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Up with the larks this morning. Truth is I didn't really sleep. Perhaps one or two hours shut-eye. I'd set multiple alarms for 3.15am ahead of my taxi pick-up at 4am. I made sure I was fully packed, bathed and dressed last night at around midnight all ready to go. With generally only one Amtrak train a day in most places, you don't want to risk being late.
The lady on reception at the Andrew Pinckney Inn kindly filled my flask with fresh coffee as my taxi arrived promptly. Hameid drove me to the station, filling me in on the storm, potential tornado and the snow due up North. He's originally from Kuwait, arriving in US in 1992, just as the war started. He hadn't visited the Middle East until last year when he went via Cairo to Gaza to visit with cousins.
Charleston Amtrak Station was really busy. Almost like Piccadilly Circus. People arriving with large bags, wearing flip flops and bright clothing. Florida here we come. This is the final train trip on my US adventure. I'm excited to be headed South for warmer climes. There was a buzz on the platform, so I guess everyone else is excited to be heading for the sunshine state.
A guy kindly changed seats with me so I could photograph the passing scenery with my iPad. The vegetation is very close to the track for most of the route, particularly through Georgia and Florida, so my photos are hit and miss.
A very genteel lady, Dorris boarded the train at Winterpark. Her daughter is a Pullitzer Prize winning photo journalist for the LA Times and has just returned from an assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan and then did a portrait of Julia Roberts. Talk about extremes! We chatted for a number of hours including over lunch and then we walked down to the cafe together to stretch our legs. We met a girl who's from Bow in the East End. We were laughing about how we were from geographic opposites of London, with me hailing from West London.
The train pulled into Miami an hour and a half late, so I caught a cab to South Beach. I travelled 15 hours, so am pretty tired.
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