NSC Convention - Day three

The Swap-O-Rama started at nine am. All N scale stuff just for convention attendees. A few clinics today and tonight the Essex Dinner Train. It's supposed to rain all day so we'll see how that works out. Got a tour of Branchline Trains but missed the rest of the Swap-O-Rama and lunch. Went to my room for some junk food since the hotel restaurant was so expensive. It was a nasty rainy day all day and still going when we left for the Essex Clipper Dinner Train. Our bus windshield kept fogging up and the driver would wipe a little hole in the fogged up windshield to see. Made everyone very nervous. We arrived at the train station intact and a bit early so we had to wait for them to bring the train up. We were assigned to specific cars, even specific tables and were escorted to our table by a nicely dressed waiter. Now they knew exactly when were were coming and exactly what each person at each table had ordered so at this point, maybe after serving the salad, they should have been able to set our food in front of us. Not so. We waited and waited for food, finishing the appetizer, the salad and the bread then waiting some more. I just don't understand what the delay could have been. The waitress took drink orders and I ordered a coke, not knowing that a 8 oz. coke would cost $2.50. Dessert was also long in coming but eventually we finished our meal and de-boarded only to find that our busses were not there and after a call to the bus dispatcher it was determined that the dispatcher had no order to send busses. It was cold though not raining. Many were not prepared for standing around outside and some of the ladies used the hand dryers in the restroom to try to stay warm. The bus company recovered quickly however and our buses soon appeared. All in all, it was not the most fun I've ever had at a train show.