A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
New Years Day (1/1/2024)
This day started early for me as I needed to drive to Orlando, Florida to meet my son, Billy, for our first ever Brightline High-Speed train ride. After a quick breakfast, I made the 35-mile trip from my home in Titusville to Orlando on SR-528 and found the Wally Park off-site parking (As I mentioned in the Prolog, I chose the Wally Park off-site parking because the Brightline Station parking directions at the airport Terminal “C” seemed a little confusing, and I didn’t want to deal with the potential of being late for our 8:50 Brightline departure).
Photo Credit: https://m.facebook.com/WallyPark
It only took the Wally Park Customer Shuttle about ten minutes, after picking me up, to take me directly to the Brightline Station entrance located in Terminal ‘C’ at the Orlando International Airport. That included two stops at airlines to pick up other passengers.
Photo Credit: https://www.google.com/search=Wally/Park/Shuttle
I took the escalator to the 3rd floor where I met my son, Billy, at the Brightline Station ticket area. We used our e-tickets to enter the 1st class lounge to wait for them to call our 8:50 train. I was surprised at how comfortable and spacious the lounge was.
Photo Credit: https://touringplans.com/brightline-train-to-orlando/
We were able to avail ourselves of an assortment of self-serve complimentary breakfast items such as scrambled eggs, sausage, home-fried potatoes, cheese cubes, and sliced ham. Coffee, soft drinks, and bottled water were also available.
Photo Credit: https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/brightline-train-review/
I was impressed with the eco-utensils provided to us to eat with at the 1st Class Lounge, and later on the train. Even though everything provided to eat with was recyceable, the wooden cutlery was so different from the plastic utensils I am use to receiving at most fast food places (and even at some restaurants) now days. It was a unique experience.
Phot Credit: Bill Lites
When our 8:50 am train to Fort Lauderdale and Miami was called, we took our bottled water from the lounge, and proceeded thru the entry turnstiles (with our QR Code), down the stairs to the train on Track One, and entered the 1st- class car. We found our reserved seats on the single seat side with a table between the seats.
Photo Credit: https://thepointsguy.com/news/brightline/
Billy got busy setting up his Speed Tracker App in his iPhone so we could track the speed of the train on our journey. The train was only lightly loaded with passengers, and I was amazed at how smooth the train ride was from the Orlando Airport (Terminal ‘C’), east along SR-528 to Brevard County where the track turned south toward Miami.
Photo Credit: https://apps.apple.com/speedometer-speed-tracker
Billy said the highest speed he recorded along this straight stretch of track was 125 mph! Billy also loaded the Google Maps app in his iPhone so we could track our progress as well as the train’s speed. As the train slowed down for the turn south, we began looking for familiar sights along the train route adjacent to US-1.
Photo Credit: https://www.pinterest.com/cocoa-florida-water-tower/
We saw the big Cocoa water tower, and Rockledge Square. Then somewhere along this southern portion of the route, we must have moved onto a short piece of the FEC track, because the train began to rock and roll enough to make a few people sick. That was the only short stretch of rough track that I remember during the entire trip.
Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/motion-sickness/
Luckily, this didn’t last long, and we were back on a smooth ride. Then we passed over the Eua Galle River, Crane Creek (Melbourne), Turkey Creek (Palm Bay), St. Sebastian River (Sebastian) bridges, and thru the small towns of Wabasso, Winter Beach, and Gifford. Then we passed thru Vero Beach, Jensen Beach, skirted the St. Lucy River inlet, thru Port Salerno, and Fort Pierce, before arriving at our first stop at West Palm Beach. As the train was slowing, there was an announcement telling passengers who were getting off at this station to gather their belongings and prepare to exit the train, as“This stop would only be for a few moments.”
Photo Credit: https://www.theledger.com/brightline/
—–To Be Continued—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
Bill, I am enjoying your train adventure. The first class breakfast looks good and everything looks bright and clean.
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