Living in Manhattan, one can get along quite well without a car. Between subways, buses, and taxis, there's all the transportation you need. And with creative new services like by-the-hour online car rental, there's all the transportation you could want. Getting outside of New York, however, can be a little more difficult.

I left New York on Thursday for an all-day meeting in Washington on Friday. Despite initial hesitance, I went via Amtrak, as Penn Station is a mere 3 1/2 blocks from my apartment. This was my first Amtrak ride in a very long time — I have been flying to D.C. the last few times I've gone to the area. This is in part because it's sometimes cheaper to do so, and in part because of my last Amtrak experience. On a very long ride (scheduled for ~22 hours), my train caught on fire, ran over something, and de-railed. Sure, none of these events occurred in the usual sense and, thankfully, nobody was injured, but it was still a rather disconcerting experience, to say the least. I flew home.

The fire was only in the club car, but it left us without electricity (including most lights) from barely out of NYC to D.C. They never did determine what it was that we ran over, but it obviously wasn't too large, since we pushed forward — after the 1 1/2 hour inspection. And the train only left the tracks for a few feet — about 200 yards from the station. Of course, we had to wait aboard for four hours while the train was re-railed, since we weren't allowed to leave the train if not at a station. Oh, and the train had run out of all food and beverage (including potable water) about 8 hours before we were able to get off.

I was obviously pleased to arrive on-time in D.C. Thursday evening, having had a pleasurable ride and not even having anyone sit next to me the entire trip. Friday night's return was, however, a horse of a different color. Although nothing like the prior trip, I did have to stand from D.C. to Philadelphia. Fun times. And people that had seats weren't just thankful to have them. They had to get up every three minutes and push their way through the isle full of standing passengers. First to go get some chips and beer. Then to use the restroom. Then to...whatever.

Guess it's back to the airport for me.

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