Sunday, April 5, 2009

Clang Clang Clang Goes the Trolley

My partner seldom wants to go anywhere and it is even less often that he comes up with an idea of something he wants to do. Yesterday was an exception.

We joined a group that went to Philadelphia for a "rail fan" tour. In the morning, we toured the 30th Street Station in Philly and learned about its history. We then got to see Amtrak's operations center which is also located there. It was an interesting behind-the-scenes insight into how Amtrak's operations run.

We had lunch at the station, and boarded a bus which took us to a trolley car barn operated by SEPTA, the authority that runs public transit in Philly. We boarded a chartered PCC II trolley car for a delightful trip all over the city. We stopped several times for "photo ops," which I did a few times, but honestly, to me, one picture of a trolley car looks pretty much the same as all others. We rode for hours and hours all over Philadelphia. The smile on my partner's face was endless. He has always had a special fascination with trams, trolleys, and street cars since he remembers them from his days as a kid. We have spent days and days riding trams in Melbourne, Australia; Christchurch, New Zeland; Munich and Frankfort, Germany; Vienna, Austria; Toronto, Canada; and New Orleans and San Francisco, USA. In fact, back in the day when we traveled, half of our time playing tourist was just to ride the trams.

I enjoy it when my partner is happy. He works so hard and does so many things to help me that the rare times he wants to do something for his own happiness is only my pleasure to support.

Life is short: keep smiling! Show those you love that you love them.

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