Moms Talk: A Family Ride on the Northstar

Her hands clamped over her ears, her eyes wide with excitement, Violet took in the speeding blur of cars as they whipped past us, pulling into Fridley station.

She'd been on the light rail before, but for her, the first ride on a "real train" was going to be something completely different. Vi has loved the noise and color of trains since she saw her first Thomas and Friends—from the little wooden Thomas and James she tooted along the tracks of her train table at home to the real engines and box cars she watches from afar as we cross the bridge over the rail yard.

It didn't take much coaxing for us to convince her that a family ride on the Northstar commuter train would make an excellent way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Kids Ride Free
We drove to the park-and-ride at the Fridley station and she quickly led us underground, through the green-tile tunnel that connected to the outbound platform. Ten dollars in the ticket machine got us a full pass for the four of us—$2.50 each direction for adults, and children younger than 5 ride free.

Our plan was simple: take the train from the Fridley station out to the end of the line at Big Lake. We would have an hour to eat lunch, then head back on the train and backtrack.

It was a simple plan in theory but in practice left much to be desired.  In a desire to travel light, I brought Sebastian in a carrier rather than a stroller, which worked well for the ride itself but not so well once we arrived at out destination.

Big Lake
Like all of the platforms besides the Target Field stop in downtown Minneapolis, Big Lake station isn't really near the center of action in town. Or, it is, but not in a way that makes it foot traffic friendly.

We nimbly dodged cars as we walked the shoulder of the highway, with hardly a sidewalk in site. The half-mile to the nearest fast-food restaurant, Subway, was semi-perilous—even more hampered by the fact that apparently the baby had outgrown his carrier, which kept unsnapping itself on one side. 

He wasn't pleased with the light sweatshirt I had thrown over him to keep the sun off his face, either, making it a rather miserable trip for a six month old.

Once at the restaurant, we realized we had exactly 30 minutes to get food, eat and leave, and most of a Little League team in front of us ordering. Still, we managed to get fed and get back to the station with little fuss and few tears (mostly mine).

Return Trip
That was when we realized there was a Twins game about to start downtown.  The cars, which had been entirely vacant on the way out, were already filling quickly with passengers. Even worse, it was past nap time for both kids. Then the true disaster struck.

I had left Sebastian's soothie in the house. I was traveling with a sleepy baby and no pacifier.

I'm still not quite sure how we made it back to the Fridley station without any bloodshed. I do know that we were lucky, and the baby was only truly inconsolable between the last two stops. Once we headed toward the door at our Fridley stop, I quite literally heard a collective sigh of relief from those left behind in the car.

Treat at Grandpa's
We celebrated our victory over lack of sidewalks, lack of naps and lack of too much screaming with a trip to Grandpa's Ice Cream, where Vi and I got dishes of his homemade desserts while Daddy drove the car in circles, letting Bass sleep.   After trying a bite of my pink grapefruit sorbet, Vi immediately informed me that I would be eating her child scoop of smores while she then proceeded to polish off the rest of my sorbet. I desperately wanted a pint to take home, but it was simply too busy to get back in line, a sure sign of how good the ice cream was in the little shop.

Would we do the trip again? Probably not. But I still wouldn't trade a second of it. Well, maybe those five minutes between the Coon Rapids and Fridley stops. I think most of the passengers would trade those five minutes they spent with us, too.