"Nothin' Could Be Finer, Than To Have Your Ham and Eggs In Carolina...."

I love a train ride! So when my mom's best friend suggested that we go on one (on a restored deco passenger train, I was well up for it. So a week and a half ago, we loaded on a bus...yeah, one of those that retirees take to Atlantic City...and made our way to North Carolina to catch the train.
Now, before I get into the story, I'd like to first point out that over all I really did have a good time and one shouldn't take my snide remarks as evidence of a bad time....
Now that's out of the way, I can tell you that the trip was somewhat of a cluster-'you know what'.
We firstly had to get to the bus pickup at 5ish in the morning. Then the bus went way out of the way to Johnson City to get a number to put on the bus. We stopped in North Carolina for breakfast....several busloads of old people all at once at a cafeteria is not only a bad idea, it's downright criminal! We then had to sit around and wait for ages for EVERYONE to get back on their invidual bus so that we would all leave together and therefore arrive at the train station at the same time...yet another bad idea!
In the end, we finally got to the station around 10:30ish...keep in mind, that we could have driven on our own, left around 8:30 and gotten there at the same time! But I digress...

Because we all got there at the same time, finding your car was utter chaos! We finally found ours, the Piedmont, got settled in, and the trip started. The car was fairly nice. It could easily have been nicer. It's unfortunate that men were the obvious masterminds behind all of the referbs. Technically it was acurate, but it had no soul. No atmosphere. Not even the club car. They played bad, MODERN, bluegrass music. I was left wondering why there couldn't have been some swing or at the very least some country music contemporary with the era.....
It was a drizzly day, but that didn't really matter. The ride was beautiful. The mountains were just beginning to bloom. My mother, famous in these parts for her wildflower knowledge as well as one of the largest collection of rare wildflowers in the region, narrated the trip pointing out what was what.
When we finally stopped to get out, there was no time to enjoy the kayak races that were going on as we were behind schedule and had to load back up almost as soon as we'd gotten off. We got back to Bryson, NC in only enough time to get right back on the buses, which meant no looking around at the town and having a cheeky look round the shops.
All in all, it was more bus trip than train trip, but I'm glad I went.

Black Knit Beret-H&M (£6)
Peter Pan Collar Blouse-Forever 21 (around $35)
Embelished Pink Sweater-Vintage 1950's, my Mama D (free!)
Cropped Leopard Print Jacket-Forever 21 (around $40)
Gloves-Vintage 1950's, Beyond Retro Cheshire Street (£5)
Grey Pinstripe Pencil Skirt-Vintage 1960's, Thrifted (25 cents)
Shoes-Burk's Outlet ($15)
Purse with Umbrella Holder and Umbrella-Vintage 1940's, my great grandmother (free!)