Ridin' the Rails to Perryville

I recently came across the term “railfan,” which refers to someone who loves trains.  I don’t collect them (yet), but I do love riding them.  And for this week’s solo outing, I took the MARC up to Perryville, and just to get a little taste of small-town life.  I’m a city boy, but every now and again, I like to indulge in the scenery: the rustic houses, the tree-lined streets, the eateries where the waitress knows your name and regular order.


Some of that on the way up, but even on a self-care day, I just can’t resist my Singles Studies/Singles advocacy stuff.  I listened to the Solo podcast where Gordon Morris & Christina Campbell appealed to talk about Unmarried Equality (UE) so that I could get some material for Christina’s and my presentation on UE at this summer’s International Singles Studies Association (ISSA) Conference.  And I read my library book, Single Women in Popular Culture.  Otherwise, nice views.


Upon arrival, I was met by the Perryville Railroad Museum, which sadly, only stays open on weekends, when the MARC doesn’t even GO to Perryville (this region needs much better public transit).  But I did make it down to the Susquehanna River, where I sat on a bench at a pier and wrote.


I walked down a trail and got some nice pics of the river.  I don’t shoot photos of houses (the owners might have an issue with that), but there were some cute knick-knacks on the porches and a lot of boats in yards, as well as in the river.  I did fantasize about that kind of life, but boats require heavy maintenance, and I’m a more “inland” type of dude.

The ride and walk worked up my appetite, so I made my way to 5th Company Brewing.   Totally empty, sans two solo diners at the bar, both with bushy beards.  The waitress, Katie, addressed me as “hun,” a lovely feature of small-town eateries.  I wasn’t sure if a simple jumbo pretzel with crab dip would fill me up, but it did.  Katie did glance as I wrote in my notebook.   She likely thought I was a restaurant critic (food inspector would be a far cry off for a guy sporting a Grateful Dead T-shirt).

After walking off dinner for about 45 minutes, I got an Italian Ice at Greek Girls Ice Cream, a cute stand.  From there, I walked to the station and chatted with an older woman who rides the MARC from Baltimore to Perryville for work every day, but is thinking about a change, especially now that her husband passed way and she feels a lot freer.  One nice thing about the train: the people you sometimes meet.

One not-so-nice thing: when a vehicle ends up on the tracks, which happened.  So we stalled for about 30 minutes before we finally made it to Baltimore Penn Station.  They had to cancel this train to get the folks in DC back home, so I was waiting until 8:45.  Once on there, we had to wait fifteen minutes for an Amtrak to load off so people could transfer.  Quite frustrating, and I was getting worried about Chester.

But, eventually, I made it home, and he was on his recliner, right where I left them.  True to form, he said, “Give me treats, human!”  I responded, “Yes, master” and proceeded to follow his orders.