No better way than the train to see America the beautiful

All the places we wish we'd stopped

The 111-year-old Holland Hotel in Alpine, Texas, was built during the mercury boom in the area. All photos: Rashmee Roshan Lall

Reader,

Please excuse my enthusiasm for the train because there truly is no better way to see America the beautiful.

A month is enough to only do just one small part of this vast country that extends from sea to shining sea.

We did the southwest, a sliver of it. But did we do it properly? There were lots of places we wished we had stopped.

For instance, Galesburg Illinois, where one of the state’s first anti-slavery societies was founded, and which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Home to Knox College, a substantial part of Galesburg city is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Then, there was Gallup, New Mexico, off Route 66. From the train station we could see the large warehouse offering “direct” sale and purchase of Zuni fetishes, the traditional, miniature animal and bird carvings in semi-precious stone.

And Deming, New Mexico, just 35 mile…