On October 16, 2021, while Blake and I were waiting out the rain, and exploring Cumberland, MD, we came upon the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. We contemplated taking the 4 hour train ride but the rain was going to stop during that time and we had other goals for the weekend. While talking with the lady in the ticket booth she mentioned she still had openings for the Polar Express train ride. I have been wanting to take the kids on the Polar Express train ride for years now and we were not able to do so the past 2 years due to COVID and my pregnancy. I decided to go ahead and book it. Since it was mid October, a lot of the seats were already booked. Some of the standard and deluxe seats were still available but not for all 8 of us to sit together. Plus I wanted this to be an experience they would always remember and figured this was the last year that my oldest would still believe in Santa. (I don’t believe he still does, but he plays it off well).
I was very anxious booking the trip because it was over 2 months ago and I am not someone to make any travel plans that early. Something is bound to happen……
2 tables were available side by side in the Northern Star Dome Class.
Northern Star Dome Class – “Our most premium option! Dome Class will be “above it all” in the upper level of our Dome Car. Passengers receive a special blend of hot chocolate in a commemorative souvenir mug exclusive for premium ticketed services, as well as a special take-home item, a cookie, and children receive a commemorative silver bell. We cannot accommodate more than 4 people at a 4 top table, nor can we accommodate more than 2 people at a 2 top table.”
I went ahead and booked the 2 tables. Very quick and easy booking process.
Hotel:
Again, I was hesitant about booking the hotel because it was over 2 months until our stay.
I booked a suite at the Comfort Inn and Suites – Cumberland, MD for the nights of 12/17 and 12/18. The hotel is only about 10 minutes from the Train Depot and offers onsite breakfast. The hotel had plenty of rooms available and it was cheaper to book through Priceline as I am a VIP member.
https://www.choicehotels.com/maryland/lavale/comfort-inn-hotels/md145
In the details of the Polar Express it is recommended to wear your pajamas, just like in the movie. Blake is a huge Washington Capitals fan and figured matching Capitals PJs would be perfect. Even Taylor got Capitals PJs. We used these PJs for our family Santa Pictures as well.
The Surprise:
As hard as it was, we were able to keep the trip a surprise from the kids. We decided to get a new copy of The Polar Express Book and wrap it up and give it to the kids to open a few days prior to the trip.
The Tuesday before the trip, after dinner we gave the kids the present to open. They were a little confused at first but then they realized that they were going to be riding on the Polar Express. They were very excited and couldn’t wait. We also told them that was the reason for the matching PJs.
Blake and I knew we wanted to take the kids to the MD, PA and WV high points while on the trip to let the kids check off 3 more high points. WV and PA don’t take that long to hike to so we wanted to find other things in the area to do. I began looking at website to try to find Holiday things to do in the area we were staying and within about 1 hours from where we were staying. I found a pancake breakfast with Santa at a local Volunteer Fire Department on the Saturday we would be there. We decided that this would be a great option for breakfast. Something fun for the kids to do and I have never been to a volunteer fire station for a meal that has been anything less then delicious. I also found an amusement park located on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA called Kennywood and they have a large Christmas event. Blake and I decided this would be perfect. We have Busch Gardens near our home and the kids love going to the Christmastown event. We knew they would enjoy the Holiday Lights at Kennywood. We didn’t purchase tickets but knew this was the “plan”.
Kennywood is located about 2 hours from Cumberland, MD and because of this I decided it would make more sense to change the hotel on the 2nd day of the trip to a hotel closer to Pittsburgh. This was Thursday before the trip. This is when I got the last minute travel planning adrenaline rush that I enjoy. I cancelled our hotel in Cumberland for the 2nd night and researched hotels near Pittsburgh and found one in Uniontown that would line up perfectly with Saturday nights adventures and our high point hiking on Sunday. I booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Uniontown, PA. The hotel has fantastic ratings, free hot breakfast and the room size we needed.
Friday December 17th, 2021
I got home from work around 4:45 and Blake and I began to pack the car and we waited for the kids to get off the bus. We left about 15 minutes after they got home. Without traffic, the drive from the house to the hotel is a bout 4 hours. It was already dark when we started the drive, which made for a lack of scenery. The kids however, were able to keep themselves entertained during the drive. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and actually let the kids eat in the car since it was late and we were just trying to get to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel a little after 10 and got everyone ready for bed.
