Tales of Troubled Turkey-Day Travels

I am absolutely positive that most of you have heard at least one of the following stories, but because I'm so thankful for NOT having to travel this Thanksgiving, I feel obliged to explicate my past experiences.  Retrospectively, some of them are quite funny, while others remain nightmarish, the likes of which I hope I never have to experience again!

Disclaimer: No matter how hard you try to avoid situations like these, just remember that no situation is impossible on Thanksgiving travel days!

Thanksgiving 2008.

This was the start of all my Thanksgiving travel woes.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is traditionally a half-day of classes for the majority of high schools in the US.  For those of you who don't know, I commuted to/from high school on the lovely Philly regional rail, SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority), over an hour in each direction.  On that particular Wednesday, I stopped at Temple U on my way home to pick up a new pair of glasses.  When I returned to the platform, the electronic board told me that the train was running 12 minutes late.  Well, that sucks, I thought, but I wasn't too worried (though I would have been had it not been a notoriously busy travel day) because it was still mid-afternoon.  Not only was the train later than the posted delay time, it did not even stop at the Temple platform!  I don't pretend to know how SEPTA operates, and I've lived in Philly my whole life!  Let me lay it out for you:  missing a SEPTA train is probably the worst feeling when it comes to regional transportation because, for some reason, SEPTA trains come every 30 minutes .... so, if my train that was due in 25 minutes never actually stopped at the station, then I have to wait a total of 55 minutes for a train, provided the next train is running on schedule.  A clue: IT WAS NOT!

I forget how long I actually stood on that platform, but what I can tell you is that by the time a train actually came, the sun had already dipped below the horizon, there were approximately ten thousand people on the platform, and the Temple platform is definitely open to the elements.  Despite the tardiness and the chill, I was super relieved to see the slowing headlights of the arriving train.  However, those warm fuzzies were crushed again when I looked into the train and saw nothing but people!  Every seat was filled (some even twice), and people filled every standing place available, including the vestibule areas between the cars.  The train was so densely packed that I couldn't see across the windows on the opposite side of the carriage.  And, it was like this down the whole train (all 6 or 7 carriages)!

As I ran up and down the platform, desperately looking for a place to put my foot on the train, all I could think was there is NO WAY I am missing this train!  I'm pretty sure I was the last person on the platform at this point.  And, like the crazy person I am, I picked an entrance, took a few steps backwards for a greater runway, and I, quite literally, launched myself into a wall of people.  I was absorbed into the group like a marble in peanut butter: soft landing, but nowhere to move once I made it; I cannot say I've ever been plastered to a stranger's chest that long in my entire life.  Fortunately, that very tall man, with the low, grumbly voice, played it very cool at the time.

This is how I coined the term sardine travel hour (little did I realize, this happens everyday on the Tube.  See my Ordinary Ordeals of London Life post).

With each stop, the density of people lessened minutely, and those of us in the vestibule became well versed in creating space out of nothing in order to let people off the train.  At one point, the door on the opposite side of the vestibule opened.  I couldn't see who came through, but people started jerking uncomfortably.  Suddenly this tiny old lady (think of the oldest Russian grandma you can!) appears at my waist, exclaiming in heavily accented English "I chav to reeech my 'usband!  Heeez een ze other car!"  The aforementioned really large man: "Sorry, ma'am, there just isn't enough space to let you through."  Long story short, she wormed her way through and managed to open the door and pass to the other car.

When the train finally reached my stop, I squeezed my way out and took my first deep breath in over an hour.  Getting off that train was like being born.

Thanksgiving 2011.

This was my freshman year of college.  I had planned to spend Thanksgiving break in Birmingham, Alabama.  I was optimistic when I boarded my plane at Boston's Logan Airport, and even more so when we left the gate on schedule.  The skies were blue and all would be fine .... haha, yeah .... no!  Because of bad weather in Philly (it just so happened that I was connecting through Philly), we sat on the runway for 3 hours!  So, not only did I miss my flight out of Philly, there were no more flights available for the next 36 hours from Philly to Birmingham.  Fortunately, my mother got me on a 6-am flight on Thursday morning to Huntsville, AL, 2 hours outside Birmingham.*

I guess the silver lining was that I got to spend 5 hours at home that Thanksgiving - a nice "treat" for my mother.  Unfortunately, even though my father was home that night, he was still asleep during the hour of my arrival and departure to/from home.

I made it to Birmingham in one piece, and had a great time!  But, a word to the wise: do not, if you can avoid it, fly on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving 2012.

I blame this story on my being a cheap college student who did not recall her last disastrous bus ride from Boston to Philly.  Booking an 8am bus from South Station is brutal enough because no one enjoys getting up at the crack of dawn.  Getting there wasn't a problem.  No.  The problems began 10 minutes after the bus was suppose to leave: there was no bus.  Apparently something happened to the bus that was supposed to make the Boston to DC run, and the only spare bus was on its way from the bus depot in NYC.  Normally the drive from NYC to Boston is 3 to 4 hours.  Care to guess how many on the day before Thanksgiving?

My bus didn't leave until 12:15pm.  And, because of this late start, we hit every traffic jam known to man!  It probably took 3 hours just to get out of Massachusetts, another 2 to get to NYC, where we sat in a parking lot known as the Bronx for 90 minutes or longer, and finally another 2-3 to get to Philly.  Left 4 hours late from Boston, and arrive 6 hours (9:30pm) late to Philly.

I think my favorite part of the trip was when we stopped on the outskirts of Small Town, Connecticut, on the corner of McDonald's and Burger King.  I kid you not!  There was literally nothing for me to eat, and I wasn't about to buy a drink with the unknown duration of the bus ride.

On the bright side, I took advantage of the long hours to start and read about half of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.  It is really well written with a compelling story, and I highly recommend it (and the other two novels)!

Moral of the story: NEVER EVER take the bus on Thanksgiving travel days.  Because of this experience, I no longer regret spending a little more money on Amtrak.  (Heck, when I went to Scotland, I gladly paid more for a 5 hour train ride over a 10 hour bus ride).


Best of luck and happy Turkey Day!  Fin.

* A shout out to my boyfriend, Ben, who did a 4-hour round trip drive to pick me up!