell us so much about a society and we all have pictures in our mind of Indians hanging off trains.

Japanese crammed into theirs and eastern Europeans and mid-Asians making palaces.

Those, and the great train journeys of the world are in safe hands with, erm, oul’ Casey Jones’s recommendation, Great Rail Journeys.

Now whether you make rail journeys your centrepiece and tick off an Orient Express…

The Lake Titicaca in Peru, the Rocky Mountaineer in Canada, the Darjeeling Train in India, the Indian Pacific in Australia.

Or just get your tickets stamped on the way.

Whether it is up the highest rail route in Europe, the Jungfraujoch, a Bajan steam train, up the Norwegian fjords, or Amtrak it around New England.

Stephenson’s train on time

Enjoy and remember it all started in Old England with Robert Stephenson.

When 550 passengers were transported , making this the world’s first steam-powered passenger railway.

Put your back into it: A bit of fun in Barbados

From Shildon, Darlington to Stockton.

Although the opportunistic Mayor Burnham would like to assure you that your train is early after 200 years.

America, Countries

Upstate New York will do it fa ya

4th April 20234th April 2023 funtime65

Now we all love the city that never sleeps but those who know know that upstate New York do it fa ya.

And while as a hard-up student I travelled upstate on the Greyhound bus I have since become an Amtrak convert.

Letting the train take the strain (you know how we were promised in Britain)!

On my coastal journey down New England.

Taking in the sights of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Now I’d put that journey past the Gatsby yachts right up there in the list of Great World train journeys.

With the ten-hour Adirondack trip which was named in top ten.

It runs from NY through the wine country of Hudson Valley and Albany and the mountains to Montreal.

Caravana love

You can, of course, get off along the way and it’ll be worth it.

Stay at the Hotel Caravana onsite at a retro drive-in movie theatre.

And transform movie night into a sleepover experience.

Newly available as Hotel Caravana at the Four Brothers Drive-In Theater, in the heart of Hudson Valley.

The two vintage airstreams are named ‘1967’ (sleeps up to four) and ‘2041’ (sleeps two) and have been fully renovated with a funky décor.

Of course as hard as parents try they know that nature will always take second place among teenagers to video games.

Game for a laugh

Play time: Sesame Street and gaming heaven

Why not then do a trade? And give them a day out at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester.

The Rochester attraction will this year welcome a new World Video Game Hall of Fame exhibit.

And a 90,000-square-foot museum wing dedicated to video game history.

From strolling down Sesame Street to leaping into the world of American comic book superheroes.

The museum is home to the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world.

Unraveling the history of play through toys, dolls, board games, books and electronic games.

Of course if your idea of outdoorsy fun is cohabiting with the locals then Upstate has an experience to rival any.

Wolves at the door

Sleeping with Wolves is a popular adventure experience that takes place in the summer.

It offers guests a chance to safely camp out overnight with more than 30 wolves.

Those that call the Wolf Conservation Center in the Hudson Valley home.

In response to its increased popularity, 12 new weather-proof camping pods will debut in 2023.

And that will allow the experience to extend from spring to autumn.

See, we told ya, Upstate New York will do it fa ya.

And all major airlines travel to New York with us again advising you to skip pre-clearance.

By flying out of Dublin with Aer Lingus with a sample trip next month circa €700.