ORDINARY BEAUTY, MODEST MIRACLES:
Max's Travel Journal, Summer of 2008
St. Louis, then to New Orleans via Amtrak, then on to LA via Amtrak, too.

     Visiting Mom in St. Louis early this summer, 2008, I decided to have an Amtrak adventure for my return. I booked a seat on the "City of New Orleans", a night in a small hotel in the French Quarter, and a seat at noon the next day on the "Sunset Limited" that runs west from New Orleans to Los Angeles. My wife, Barbara, who hadn't been able to accompany me, was going to be in LA for a family event, so we'd rendezvous there, visit her mom in Long Beach for a day, and then fly back to the Bay Area together.
      It turned out to be a wonderful adventure, and in the following pages, I share it with you. A day in New Orleans is enough to catch the flavor, and St. Louis itself, where I stayed four days, is full of unsung joys and wonders. So please come along with me now.

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