Beard as White as Snow

I continue to get “Farther (sic) Christmas” hits, so I might as well have a picture of the Jolly Old Elf for people to see. This is the Santa who rode the Minnesota Zephyr “Polar Express” train on Sunday.

I can’t quite recommend the train ride, unless you’ve got a couple of four-year-olds who are obsessed with trains. It was a short ride–about 20 minutes or so, along Main Street and back–and the lunch was … unpleasant.

When I got the tickets in November, I asked (because I’ve learned) if there was a vegetarian option. I was assured that Kelly could have an egg salad sandwich–not a great option, but an option all the same. I was relieved.

But when we got there, everyone got the same lunch in a styrofoam box: dry turkey (two little slices) on a bun, chips, Oreos, fruit juice, and either vanilla or butterscotch pudding. I marched Kelly’s box-o-turkey to the first person who appeared to be in charge and asked very nicely if I could exchange it for the promised egg salad; I was met with genuine confusion and, just before we rolled out of the station, a plate of sliced oranges and kiwi. The fellow in charge–one of those pointy-faced important young men with a walkie-talkie and blue blazer–explained, not terribly, gently, that “We’re pushing 2,000 kids and parents through this year, so we can’t deviate from the box lunch.”

Which is reasonable enough. Though he could have put it a little more nicely–made me feel like we were on a Cattle Car of Forced Cheer–and, heck, Santa Claus deals with millions of kids and I don’t think he’s ever put a turkey sandwich in a vegetarian’s stocking after promising her egg salad. Fortunately, we fed Kelly (another thing we’ve learned) before we left, so she just gloured darkly instead of darkly and hungrily.

But the boys loved it. They loved rolling through the trees, they loved walking the aisles of the cars, they loved standing in front of the train for a picture. And no matter how crummy and over-priced an exercise it was, that’s what matters: Jack and Peter had a great time on the train.

Three things for which I’m thankful:

1. Kiwi
2. Butterscotch pudding
3. The Supreme Bean coffee shop, 402 Main St N, Stillwater, MN