Wilmington Amtrak Station

I checked up parking near Wilmington Amtrak station, since I will go for a New York trip.



Someone told me the station was small, and actually it is small.
It is a little bit difficult to find out where the entrance is and where the pick up space is.

Inside the station is clean and polices stay there.
Since this is a only hall in the station, you will never get lost if you wait here.
Free wifi is available here.

However, outside of the station seems dangerous.
You must be careful especially at night.

★ About Parking

If you go just for pick up someone, you can park just in front of the station on the west side.
Parking garages might be safe if you park overnight, the price is from $11 to more per day.

Taxis are always waiting in front of the entrance.
I've never used DART (bus), but it's a one of selections to get the station.


①Parking Garage next to the station.


② Open air parking next to the staion. (Pre paid)



③ A big parking garage across the street.
    The east side of the parking is Grayhound bus sation.



④ North parking garage.



⑤  West parking garage, it takes minutes to the station. Close to Barcray bank.

※ This information is updated in July 2013.

How to book Amtrak tickets

Amtrak is a American bullet. We have Shinkansen in Japan and the tickets are expensive same as Amtrak.
The difference between Amtrak and Japanese Shinkansen is that if you book Amtrak tickets earlier, you can save the costs.

Amtrak tickets are recommended to book at least 2 weeks before you ride.

For example, I checked a price from New York to Wilmington 2 month before the dayr I take, the price was $44  at that time.
However I rechecked the same day and same time ticket 1 week before the day ride, the price had increased to $60.



Also, leaving early and late tickets are cheaper than busy day time tickets.
Some blogger says, unpopular lines are still cheap if you buy tickets just before you ride. However, the line between Washington D.C. and New York is one of the most popular lines in the U.S. So I believe it will never cheap just before you ride.

But don't worry. Tickets are easy to book and easy to change on line.
Amtrak E-tickets are not refundable. If you cancel your train, they will give you E-voucher.
You can use the voucher to book another train. Voucher expires the same cancellation day of next year.

Once, I didn't know about it and I booked another train before I cancel.
I didn't have plan to take Amtrak so I called customer service, and they helped me to use the voucher to the new book and the money was refunded. If you made same mistake as me, never give up and call customer service !

What is written above is the tips of Online booking.
I'm not sure about other ways to book tickets, since I don't have confidence to book ticket by phone, and to go Wilmington station to book is inconvenient for me. Anyway, good luck for your booking !

Useful Links for newcomers

If you just arrived Delaware from other countries, you might have no idea about traffic ways and shop names.
I hope this list will help your life in Delaware.


◆General

・Craigs list 　… Advertise website which you can find used items, house, jobs.

・Trip adviser … World's famous travel website.

・Yelp＊ 　　　… American trip adviser. This is more common for Americans.


◆Club activity, ESL

* Most American club and ESL will close during summer.


・International Women's Club 　… On Every Wednesday and Thursday, except for summer.

Various cultural classes are held, but only for women.


＄ college couses

・University of Delaware, English language institute ... Newark

・Delaware technical community college ... Wilmington, Dover, Georgetown, Stanton.

・Delaware country community college ... Pennsylvania's community college.

Media is the closest campus which has English class from Delaware side.


＄Almost free

・ESL (state of Delaware Adult Basic Education) …Brochure can be found at libraries.

・English Conversation Newark … On Mondays 2:00 and 19:00 at Newark, DE.

・Cornerstone Presbyterian Church … On Wednesday nights at Landenberg, PA.

・The Adult Literacy Program　…　For beginners to intermediates, at Kennet Square, PA.


◆Asian groceries　


・Newark Farmers Market　Newark, DE (Route 2/ Kirkwood highway)

・東洋食品　Oriental grocery　Wilmington,DE ( Route 2/ Kirkwood highway)

・Wang's grocery        Newark, DE (E Main steet)

・Maido！        Philadelphia

・H-Mart         Philadelphia

・Mitsuwa ミツワマーケットプレイス        New Jersy


◆Traffic ways

・Delaware Express　…Airport shuttle

・Philadelphia Airport

・AMTRAK 　… American bullet train. (Wilmington station)

・GRAYHOUND　… The American biggest bus line. Bus stop is at Wilmington near Amtrak station.

・MEGA BUS　… Cheap bus company. Bus stop is at North campus of University of Delaware.


◆Shops

・Super Market

- Normal　…ACME , Shop Rite , Giant , Super Fresh

- Organic　…Whole foods , Trader Joe's　

- Membership Whole sale　…Costco , BJ'ｓ

・Discount store　…Walmart , Target , Kmart

・Drug store　…Walgreens , CVS , Rite Aid

・Off price store　…Marshalls , T.J.Maxx

・Book store　…Barns and Noble

Philadelphia Marathon

I registerd the Philadelphia marathon.

The Philadelphia marathon is held on November 23, from 7:00 am. 

Application fee becomes high as it approaches a due date.

I applied on May 23, and the price of me was a total of $124.82 including service charge.

You can also find Baltimore marathon, which is on October 18, in marathon calendar.

It is introduced in an article "10 Awesome Marathons To Sign Up For Right Now "

The Delaware and its suburb useful Map

This map is pointed many useful landmarks and shops.

You can find the same places which are on the Useful Links.

 The Delaware and its suburb useful map