As much as I love Seattle, I do enjoy being back on the East Coast. I’ll have landed in or passed through some of the greatest cities in the country on this trip – Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, DC – even Mystic, Connecticut!

I’m really settling into the trip now. I feel I’m in my element on a train, a welcome break from the off-balance way I’ve existed for the past few days. Providence is lovely, but the conference folks were definitely from a different world.

The Acela Express trains are not quite up to the standard of their European counterparts – France’s TGV and others – but they are respectably appointed, comfortable, and fairly quiet. Zipping along at speeds of up to 150 mph, the usual clickety-clack of the wheels turns into something resembling the reassuring whirr of a piston engine.

It’s an interesting way to see the world, on board a train. In Europe, I was disappointed in my wish to see the countryside, as the high-speed trains there travel – quite understandably – between view-obscuring berms. There’s some of that to be experienced onboard the Acela, and there are the usual gritty industrial zones and gray, run-down residential areas that coagulate around the rail lines. However, there are also significant stretches of waterside villages with their marinas and harbors and houses for the wealthy. I was even able to glimpse a fog-shrouded Manhattan skyline at twilight, just as the lights of the Chrysler building came on.

Twenty minutes later, the train left Penn Station and emerged from the subterranean rail lines into the tunnel of darkness. Now, with the cabin lights dimmed, the lights tend to be only occasional pinpricks or glowing orange pockets of the odd settlement. At high speeds, the WHUMP of a passing train rattles the windows and cures us of our hiccups.

The one tiresome aspect of the voyage – only partly alleviated by the new iPod – is the cell phone conversations. For my part, I’m terribly embarrassed to have my one-way conversations full-volume even in an empty car, much less with other passengers surrounding me. Heck, I didn’t even want to sit in the Quiet Car -where cell phones and loud conversations are banned – for fear that the light typing I planned to do might disturb someone. But I must have a disease or a syndrome of some kind because others seem perfectly capable of carrying on all sorts of inane gab fests without the slightest hint of regret.

At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I worry that these folks aren’t taking advantage of the great benefit that travel offers – perspective. Seeing the world at 100+ mph, at the slightly elevated height of the tracks, is to my mind one of the great opportunities of our modern life. When much of our lives are lived in the canyons of city blocks or the caves of our various dwellings, it’s essential to occasionally see the world differently. Look here and see where our old cars are piled up. Look there and see people in rags sitting on the stoop of their ramshackle cottage, next to the burned out husk of a brick apartment building. Watch a bird hang motionless over the mast of a sailboat. Watch grand cities turn into graffiti-covered suburbs, turn into lush forests, turn into beaches and quaint little downtowns, and back again. Put the phone down. Does your wife really need to know for the third time that you’ll be in at 10:30?

Tyler Cowen of The Volokh Conspiracy was asking yesterday if anyone knew of any good ethnic food in Orlando. That got me thinking about what I would suggest to people who visit there. Here’s my response, edited slightly. I’d love to hear from anyone else who remembers good local restaurants that I’ve forgotten.

I lived in Orlando for 10 years, and if I could have found more good local restaurants and fewer chain offerings, I might have been convinced to stay. Of course, the presence of good local restaurants would have required that so many other fundamental things would have been different about Orlando, too, like a less transient population and a more widespread thirst for cultural diversity. (My favorite joke ever: What’s the difference between Orlando and a cup of yogurt? The yogurt has an active culture.) However, I’ll dig through the old memory banks for a few suggestions:

Cafe Tu Tu Tango – 8625 International Dr. – Near Sea World
Normally, I’d tell you to avoid “I-Drive” like the plague, but Cafe Tu Tu Tango is worth the aggravation. Technically, yes, it’s a chain, but it’s a small chain and I used to do improv with the guy who designed the interiors, so it counts as local. It’s a tapas restaurant (good for groups) with a Spanish artist’s loft kind of feel. There’s art all over the walls and shelves, artists creating more art live, and the occasional strolling musician. It was my favorite place to eat in Orlando. There can be a wait, so call first: (407) 248-2222

Kirkman & Conroy area restaurants – Universal Studios area
I lived in this part of Orlando, smack dab next to Universal Studios, for a lot of years, so I’m very familiar with these restaurants. Just take I-4 towards Orlando to Kirkman Road (you’ll see Universal on your left), head north on Kirkman (away from International Drive) a couple of miles until you get to Conroy Road. On your left will be a couple of strip malls. (Don’t be put off by the term; everything in Florida is in a strip mall.) On the left-hand strip mall, you’ll find PR’s Mexican Restaurant (best Mexican food in town!) and JB’s Sports Bar (buffalo wings and big screen TVs!). On the right-hand side is the very popular LePeep for breakfast and lunch. I think that Kim Wu’s Chinese food is on this side, too. There’s another restaurant called Jin Ho in one of these malls. You definitely want Kim Wu, NOT Jin Ho.