Saturday December 18th, 2021
We got dressed for the day, got our matching PJs together, packed up and headed to the car. It was pouring and we had to get very creative when we packed the car up because the parking lot was full of puddles and we didn’t want to put any bags on the ground. With a family of 8, we travel with a pack n play and cot and these go in the bottom of the trunk, making packing and repacking a bit of a challenge.
We arrive at Bedford Road Volunteer Fire Department for their pancake breakfast with Santa. The breakfast cost $6 per adult and $4 per child. Once we paid, we were each given a menu to circle what we wanted for breakfast and then provided it to the chefs in the kitchen. Within a few minutes we all had our breakfast. We sat down and enjoyed our breakfast.
Out of nowhere, The Grinch appears and we had to get a picture with him
After we finished breakfast, the kids visited Santa and Mrs. Claus. They took pictures and told them their Christmas wishes. Each child received 2 goodie bags. One filled with candy and one filled with small Christmas goodies.
Before leaving the fire station, each of the kids got to pick out a toy from 2 large tables they had set up. The boys got cars and a book, both girls got drawing tablets and Taylor got a book and stuffed Elmo. We did not expect the full size toys. This put the breakfast over the top and we were very pleased with the decision to go to the breakfast.
Our next stop of the day was the Pennsylvania High Point. This high point has a few hikes that lead to the high point but also offers a drive up to the “summit” as well. We wanted to take the kids on the hike. Out and back it is only 2 miles and the rain had let up some at this point. A hiker was finishing his hike when we were getting ready and he said that the trail was covered with mud and that we should prepare to get filthy. We decided this out not be the best decision since right after the hike we would be going on the Polar Express. We drove around and parked in the parking lot for the quick access to the high point. The kids ran to the high point and before we could get Taylor out of the car. The high point has a tower that sits above the trees and the kids loved climbing to the top.
Blake and I took pictures of the kids at the high point marker while we were still on the tower.
High point #2 for the kids – PA! (This was also their first time in PA).
After we finished at the high point, we changed into our Washington Capital’s PJs and headed for the train.
We arrived at the Cumberland Station. Blake dropped the kids and I off at the depot to get checked in while he went to park the car. I gave our name to the attendant in the ticket booth and we were given our car number.
Due to COVID, the hot chocolate and cookies were served inside the train depot, grab and go style. (From what I read, in years past the hot coco and cookies were served at your seats). Picking it up prior to boarding the train was fine for us.
Once Blake and Taylor arrived, we went to car 5 and boarded. We were in the dome car “Stampede Pass” and had the best seats in my opinion, the first 2 tables when you enter the car and go up the stairs.
Due to us being a party of 8, we had 2 tables. Each table had a reserved name placard, Polar Express reusable bag, and Christmas Ornament. The boys sat at one table and us girls (and Blake) sat at the other table. The inside of the train cars were lined with lights and Christmas decorations, really adding to the Christmas feel.
Our waiter was awesome and came up to up immediately after we got seated and started to talk and interact. She took a family picture of us.
She also took selfies with us.
The kids were eager to see what was in the bag on each of the tables. Prior to the ride beginning we let them open them. The bag contained 4 beautiful commemorative hot chocolate mugs. The kids were very excited about them.
As the train started going, the onboard entertainment started. We were given a QR code to scan to get the lyrics for the Carole’s being sung. We waived to all of the people standing on the platform watching the train leave. It was amazing to see so many people watching the train and many of them had cameras taking pictures. People were taking pictures at every train crossing along the way to the North Pole.
Taylor was so happy once the train started moving. She stood most of the time and looked out of the window. She also stole Arianna’s camera.
Shortly after departing, the conductor came to to get everyone’s ticket. Just like the book and movie the conductor asked each of us if we had a ticket. He then proceeded to give everyone a golden ticket. He was hole punching the tickets and everyone was having a great time with it. It was a very magical experience. (even for Blake and I).
Once everyone received their golden tickets, the book reading began. Our waiter would sit down at all of the tables and show pictures of the book as it was being read over the speakers.
We approached the part of the book that talked about the Hobo and next thing we know the Hobo is coming up the stairs and walking around talking to everyone. He even stopped for pictures.
