Select The Depot Inn and Suites
for your next journey
when the Amtrak train ride
is the most important part of your travel plans !
www.trainweb.com/depotinn/amtrakride.html
So what is all this fuss about The Depot Inn and Suites in La Plata, Missouri?
When I travel by Amtrak, the train ride is usually the most enjoyable part of my journey, not my destination. Over the years, when I have decided it was time for another train journey, I often had to make up a destination! I have found this to be true of many of my fellow rail travel enthusiasts. Often the most important factor in selecting a destination was to find a place where I could get off the train and connect with the a train going in the opposite direction that would get me back home within a desired timeframe. One requirement when selecting a destination was that there would be enough time between the outbound train and the return train that I was unlikely to miss the return train even when my outbound train ran a few hours late. A minor requirement was that there be something at the selected destination to keep me occupied for the time between the outbound and return Amtrak trains.
Over the years, I have discovered that many of my fellow train travel enthusiasts plan their Amtrak travel using these same requirements. Because most of the people I know live in Southern California, we have selected many of the same "turn around" destinations. Two of the most popular are Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. Either can be reached from Southern California by an overnight trip on the Amtrak Coast Starlight each way. If I have 4 days to spare and just want to ride the train without seeing much of anything at my destination, then I would select Seattle. Heading north, the Amtrak Coast Starlight arrives into Seattle in the evening and the return train departs out of Seattle in the morning. If I wish to spend a day or two in Seattle, then I have to expand my trip to 5 or 6 days. Alternatively, I can select Portland, Oregon, as my destination. The northbound Amtrak Coast Starlight arrives into Portland in the afternoon. I can spend the rest of the afternoon, evening and sleep the night in Portland, as well as the next morning. The southbound Amtrak Coast Starlight does not depart from Portland until the afternoon. Thus, I can keep my entire trip still within 4 days but get to spend about 24 hours in Portland, Oregon.
Sometimes, I only have 3 days to spare for a rail journey, such as an extended weekend. That is when I start to pick rather unlikely travel destinations, such as Klamath Falls, Oregon. The northbound Amtrak Coast Starlight arrives in the morning of the second day and the southbound Amtrak Coast Starlight departs in the late evening of that same day. Thus, I can spend a full day and a night on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, spend the day exploring Klamath Falls, and then hop back on a train in the evening to spend a night and another full day on the train.
The Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata, Missouri, is probably one of the best places to consider as the "turn around" point for your next Amtrak train journey, no matter where you are starting from! The eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief stops in La Plata at 9:57 AM each morning and the westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief stops in La Plata at 8:06 PM each evening.
If you are coming from the west, you can arrive in the morning of the first day, spend almost two full days exploring La Plata, including an evening stay at The Depot Inn & Suites, and then depart in the evening on the westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief.
If you are coming from the east, you can arrive any evening, spend the night at The Depot Inn & Suites, and then leave the following morning on the eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief. Or, if you'd like to spend a bit more time exploring La Plata, you can stay for the entire day and an additional evening at The Depot Inn & Suites before departing on the morning eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief.
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