The trip from Washington to Richmond and back on Amtrak was the worst rail voyage I have experienced since I rode a third-class Moroccan coach from Rabat to Nador in December 1988. On the way to Richmond, a defective switch extended our trip from two hours to six. It would have been reasonable to expect the return trip to be faster, but our train was over an hour late and remained sidelined on the tracks for at least another hour. Upon arrival in Union Station, the wait for my checked baggage took another forty-five minutes.
In Richmond, there was no doubt that we were in the South. Coming and going, the cab drivers warned us about how strict law enforcement was. One of the major roads is named "Powhite Parkway." And the United States District Court is housed in a building that was formerly the treasury of the Confederate States of America.