Waking up to a Florida sunrise on Amtrak’s southbound Silver Star
Good morning, Jacksonville! I am passing through Jacksonville, Florida, now. Jacksonville is the largest city by population in Florida and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States.
This city holds a special place in my heart. Why, do you ask? Why would America’s most sprawling city captivate me? It’s the rich history of the city as well as the months I spent here in 2000, working on a deal when I was working at NeTraverse.
I was working on a deal at AllTel, implementing a proof of concept of NeTraverse’s Win4Lin product. I stayed at a charming bed and breakfast within walking distance, owned by two characters (is there any other kind of BnB owner?). My hosts were an English professor of economics and a former Alabama beauty queen, an unlikely pairing. Yet they were so welcoming! I’ll always remember this home away from home.
My career seemed to be so full of promise those days. I was doing what I really loved to do: sales engineering, where I provided solutions to customers. My mentor and our Sales VP, Ed Stevens (or as we called him, “Fast Eddie”) visited occasionally and pumped us up with tales of how we were all going to be filthy rich. That didn’t work out, obviously, but it sure was a hell of a ride.
The train ride itself has been pretty smooth. I brought double hearing protection, an eyemask, and a blanket to better sleep and it mostly worked. I caught several hours of shuteye. My back would have preferred a seat that angled further back but all told it wasn’t so bad. Sure beats driving 13 hours!
The scenery is much more interesting now that the sun is up, so I’ll update this more as I go.