Sometimes, You Just Get Lucky

I hemmed and hawed about whether to eat at Borrone's tonight. I'm trying to keep my spending as low as possible each month, but I'm also trying to get out of the house on the weekends to at least be near other people. Besides, I hadn't yet finished the paper today.  So I stopped there on my way home from the day's other adventures.

As I pulled up to the garage, I saw hundreds of people standing on the south train platform.  There's no way they all want to go to San Jose, I thought.  What is there to do in San Jose on a Saturday night, by train?  Nothing, as far as I know.  As I stood in line, I overheard people talking about what the crowd was for. I asked and they told me that the "Holiday Train" was coming at 7:10pm.  I had to go see what this was about.

When I got there, I had taken my paper and sandwich to go.  Most every kid seemed to be on someone's shoulders.  Check out the little blonde boy in the center, blue homemade sweater, and not on shoulders.  He was briefly enchanted by me.  He didn't seem to speak English, but we got "choo choo" and he pointed to where the train was coming from and going to.  Actually, he seemed to be staring more at my sandwich than me.  I'm not sure he would have liked the spicy chimichurri sauce though, so I didn't offer.  

At 7:10 on the dot, the train pulled up.  I'll share some pictures to give you the gist.  I can imagine this is a great Peninsula tradition, with families coming out year after year (although I guess it started only in 2001...it will be a great tradition).  The Salvation Army also has a toy drive at each train station.  

Of course, Santa was there.  Most kids seemed to enjoy this part...although I did hear a lot of crying when Frosty, a nutcracker, a gingerbread man, and Rudolph went by.  Kids don't like it when you can't see a human face.  Neither do I.  One day, if I ever have to teach my own kids about Santa, I 'm not really sure how I'd handle it.  My first thought tonight was that I'd say, "Isn't it nice of Santa to take time out of his very busy schedule to see everyone?"  I mean, really...if kids believe that Santa is making lists and toys for every Gentile in the world, shouldn't they be amazed that he has any free time?  I sure am.  I think I'd be pretty honest with my kids about Santa, knowing that it's likely they won't have much interaction with the guy...but then there's school and you can't have a kid who's telling everyone else that Santa is just an "idea," not a real guy.

The train car that I was stading in front of was called "Yosemite Falls."  How awesome is that?  It is a Pullman sleeper/lounge car decorated in the 1950's style.  See the cool upholstery in the window?

Off they go...look at the parents wave!  One of the cars was an open one, where a chorus sang holiday songs while they were stopped for the 18 minutes.  I became truly happy when I heard "White Christmas."

The train makes its rounds again tomorrow night.  It was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  Since I'm totally a water works lately, I definitely teared up when I saw some of the little faces of pure joy.  What a nice complement to dinner al fresco.