Arrival at Springfield

The first time we ventured down to the Amherst Railway Society's train show eight years ago, we simply drove the three hours down there, visited the show, and drove back home that night... completely exhausted. 

Once we arrived at this show that year, we immediately realized that there was no possible way to see all of the show in just one eight hour day so we decided it would be wiser to stay overnight the following year so we could attend the show both days. This would also allow us to avoid six hours of driving in one day.

The following year (our third year), we decided to start heading down to Springfield on Friday and stay an extra night. This allowed us to settle in and relax a bit before heading to the hectic, crowded show on Saturday. We would use the pool, hot tub, have a few drinks and have food delivered to the hotel on that first night. This plan seemed to work out much better for a train show that is spread out over eight acres!

Over the years, more and more people have joined us for this extended weekend in Springfield. Sheila now books a block of rooms the moment they become available at the show rate. This weekend has become as much a social event for all of us as it is a model train event.

This year was no different. As much as we were looking forward to the train show, we were all looking forward to that first night of socializing at the hotel.

One of the advantages of staying at the Springfield La Quinta hotel is that they have a lounge where we can congregate, have a few drinks and eat at a big table. The hotel itself is nothing to write home about but that lounge is very convenient. 

This year, we stayed in the lounge until around 9:30pm and then headed up to one of the rooms and congregated there for about an hour and a half before calling it a night. There was a "Sorry" board game championship series happening on one of the beds while the rest of us talked and watched a basketball game on television. 

We had a great time together and we were all looking forward to the following morning when we could finally attend the train show!