Philadelphia — Attraction in Philadelphia

Living on the West Coast for the vast majority of my little life, I have been robbed of the simple pleasure that is using the train as a regular form of transportation.

This station and Moynihan Station in nyc have been my 2nd home lately, as I have a budding love interest that lives in the Big P. Well the love interest is pretty budded at this point, but that will be a review for another day.

One of my favorite things about the train is I can show up 2 minutes before, dead sprint through 30th Street Station with the beautiful art deco architecture and 95 foot ceilings looking down on me, and still make my train. I don't have to go 2 hours early like I am going to an airport smh.

While I may have a bit of a train biased due to being a HUGE Atlas Shrugged fan growing up, I have come to truly love the train for what it is. It's a long period of time where you can just check out of life for a bit in the best way possible. I find this smooth ride while looking at the Northeastern Landscape of the United States just has me reflective, calm, and inspired. I'm not wishing I was somewhere else, doing something else, I am just here. I am present. I am not in a rush, because how could I be in a rush? Me being in a rush wont change the speed of this mf train.

Sometimes on the ride I will just write in my journal as I feel creative energy flowing through me. Other times I will just sit with my chorded apple headphones jammed in my ears thinking about how grateful I am to be here and to be alive, or thinking other random things like how much I love those sugar cookies that have the little christmas trees on them lol. But some rides, like this one I am on back to nyc right now, I will whip out my laptop and CRANK away at these dumb, meaningless reviews because they bring me so much joy. I'm really just selfish af at the end of the day.

All this to say, my dear reader, that a long train ride has come out of the WOODWORKS to reach the top 15 of my simple pleasures list, just above putting on an oversized hoodie fresh out of the dryer on a cold day and just below sitting near a big window with a hot americano in hand with some heavy, but non windy, snow falling calmly outside.

THANK YOU AMTRAK!

IG...

3oth Street station can be a bit confusing. When you arrive there are several ways to enter the station on all 4 sides of the building. Septa customer service is located next to the rental car reservation station. You have to walk up the ramp to the left to reach the septa trains.There are machines to pay your septa fare if you pay on the train you will pay more. Amtrak is literally right in the main section and easy to spot. I always see people sleeping in the lobby or in a long line at the Amtrak station. Be careful.about sleeping here bring a blanket and pillow also sanitizer .There are homeless people who lounge here daily. There are fairly good food options average price for nice spots $10- $13 for lunch ,snacks $3-$5 .Fast food $5-$6 hoagies $8-$10. Coffee tea $3-$5. There is a Gnc and a sports bar.. There are some places I would not trust eating from so I stick to the franchise food establishment. If your picking up a rental car ,the rental cars are located in the basement type parking lot. You must take a escalator or elevator. There are plenty of cab's available most of the time. .There are two bathrooms homeless people wash up in the bathrooms the staff tries to keep it clean as possible. If you see a person in need try and be kind with a smile. They have a nice large outdoor patio type lounge eating area .I have seen food trucks there and...

A beautifully preserved classic train station - that about sums up the William H Gray III 30th Street station. It's a great reminder of the grand train stations of old and reminded me of Union Terminal in Cincinnati where I used to live. The main hall is majestic with it's five-story ceiling flanked by imposing columns and the bewinged Pennsylvania Railroad World War 2 Memorial statue on one end. Unfortunately gaudy ad posters take away from the look. If you want to stare at something better than models vapidly shilling scrub suits then you can head into the east hall and view the massive Spirit of Transportation relief set into one of the walls. Plenty of benches give you room to sit down while waiting for your train and there are several shops for food and beverages. I was headed to Camden across the river myself the day I was here and the station provided easy access to the SEPTA subway line that connects to the PATCO train crossing into New Jersey. Overall, if you could ignore the stupidly huge advertisements, the station's classic atmosphere gave you a taste of how train travel must have felt before jet transport took over long distance travel. It was also an interesting contrast to the very modern interior of the Moynihan Train Hall in New York that I...