Our seats were fantastic and we were able to see the steam from the train and cars sitting at the crossings.
We approached the North Pole and Santa was waiting with his reindeer. Santa waved to everyone on the train as we passed by. (Due to Covid we were not able to get off the train). On the other side of the train, there was a sign that said North Pole and an inflatable snowman. We did the 1:30pm ride, so the Christmas lights were not visible at this time. Which was fine with us because we were able to enjoy the mountain scenery.
I was able to get a few more amazing shots of the train as we were heading back towards the station.
On the ride back to the station there was more singing and dancing by our waiter. She was having so much fun!
Santa made a quick appearance in our train car and said he would be back with something special. The kids were very excited to see Santa. A lot of cheering erupted in our train car at the first sight of Santa.
Our waiter came and talked to everyone while we waited for Santa to return. We also finished up our hot chocolate and cookies and cleaned up before the end of the train ride.
Santa returned and gave each child a silver bell! Lot of bell ringing once all of the kids in the train car got their bells. They truly felt the magic of Christmas. Santa gave Taylor the first gift of Christmas.
Once off the train we had someone take a family picture of us in front of the train.
We had a fantastic time on our Polar Express train ride. The kids had a “magical” experience and one they will never forget.
A few days before the ride I found a couple of reviews on the experience and they were very negative. This had me very concerned because of everything they were saying. Blake calmed my nerves about it by saying that regardless, it is still a ride on a train through the mountains and the kids will love it. We had quite the opposite experience of these negative reviews. Everything was great from start to finish. The only negatives I had of our experience is that the windows could have really used a cleaning. Some of the windows were filthy and made visibility rough. When I booked the ride, it was advertised as a 90 minute experience. However this was changed and it was only a 60 minute experience. I did not find this out until a couple of days before when I received the reminder email. The North Pole could have been done up a lot more but this is coming from an adult. Our kids were very happy with the North Pole. We plan to take a different Polar Express next year, not because we didn’t enjoy this one, but to travel to a different area.
The kids explored around the Cumberland Station grounds before we got in the car to leave. It was raining at the time so we didn’t stay long.
Once we left Cumberland, we began to head towards Kennywood. We kept our eye on the radar due to all of the rain we were getting. It showed that rain would be heavy and last almost the entire time the park was open. We got to the park and pulled into the gas station next door and really looked at the weather. We determined that it wouldn’t be worth it to go to the park due to all of the rain. A light rain we could handle but this was not light rain.
Being on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, we decided to go to a popular Pittsburgh restaurant called Primanti Brothers (152 East Bridge St, Homestead, PA 15120). The popular NHL team in Pittsburgh is the Penguins and we were still dressed in our Capital’s PJs. We made quite the scene when we entered the restaurant in Capital’s clothing. Of course we had to take a picture under the Penguins flag.
We were seated next to a table decked out in Penguins clothing, this was perfect. One of the men sitting at the table said “you have go to be F***ing kidding me” and his dad came up to us shortly after and told us how much he loved our outfits and it made him so happy to see and put a big smile on his face. This made our night. We had a wonderful server and fantastic food. All of the kids received rubber duckies from the server and fun straws. Such a great experience.
We decided to drive into downtown Pittsburgh to look around and check out their decorations for Christmas. We found $5 parking in a parking garage near PPG Place. When we got off the elevator we were right at the ice skating rink with the large Christmas tree in the middle.
The tree was beautiful. It had a light show projected on it. We found out advanced tickets had to be purchased to participate in the ice skating and they were sold out. However there was a standby line and we got in line with only 2 people in front of us. We waited about 30 minutes and then we were called in for skate rentals. Blake wasn’t able to skate with Taylor in her carrier so I opted out of skating and took picture s of the kids. Arianna was the only one that had been on ice skates before but it was years ago. The ice had to be cleaned before Blake and the kids got on.
Once the ice was cleaned the kids went out. I was walking around the rink as they were skating and helping them out and encouraging them. I would hold their hand to help keep them from holding the wall. The employees were very helpful as well. One gave Ethan and Ari some pointers and that was it. They took off. Everyone skated for about an hour and had a lot of fun and of course there were many falls but that is part of learning.
While the kids were skating I took Taylor around the area. We found some neat dinosaur sculptures.
