Train Misadventure...

 

Looking for fun things to do this summer, my friend Tricia came up with the wonderful idea of taking the TriRail train up to West Palm Beach and going over to City Place for lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger. A great idea!

We met mid-morning at the train station...

 

 

 

For me riding a train isn't a novelty. I gre up in New Jersey, and would very often take the train into NYC, plus I lived in NYC after high school and then again in my mid-twenties, so it wasn't the adventure for me that it was for Daniel. To say that Daniel was happy to be on a train would be an understatement...

 

 

As did Ella...

 

 

 

 

Marco, Ella & Daniel gave us a glimpse into the future, showing us what three rowdy teenagers on the train will look like...

 

 

Tricia had gotten all the info, and when we got off the train at the end of the line we should have been able to walk to City Place, but as we disembarked it just didn't seem likely. We were in a parking lot, in a not-great area of town. With three kids under 7.

We discovered that we'd gone one stop too far. Oy. The train didn't leave to go back for 30 minutes. A bus arrived, and he told us he went right by the station where we should have gotten off, and sooner. So we climbed aboard the bus and were treated to a 30 minute ride through some of the seediest parts of West Palm Beach...

 

 

The kids, of course, were oblivious. And Tricia and I could not stop giggling, making comments and exchanging I-can't-believe-this-cluster&@%!-glances.

We arrive at the other station, and decide to take another bus closer to City Place so we wouldn't have to walk so far. Besides, by this time I was wary of walking in the area, though we were assured it was perfectly safe in the daytime. And trust me, if you saw the guy who assured us of our safety, you would have gotten your butt on the bus, too.

Taking the advice of another bus patron, we got off the bus near City Place. And when I say near, I mean thirty minutes of walking around until we found it. But, we did.

We had a great lunch at Cheeburger!Cheeburger!, and the cars the kids' meals were served in were a huge hit!

 

 

The lovely people there were kind enough to give each child an extra to play with at home.

After lunch we walked over to Barnes and Noble, where the kids did a little reading and each left with a book or two...

 

 

 

After lunch we decided to head on back. And this time we walked to the station - which took us less time than the bus and the walk on the way there. We got to the train with about two minutes to spare...

 

We had a great time, and Tricia commented that she'd do it again. So would I, I told her. As long as SHE wasn't the one planning it.

Sorry for throwing you under the BUS there, Tricia. :)