An Amtrak adventure goes to Plan B

 NEW YORK CITY -- Our outbound Amtrak trip from Southern Pines, NC, to Poughkeepsie, NY, went fine.  We left late, but arrived on time.

 Getting back to Southern Pines has turned into another story.  About 30 minutes before our southbound train was to leave here, I got an email urging me to call Amtrak because our train had been canceled.

 Apparently there is flooding in Eastern Virginia, and there is no service past Richmond on our intended route. If we were headed home to Florida, we would be out of luck.

 But I am a Tar Heel born and bred, and I have maps in my head. We waited in line for 10 minutes at customer service, and I asked the nice Amtrak lady if she could get us to Greensboro as a first choice, Raleigh as a second or Roanoke, VA, as a third.

 Turned out Greensboro was available.  We would wait here three more hours and take a train that veers west at Washington and therefore avoids flooded areas.  There would be no additional charge.    My brother lives half an hour from Greensboro.

 We booked, the tickets and I left email and phone messages for my brother.  With a little luck, we will be back to the Magic Bus by tomorrow.

 Though there were several angry folks in the customer service line, I give Amtrak kudos for telling us up front and almost immediately that no alternatives transportation would be provided to points beyond Richmond on the  New York-to-Florida route.  An airline would string you along with repeated half-hour delays before cancelling the flight, likely at so late an hour that no alternatives are possible.