While the kids were turning the skates in, I got everyone hot chocolate from a food truck outside of the rink. They were very happy to have a nice warm drink waiting on them.
On the way out of Pittsburgh, we found another tree that was lit up.
We arrived at our hotel, Holiday Inn Express & Suites – Uniontown, PA around 10pm. The hotel was very clean, quiet and spacious. The front desk showed up to our door shortly after we arrived in our room and provided us with extra blankets and pillows. I was very impressed, we normally have to go to the front desk and ask but she was on top of it. The beds were very comfortable and the blackout curtains worked too well……lol We all slept until about 9 am. Once we got up we went to the hotel lobby and had breakfast. It was a very nice hot breakfast and very filling. While the kids finished up their breakfast, Blake packed the car to head out.
We arrived at the location of our first hike of the day. The Maryland high point. The unique thing about this hike is that it starts in West Virginia and for the majority of the hike it remains in West Virginia until you are almost at the high point. The trail runs alongside an old logging site. While we hate logging, we know it has to be done and for this hike it actually works out better because it actually gives you a view. Before the logging it was an old growth forest.
Hoye Crest (Backbone Mountain) MD High point
- Location: Eglon, West Virginia – Monongahela National Forest
- Distance: 2.31 miles
- Trail Type: Out and Back
- Elevation Gain: 692 feet
- Trail: Hoye Crest (Backbone Mountain)
- Moving Time: 1:18:02
- Weather: low 30s/snow
- Terrain: Dirt, rocks, branches
The majority of the trail was covered in snow, this made for a beautiful hike. The entire hike is straight up, no switchbacks. You do make 1 turn into the woods on the way to the high point and another turn to take you to the high point. The kids did fantastic on the ascent.
The snow heavier, the closer to the top and you could see the snow blow on the trees leading to the high point, very unique.
We all made it to the high point and the kids were very excited to hit their 2nd high point in 2 days.
The high point has a mailbox with a registry notebook inside to record that you made it to the summit. The kids all signed their name in the book. Blake and I also showed them where we signed it a few months before.
Before we began our descent, we took the kids to the WV/MD state line marker. The love state line markers and being in 2 or more states at once.
It was very chilly at the high point and we didn’t stay too long. We had to be careful on the descent due to the ice and mud. We did see really neat as my kids called it “ice crystals”
We finished the hike and headed for Seneca Rocks, West Virginia
We made it to Seneca Rocks, the kids first time. The visitors center was unfortunately closed and we didn’t have time to do the hike to the top of the rocks. We snapped some pictures with the kids and went on our way.
Not far down the road from Seneca is the West Virginia High Point, Spruce Knob. Not long after we made the turn onto the road leading to Spruce Knob we began to see snow covered banks. The rest of the drive up, looked like it was straight out of a Hallmark Christmas Movie.
We made it to the parking lot for Spruce Knob. We put on hats, gloves and jackets for the 1/2 mile high point hike.
Spruce Knob – elevation 4863′
- Location: Seneca Rocks, WV
- Distance: 0.7 miles
- Trail Type: Loop
- Elevation Gain: 23′
- Trail: Spruce Knob recreation trail
- Moving Time: 21:53
- Weather: 23 degrees, snow covered
It was a very cold but beautiful hike. The kids got to the high point first and ran to the top of the observation tower. The kept throwing snow on us from on top of the tower and they had a snowball fight.
We took pictures with the kids at the high point benchmark.
We continued the loop trail back to the parking lot, snapping pictures and taking in the views along the way.
After our hike we got back in the car to warm up and head home. It was a pretty boring ride home since it was getting dark by the time we left.
For dinner, we stopped at The Fishing Pig. We wanted a nice sit down restaurant vs fast food. This restaurant was recommended to us by a friend of Blakes and it did not disappoint. Everyone ate almost all of their food and we took home the leftovers. One awesome thing about the restaurant is they use paper to line the tables with and it gets changed after each family and guest are able to draw on it. It kept the kids (even Taylor) very occupied.
We had such a fantastic trip. The kids got to do and see so much and had great new experiences. They checked off 3 more high points (PA, MD, WV). The kept joking with us that they are from Virginia and still have not checked off the VA high point. Everyone went right to bed when we got home and slept in the next morning.
Nic of Time - Travel 