Nothing is better than breakfast with a beautiful view! Rosalia D’Acquisto / Daily Nexus
Yes, you read that correctly, 31 whole hours on a train! I discovered Amtrak’s Coastal Starlight route via TikTok and I was instantly intrigued. My roommate Sophia is originally from Seattle and she invited me to come up to visit her during Labor Day weekend. After looking at the atrocious prices for Labor Day flights I knew it was the perfect opportunity to finally embark on the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Santa Barbara to Seattle.
My travel buddy Francesca did some pre-train research and found a Reddit post that suggested we bring every category of snack possible from savory to sweet to everything in between. The morning of our train departure, I made a quick trip to Trader Joe’s to stock my arsenal of snacks. Some of the items I purchased included the classic “Trader Joe Takis,” some Chomps, dark chocolate sweet treats and a few protein bars. We then headed downtown to the Santa Barbara Amtrak station for our departure at 12:30 p.m. with a scheduled arrival into Seattle at 7:50 p.m. the following evening.
A delicious dessert following lunch served on the Amtrak. Rosalia D’Acquisto / Daily Nexus
As a budget traveler, I purchased the most inexpensive ticket in the regular coach section. To my amazement, the coach seats were about the size of my twin bed from freshman year of college. Once we were all settled aboard the Amtrak, we quickly made our way to the observation deck, which offered amazing views. In our pre-train research, multiple Reddit users mentioned that the observation deck is the absolute place to be and how outgoing and open the fellow passengers are. The first person I met in the observation deck was a fellow Gaucho who was on his way to San Jose for the weekend. As I was chatting with him about our time at UCSB, another person from the other side of the deck proudly yelled “Go Chos!” and turned around to join our conversation. As a class of ‘20 Gaucho alum who was now residing in Orange County, he reminisced on his time in Isla Vista and told us his awesome claim to fame back when he was a student. It turns out that my new train friend was the man who leaked the letter about the horrors of Munger Hall. Soon enough our observation deck buddies offered us some tropical flavored High Noons and tequila shots, so it’s safe to say that we started off our journey strong.
A few hours later I made my way to the dining cart to inquire about making a dinner reservation. Unfortunately, I was told that all the reservations were fully booked and to try again tomorrow. What I did not know, at the time, was that the sneaky trick to getting a reservation is to absolutely bolt to the dining cart when they make the announcement around 2:00 pm. Fear not, although we did not score a dinner reservation the first night, below the observation deck there was a stocked cafe that included a few meal options as well. I quickly became friends with the cafe employee Cesar, who gave me the inside scoop on the best cafe dinner items. For dinner the first night I ordered a classic Mac n’ Cheese and Francesca ordered a hotdog. We enjoyed our microwaved meals as we watched the sun go down and in full honesty, the Mac n’ Cheese was perfectly creamy and delicious.
After our dinner and a few Diet Cokes, we continued to chat with our observation deck pals before their final destination of Sacramento. They were a group of four friends heading to California’s state capital on a mission to try out “The Kitchen,” which is Sacramento’s first Michelin star restaurant with innovative dishes such as the Applewood Smoked Pekin Duck, Autumn Gold Potato Pierogi and more! Our new foodie friends scored a reservation in the Amtrak dining car that night and upon their return they had some impassioned reviews. One of our friends noted, “The steak tasted like McDonalds,” but nevertheless for transportation food he rated it a 9/10.
Many people with different destinations come together on the observation deck to enjoy the view. Rosalia D’Acquisto / Daily Nexus
Around midnight, we reached Sacramento and sadly parted ways with our observation deck friends as we wished them a fun trip. We eventually headed back to our seats around 1:00 a.m. and I managed to get about four hours of sleep before the high-stake race back to the observation deck for sunrise. At 6:00 a.m., with my sleeping mask still perched on the top of my forehead, I headed downstairs to the cafe and ordered a plain bagel and drip coffee. I typically avoid drip coffee at all costs, but with a little cream and sugar I was more than satisfied. Once I grabbed my breakfast, I joyfully claimed my seat in the observation deck as I laid eyes on Mount Shasta for the first time accompanied by the pinks and oranges of the sunrise.
As lunchtime rolled around on our second day, I felt very confident that we could secure a lunch reservation. The moment the conductor made the announcement I leaped over to the dining cart and got the first reservation at 2:00 pm. As we were escorted to our table, I noticed the adorable small floral arrangement that added a special touch of restaurant-like ambiance. For just $25, lunch aboard the Amtrak includes your choice of an entree, a soft drink and a dessert. I ordered the Artisan Grilled Cheese Sandwich as my entree which consisted of honey cured ham, swiss and cheddar cheese on sourdough bread with a sizable portion of kettle chips on the side. As my first non-3D printed meal in over 25 hours, I was incredibly delighted with the quality of this meal. We concluded our lunch experience with a mini-bundt cake featuring caramel and strawberry drizzle on top. This meal was the perfect morale boost for the final 6 hours of our train journey.
With another drip coffee in my system, my energy was sky high as we continued to chug along into the state of Washington. As we reached the end of the line in Seattle, Francesca and I were already talking about riding the California Zephyr from San Francisco to Denver next. My 31 hour journey from Santa Barbara to Seattle was filled with unforgettable views, food that was unexpectedly delightful and budding friendships. So if you find yourself craving a weekend trip and don’t want to deal with California traffic, consider taking the Amtrak!
A version of this article appeared on p. 15 of the Oct. 17, 2024 edition of the Daily Nexus.
