I'm not heading south this year, but I've traveled Amtrak's auto train to the alleged warmth of Florida before and it is an experience of cross generational observation. You start in Lorton, Virginia in the afternoon and end up in Sanford, Florida the next morning.
The little poetic ditty below gives you some idea of what it is like to ride the auto train.
"Quilted coats, shuffled steps and canes
Are what you find on South bound trains.
The halt, the lame, the elderly,
The ill, the weak, and crotchety
Are Florida bound in cubby holes
With all their flaws and hairy moles.
Snowbirds they’re called without respect.
They flock to Florida’s warmth prospect.
If you are younger and can watch
Count the wrinkles, connect the blotch,
And you will see where you may be
Before they read your eulogy."
1 comment:
Having driven cars for snowbirds from 1983 until 2002 I can only imagine. All of my customers had tried Amtrak when they first started to flee south for the winter, but as they grew older the point of departure and arrival still gave them a lot of driving. Consequently, they then had someone drive their car and fly....I had the same people during these years with a few of their friends...I did this trip on week-ends from my regular job and sometimes would take a few extra days to spend with family, friends and to visit the city....my daughter and son helped me when two couples wanted to go at the same time. My daughter took the auto-train once and she enjoyed it....I liked the solitude of driving and enjoying the different towns that I would sometimes see if I got off 95 due to traffic jams.....I know 5 ways around DC......I loved this poem as I can relate so well to the elderly snowbirds. God Bless them I only have one person that is still living, but she has finally decided to go to a retirement home and live near her daughter in Maryland. I made friends with them and got to know their families throughout the years; they are missed.
One light note...a friend of mine (a younger woman) thought the term Bipolar meant "snowbirds)...I couldn't stop laughing.
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