chugga chugga CHOO CHOO

Last weekend, we made our way to a near-by, semi-historical, Steam Train Ride! This was partially inspired by Luc’s current fascination with Thomas the Tank Engine and all things train-y, and partly because Paul has been wanting to go for years and now, finally, he can blame it on the kids. Fair enough. We piled into the car and drove to ride a train. Let’s here it for Transportation-o-philia!

Here is a hundred year old steam engine puffing along. Whoo whoo!

But the ride we were hoping for was SOLD OUT. Drat. Which meant we waited around for an hour. Which meant this:

And this:

Have you ever seen a hotdog that red? Can we say Nitrates? Holy cow! I mean Pig! I mean Dog!

We got the dogs as this fine eating establishment:

Isn’t that hilarious?

And you can’t have a Southern Train Experience without some BBQ and Sweet Tea. But sweet tea meant a visit to the lovely facilities:

Um, yeah.

After that we wandered through the odd assortment of Old Stuff stuck in the “Train Museum” here:

Such as this:

And this:

And this:

And this:

I wouldn’t have minded reading the little info cards, but the kids were done with this part of the train experience in about 32 seconds. Instead, they were interested in this:

A huge, miniature train, going round and round, sporting none other than:

THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE! Luc really liked this part. There were also small trains from Sesame Street and various more generic trains, but nothing got the cheers like the little blue engine with the kooky spinning eyes. What is it about Thomas that inspires such devotion? I admit, I don’t get it. But that’s cool, I don’t have to. I just get to stand next to my entranced little guy as he screams “Thomas! Thomas! Mommy! Did you see? Mommy!”

By the end of the hour, the waiting was getting pretty old, but was helped out by these kind folks:

Thank god for Bluegrass!

But finally, the waiting was over and we boarded this:

Well, that’s the engine. Here is the caboose:

And here is where the passengers rode:

And here are some passengers:

Hear that whistle blow!

The ride itself was pleasant, if a bit anti-climactic after the wait. Here is some of the forest we passed through:

And here is a classic Southern farmhouse we passed. I love houses like this:

And, that was about it. After we pulled in, we dragged our tired butts across the tracks, back to the car, and drove home. Sophie said, “That was AWESOME!” Luc said, “I liked it.” He’s a man of few words after an adventure. Choo Choo!