On Monday, Aug. 18, I had the privilege of riding the new Amtrak Mardi Gras line from Mobile to New Orleans, Louisiana.

I have been tracking the progress and repairs through the Southern Railway Commission Facebook and website for the last year, and as soon as the date of the first train was released, I was one of the first to get my ticket on this historic ride that has been in the works for the last 20 years since Hurricane Katrina.

I live on the Eastern Shore in Fairhope, and for most people down South, riding a bus or a train for travel is very foreign and inconvenient to them. However, I spent most of my life riding public transportation around my hometown of New Orleans. Since I was a young kid, I rode the city buses to and from school and the Greyhound on longer trips, and it was just normal to me. As an adult, I lived and worked in major cities like New York City, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta and frequently used the subways.

I enjoy sitting back and relaxing, doing some work on my computer or just watching a good movie while someone else has the responsibility of making sure I get to my destination safe. In the last few years since moving to the Gulf Coast and Eastern Shore, I would take Megabus and Greyhound and always hoped one day the train would come back, and it finally did.

This past Monday for the first ride, I drove from Fairhope and wanted to park my car somewhere safe overnight since I was staying for two days. The advertised parking lot in front of the platform on Water Street between the convention center and the cruise ship terminal parking was not an overnight option and not protected, so I parked at the Renaissance Hotel across the street. The advertised price overnight for me to park was $20 per day, and it felt safer since it was covered and gated. The price for the parking lot in front of the platform is $15 per day if you are taking a there-and-back the same day.

It was a very steamy 100-degree day, and the platform doesn't have a shade structure, so we all huddled under a small tent on the sidewalk and chatted up before boarding. Everyone had a story about why they were there on the first day and was eager to share with the group.

The train goes from New Orleans to Mobile and back twice a day every day in the early morning and late afternoon. The stops from Mobile headed west are Pascagoula, Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, landing at the final destination of New Orleans. The trip is a little over four hours, and it went by quickly.

It was a very festive atmosphere, and all the passengers seemed to be loving the new feel of the cars and the fact that they weren't confined to their seats and could partake at the beverage snack car where lots of socializing was going on in the café car.

The ride was smooth; we spent a lot of time over and around water all along the route, and we arrived 20 minutes early. What was so special as well was the locals and tourists who were at each station waving and taking photos. I was told that Mobile isn't quite ready to invest in a covered, nicer platform or station until they see how well this line will go, however, the other towns have already banked on this being a success. The Pascagoula station is an old, refurbished station where a new brewery will be going inside, and the town has a few shops to visit as well close to the line. The station at Biloxi is also the bus station, and you can see the Beau Rivage from the train with it being only a few miles away. Gulfport was where we experienced most of the excitement from people waving and cheering, the local police were there with lights on, and the town looked like it was ready for new visitors with lots of places to eat right out of the cute little station.

All in all, the experience was a fun and positive one for certain. I made a few new friends who I chatted with the entire trip, and people were taking photos together and making cool train memories. What I can only hope is that Amtrak keeps the prices down at $24 each way, the customer service remains as great as it was that day and the cleanliness and streamlining of the process continues to encourage more people and add more cars and tourism in both directions.

My advice to travelers is to not be afraid of stepping outside the box of conventional travel and use train travel and know that once you get to your destination you can always take shuttles and car services and have no worries.