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Silver Rails Country 2012: The Silver Rails Event Center
  The final place I would visit while in Silver Rails Country would be the Silver Rails Event Center which is a hall located at 204 East Moore Street in La Plata and features a large hall perfect for weddings, conferences, train shows, banquets, and special events. Special thanks to Amy Cox for the tour of this great facility!
 
A wide-angle view of the event center from across East Moore Street.
 
A closer view of the front entrance of the event center.
 
A wide-angle view of the interior of the Silver Rails Event Center, I love the use of railroad signal lighting!!!
 
Another view of this impressive event center!!!
 
  If you're having a big event in the northeastern Missouri area, this is a great place to have such an event. Back home in New York, I DJ weddings on the side. I would love to DJ a wedding in this great railroad-themed hall someday! It would combine my love of trains and DJ'ing into one venue, similar to how I combine photography with roller coasters when visiting Cedar Point! That said, check out their web site for more information on how to rent out this great facility for your next event, and check out the main Silver Rails Country homepage as well for more info on things to do while here!
  This was my first visit to Silver Rails Country and after spending 3 days here, I almost had a tear in my eye (though that could have just been the sideways rain that was falling when I checked out of the Depot Inn :)), as I wished I could have spent more time here exploring more of the area! What I did cover in this travelogue really only scratches the surface. I will admit that I ended up with a nasty cold by the second day I was here which prevented me from doing even more. That said though, I think I have given you, the viewer a good idea of just how much there is to see and do here! I'll share here some of the other things that occurred while I was in La Plata.
  When I went to pick up my rental car in the morning on October 16th, I was told that all they had available were minivans! I am a single guy who wasn't driving anyone around the area while here so a minivan was way more of a vehicle than I would ever need! However to Enterprise's credit, they still charged me only for the Standard Size car I reserved and didn't require I refill the gas tank upon returning the vehicle (it had a full tank when I drove it off the lot). I had a 2012 Nissan Quest that for whatever reason had South Dakota plates on it! Overall, it was otherwise a good vehicle, though I would much have preferred a 4 door sedan like what I personally drive.
  One of the places I wanted to visit while on this trip was Kansas City Union Station to go railfanning, especially after reading a great article about it in the March 2012 issue of Railfan & Railroad Magazine. This ended up not happening due to my getting that nasty cold on the second day I was here as I was in no shape to drive that far. I did end up spending a bit more time resting in the hotel room trying to get over the cold than I would have liked but overall, I didn't let this bother me and I still had an incredible time while here.
  I was told a rather interesting fact by an employee of the McDonald's in Kirksville, MO when I asked for "Hot Picante" sauce for my breakfast burritos one morning. I was told they only had "Mild" sauce and was told by one of their employees "This is Missouri, nobody eats hot food". That made no sense to this New Yorker and I managed to prove that guy wrong 2 days later when I had some very hot chicken fingers at The Red Rooster restaurant near the Depot Inn & Suites! Those things were downright spicy, which is the way I like them! Being from Western New York, I've eaten a lot of very hot chicken wings in my life so spicy food is something I really like when travelling!
  With all that said, I have a lot of people to thank! For starters, To Larry Liebundguth, one of the caretakers at the La Plata Amtrak Station, thanks for your assistance when I arrived in La Plata! I also want to thank Maria, Andrea, Jordan, Taylor, and the entire staff of the Depot Inn & Suites (if I missed anyone's names, I apologize) for the great service each one of you provided me while there! There is truly no hotel on earth like the Depot Inn, and everyone that works there takes real pride in providing a world class experience to their hotel guests! To Shivam at TrainParty.com, thanks for the tour of the facilities there and for the Amtrak balloon! To Bob & Amy Cox of the American Passenger Rail Heritage Foundation, thanks for all of your assistance! To Bob, Thanks for taking the time to review photos and answer questions about things that came up both while here and back home creating this monster of a travelogue! Amy, thanks for the tours of the Silver Rails Gallery and Event Center! Special Thanks also to Carl Morrison for providing information about some of the photos contained in the travelogue! To Ray Burns from TrainWeb, sorry I didn't get to see you while here but I'm glad I got to talk to you on the phone, I hope all is well! And finally, to Steve Grande from TrainWeb! Thank you for everything you did for me while here! Wow, thanking all these good people, I feel like I just won an oscar or something, but that's how everyone treats you when you're here, like a V.I.P.! I hope to come back here again on a future trip and explore more of Silver Rails Country!
  When it finally was time for me to check out of the Depot Inn, Taylor drove me back to the La Plata Amtrak Station so I could board Amtrak's Southwest Chief and continue my journey cross-country, with my next destination being Los Angeles. Bob Cox was the caretaker in the station once I arrived so I had a nice conversation with him before the Chief finally arrived. Check out the link below as I now head for Los Angeles on Amtrak's Southwest Chief!!!