Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

Most of us have had a love affair with trains since we were children traveling with our parents, but today booking a train trip to celebrate family reunions, wedding anniversaries, historic birthdays or corporate anniversary or incentive meetings has become the ultimate opportunity to share riding the rails with loved ones or business partners in style.

California Zephyr Rail Car and Colonial Crafts Rail Car management have been successfully planning and implementing special interest trips and corporate meetings on their historic train cars for clients for over twelve years and have a very exciting trip schedule planned for 2014. These professionals strive to provide everything needed to insure guests a travel train experience they will never forget, making special celebrations unique and personalized corporate gatherings meaningful. This has proven to be an ideal way to hold corporate meetings, and can include equipment necessary to unfold a new company campaign or just honor star performers.

Food & Beverage while riding these rail cars includes the services of their trained chefs, who are outstanding in their preparation and presentation of gourmet meals while guests enjoy the beautiful and historic scenes passing by. Food aficionado’s and wine connoisseurs’ will be impressed with the overall quality and service offered while traveling on California Zephyr Rail Car and Colonial Crafts Rail Car trips. Wines and cocktails can be personally selected by travelers, and include fine California wines, as well as special request items agreed upon.

Menus are thoughtfully designed with the group booking the trip in mind, be it a family anniversary celebration or corporate business retreat on a train. Hotels and restaurants selected as part of the itinerary are always the finest available.

Sleeping accommodations are private and cozy. Most often the train is stopped while guests sleep, but at other times following a wonderful dinner and cocktails, they are lulled to sleep by the motion of the train, and wake in their scheduled destination the next morning.

The 2014 schedule for California Zephyr and Colonial Craft Rail Cars includes two overnight trips to Hearst Castle for a personal behind the scenes tour of “The Hill” that features a private dinner at the Neptune Pool with a Hearst Ranch beef entrée paired with Hearst Wine if desired, followed by an overnight stay at a charming property overlooking the ocean.

Drew Wilson, who took the Hearst Castle tour and dinner trip last year, said “this was my favorite trip traveling along the coast. The dramatic mountain scenery is thrilling, and the meals and service provided are outstanding. The dinner at the Neptune Pool was fantastic. The steak was so delicious and melted in my mouth.”

A wine tasting and lunch is scheduled before returning home the next day. The September 18-19 Hearst Castle trip will leave from Oakland at 8:35 a.m. and will arrive back in Oakland in late afternoon. The October 9-10 Hearst Castle trip will leave Los Angeles from Union Station at 10:00 a.m. and return the next afternoon.

A special addition to the 2014 California Zephyr Rail Car schedule is an opera lovers dream. The train trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico July 28 through August 8 will include attending performances at the Santa Fe Opera, a three night stay at the La Fonda Hotel, group dinners, sightseeing and shopping, a ride on the historic Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway that has been featured in countless Hollywood movies, a visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and more.

For detailed trip information, accommodations and pricing please visit http://www.CalZephyrRailcar.com or call (714) 751-2032.

Zipcar has expanded our airport offerings yet again to include Santa Barbara Municipal Airport. Zipcars – such as a Toyota Corolla named “Clarks” and a Nissan Sentra named “Snay” are now available starting at $9 per hour or $69 per day. Gas, insurance and 180 miles are included with each reservation.

With this expansion, Zipcar is now providing members not only with wheels when they want them, but also where they want them when they travel with vehicles available at nearly 30 airports by the hour or by the day. Major flight delay or long layover? Instead of sitting in the airport for hours on end, travelers can now reserve a Zipcar for a couple hours and get out and explore the local area. It’s also a great option for business travelers who need to zip in and out of town for a quick meeting or two. Members can go right up to their car, swipe in and drive away – no waiting in lines, no filling out tons of paperwork and no extra fees!