Advice on riding Amtrak - first class!

Via Chris May/flickr

It's been a few years since I had a vacation. The last time I had ever been out of town since working was going to SpelHouse Homecoming in 2011. Which was the first time I had visited Atlanta, Georgia since graduating from Morehouse College in 2009.

This past weekend I took Amtrak for the first time since 2009 - which incidentally I took the train after visiting Mound Bayou, Mississippi in fall 2009. This past weekend I went to Memphis, Tennessee for a funeral. It felt great to get out of town to the point where no matter where I work it'll just have to be important to take a quick trip every now and again.

A few years ago I had some advice as far as making reservations for the train. Coach-class train travel is OK for the most part but sometimes it's better to travel first-class in a sleeper. The problem is that first-class will cost more depending on where you're going. On top of a coach-class ticket you will pay an up-charge for a sleeper car accommodation and that charge will depend on what size room you want. Cheapest likely would be a roomette. If you want more information on sleeper accommodations visit amtrak.com.

In any case we took coach-class to Memphis and then when making the reservations somehow we (well actually my mother) were able to get a sleeper for only $25 more although the ticket round-trip was still in the neighborhood of $600! While we made reservations at the last minute Amtrak was able to get in touch with a deal on a sleeper berth but only on the return trip. This happened when we returned from Dallas, Texas via Amtrak somehow we also got offered a sleeper at a discount.

Needless to say the sooner you make a reservation the better. You can always go ahead and make a reservation for a coach seat in the hopes that Amtrak may call you again offering first-class accommodations at a discount. As for making reservations for a sleeper you can check out this USA Today link one of those options for reserving first-class accommodations is to ask for an upgrade on the train. Although the likelihood of such a possibility is slim.

I would like to do LA via train again and when I did that in 2005 it was in a coach seat. I'm not planning on doing that again, but hopefully I can afford a roomette on the train round trip for the two night ride to the Golden State.

Wishing I can get into real estate

Photo via Curbed Chicago

If only I had enough money to get into real estate. I would like to do rehab a house the way this greystone on the north side of Chicago had been. It's either that or build a house exactly the way this greystone was rehabbed.

As the "blogmaster" for The Sixth Ward I've followed real estate in the often beleaguered south side neighborhood of Englewood. Recently there were information on a vacant lot program which allowed Englewood neighbors in a pilot program to purchase and close on vacant lots there. The cost wasn't entirely cost prohibitive.

It's certainly cost prohibitive to build on those lots if that's what you chose to do with them. At the same time it's not necessary to build on those lots although if I was able to purchase a lot that's exactly what I would like to do. If nothing else until one gets the capital to build anything it's OK to turn these lots into oases instead of lots where weeds would grow and trash would collect.

Of course Englewood isn't the only neighborhood in Chicago where such a program is necessary. And who knows perhaps I'll have the luxury of buying a lot in the future and hopefully build the house I want to build. Or more likely have some property when a neighborhood turns around.

I mention Englewood because I'm starting to believe it's on the cusp. With a major CTA rail line and then a Whole Foods Market coming to such an impoverished neighborhood it seems very likely.

Now to start getting ready to get into real estate.