f you lived in San Diego, in Southern California, and if you wanted to be in Great Britain before you actually got there on May 30th, 2011, you could not have done so. But on the next day you could, because it was June 1st. Now, you're saying to yourself, is this guy crazy, or what on earth does he mean? On June 1st British Airways (BA) began service from that lovely Southern California city to London's Heathrow airport and, being a British airline, you could experience all the joys of British service and yes, even listen to those ever so British flight attendant accents, before you actually arrived at Heathrow - that's the huge airport 15 miles outside the British capital.

When BA and Visit Britain invited me on this travel media press trip, and as readers of my features in Traveling Boy know, I live in Los Angeles, and so needed to figure out how to get to San Diego for our flight on July 4th. Like many of us who live and work in this teeming, vibrant and exciting City of Angels, I've been to San Diego many times - driving and even flying.

But with today's often time consuming airport security searches where they make you take off your shoes - not so at Heathrow - belts - not so at Heathrow - you wonder if taking off your clothes is the next step in aviation security. So flying was out for such a short trip. Driving? Well I didn't want to worry about road conditions and any crazy drivers, and I was somewhat stressed knowing that Lindbergh Field in San Diego had a short runway. Was there enough of it, I kept asking myself, to enable this huge, very heavy big bird called a Boeing 777 to lift its wheels and body off Terra Firma? But of course, I knew that the folks at British Airways had done all that testing before they started this thing, so I knew I'd be safe.

So I decided to take the train. Lots of people who live in Los Angeles wonder why -- and look at you in amazement -- when you say you're taking the train. Who, they ask, ever
takes a train in today's fast paced world? A fact made even more obvious when I'd often driven to San Diego in an hour, and I knew the Amtrak train took over two hours. But as a train buff, and after 48 years in this great place called America, I'd never ridden Amtrak. So, I took the train. And what a memorable, relaxing, and truly enjoyable trip it was. I even wished it lasted much longer. LA's Union Station (click on Google and type in Union Station Los Angeles) is a classic in its own right, and in its heyday it was THE place where movie stars of the day, yes movie stars, went back and forth across the country in luxury. Union Station is a glorious reminder of how those marvelous edifices used to be in the Golden Age of US railroad travel. Its imposing majesty grabbed hold of me, as I entered the station for my initiation into American railroad travel.

I have some challenges walking long distances, and wondered about any assistance in getting from the station's cavernous, glorious concourse to my first Amtrak train. Just then a lady in red cap and driving a "vehicle able to carry six people" stopped and said, "Can I help you?" Talk about being in the right place at the right time!! The young woman was Monica Romero-Herrera, and said she was part of the Red Cap team at the Station to help passengers. Yes, she said with a smile, she'd take me to my train.

Monica asked me to step aboard her mini bus and whisked me up to the platform. I rode in Amtrak's Business Class and as you see above, this Double Decker car has large panoramic windows, and inside there's comfortable seating and, at the back there, a little area to get coffee and cookies and other sweet pastries to tempt your palette. If work is your thing, there are electrical outlets for laptop computers, and lots of stretch out legroom. I'd long since given up my Surfboard (!) but I could easily have taken it along, unboxed, as well as my bicycle, because Amtrak allows you to take both as carry on luggage! Try THAT with an airline, and you'll be on the receiving end of laughter and the word "No." Amtrak it seems, loves southern California lifestyles!

When we arrived upstairs at the platform there was no train, but moments later I heard that unmistakable whistle that only American trains can make, and I was in train heaven, and with a clanging of bells and that wonderful whistle, my silver colored Amtrak Pacific Surf Liner rolled into the station. It was magic.

Standing in the large and spacious doorway of the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner with our Conductor Marcy Houston (a railroad aficionado and coming from a family with many years of railroad service) reminded me of how it is to enter an aircraft and the small door they have. This Amtrak thing all seemed super modern and hi tech. Some of the stations en route were quaint and, I thought, romantic, and it made me think of yesteryear when times were more peaceful and tranquil -- and hey, as we lazily glided along the extensive beach part of the trip, it was so close and inviting, I felt like jumping out and taking a quick swim! As you see from the photo below, any closer and we WOULD have been on the beach - wow, what a trip!

I was intrigued to find out why some of my fellow passengers took the train. I saw a lady just behind me on the other side of the car and asked the obvious question - why take the train? Part of the answer was in front of me, as she had her lap top out on the tray table and was busily typing way. She said she was Patricia Capritta and she took the train because, "it is relaxing, I can do my work, and I get to do it with no rush and in peace and quiet. I don't have to worry about traffic, and I do not have go through all that airport security searches at LAX. I take this train often as I do business in both LA and San Diego." I spoke to several other folks who said it's a great way to travel. It's sightseeing by the beach without actually being on the beach, and a relaxing trip.

Arrival in San Diego placed me back in the real world, and I was sorry my thoroughly enjoyable train ride was at an end. When I began planning my "How To Get There" trip to San Diego, I asked myself what if I'd never been there, and what would be the best way to get a glimpse of the city? So I called the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau and asked them. Robert Arends, one of their senior tourism experts, suggested taking the Old Town Trolley Tours that looks like a cable car. See www.trolleytours.com.

It was a wonderful suggestion, and in two fascinating hours it gave me an inside look at some of THE top spots in San Diego. If you've ever been on a city tour anywhere, the guy or gal who does the spiel is a key part of whether the tour is fun, or just someone reciting a series of lines about this, that or the other, and ends up being totally boring. The guy I had, Bill, was absolutely perfect, and a real character in his own right - a great sense of humor, a marvelous knowledge of San Diego, and living proof that working keeps you young. Bill had been in the US Navy for 37 years, and had been doing this - "a job I really love" he told me - for the past 7 years. He had the energy and enthusiasm of a 20 year old, but with the benefit of his life's experiences on how to work with people, he was an outstanding guide.

This was a marvelous tour, but there were two innovative ideas that were very special. One was that you can hop off and get back on at any of the places it stops (and that you'd like to see in more detail) and the other was that throughout the trip you hear lots of music, and what I call "Sound Bites of Offbeat Information" making the tour even more interesting, personal and fun. Among places on the route, are Old Town San Diego, the Harbor, Seaport Village, Horton Plaza Shopping Center, Gaslamp Quarter, over the amazing Coronado Bridge and into that Island itself, Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo, and Little Italy - and yes, you do stop by the truly mesmerizing US Navy aircraft carrier USS Midway. For more information on this interesting tour, check out the Old Town Trolley Tours website. One of their many Trolley Cars is shown below.

Coming Soon!
Part Two of this series comes up in two weeks and covers the exciting British Airways Boeing 777 take off from San Diego; arrival at Heathrow Airport, and the best way to get into London fast, I mean really fast; then a mesmerizing tour of the tennis Wimbledon YOU never knew existed.

Related Articles:
Passport to San Diego; Orange County Oceanfront; Catalina Island; California Central Coast