When I was a kid, my family had relatives in D.C., so we usually spent some time during the summer months in D.C. during the late-50s and early-60s. Passenger trains were commonplace and numerous then, so we often took a train into Union Station, then took a cab to our destination. I can't remember seeing any "bad areas" in D.C. The Smithsonian was a quaint, cluttered array of extremely amazing "stuff", and I loved the clutter. Trolley cars, with overhead wires, were still operating in parts of D.C., until about '62.
The train ride to D.C. itself is a sort of "lost paradise" for me. Today's Amtrak trains don't compare. Then, the train had a name fitting of a train bound for D.C. --
The George Washington. A visit to the dining cars during the era was a real treat. A complete menu of freshly prepared foods served by uniformed waiters, on tables covered with real linen tablecloths, complete with real silverware, china, and crystal glassware. You could book a "roomette", that gave families a small but private combo bedroom/living room, complete with a couch and a large picture window for viewing the picturesque Virginia farmlands, with mountains rising off in the distance.
Once Amtrak took over the train in the '70s it wasn't never the same. I road it to D.C. in the early '70s with my girlfriend, but the roomettes were gone and elegant diner car had been replace by a snack bar. The diverse menu, and the tables, china, silverware, and waiters were no more. We continued our rail journey, on past D.C. heading to NYC, in another train pulled by a couple of the remaining Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 class electric locomotives originally built in the 1930s-1940s.
Overall, the train was kinda shopworn, but the ride was still a very cool experience, with friendly workers running the show. Somewhere past Philly, my girlfriend and I dozed off in our seats, but I soon woke up to find another passenger train was overtaking our train on a parallel track. My girlfriend also began to stir from her sleep and we found ourselves staring at the people riding on the train on the other track. A few people on the other train stared back, include a young couple sitting together on that train that looked
a lot like us. It was an really odd sensation. Our train speed up briefly, so for a few seconds our "twins" on the other train were right across from us, traveling at the same speed we were, staring back at us with the same sort of perplexed look that we must have had on our faces. We all gave a nervous, feeble wave to each other, and for a few brief moments, it was like we were looking at "our twins" in a mirror-universe. The other train soon accelerated, quickly disappearing from view, leaving my still groggy girlfriend and myself wondering to each other out-loud "Did we dream that?"
Our visit to NYC was another yet another chapter in "Paradise Lost." We hung out with my girlfriend's sister, who got me high as hell in her apartment in Greenwich Village, while she told tales of hanging out with Bob Dylan and other well-known musicians of the era. Within a few days, the general ambience of the city and the "vibe" from the people, combined with the advice of most of those I'd met had me
almost convinced to drop out of college and move to NYC. But for some reason I didn't. Although I returned several times, with each visit the times and some of the coolest places seemed to be changing, more and more. I still like going to NYC, but it's not the same, even tho' I have a lot more money in my pockets to spend than I did back then. Maybe I've just lost my innocence. Simple things and interactions with people seemed somehow to be "magical" back then, but maybe time has just romanticized my memories. Dunno...
Overall, I think a lot of people's early childhood years are the closest we'll get to living in "an almost perfect world." After all, you don't really have to worry about much of anything -- your parents take care of you and provide you with everything you need.