I have ridden in coach each way DC to Orlando and ORL to WAS.
If you get on the train well fed in Florida and carry a few snacks to eat when you are in Virginia, you can save a lot of money by riding coach.
I have been on over 6000 miles of tracks and parts of the track between Richmond and Florida seem to be the roughest.
My favorite train snack is string cheese. There is a good variety of food available in Union Station once you get to DC.

I've taken the roommette on different occasions from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans and Charleston to New York and it's limited frills but I love it. The route of the Silver Meteor train is faster than the Silver Star. While you should expect lateness on the order of a few hours, occasionally it's been on time. If you're seated at a table with strangers in the dining car, introduce yourself; usually in my experience it opens the door to enjoyable conversation (that you get out of going back to your roommette if you don't enjoy it). While the salad has Kraft squeeze pack dressing and is often iceberg lettuce, occasionally there's been a really tasty main dish served in the dining car. I love watching the changing scenery (semitropical to temperate climate) and seeing towns I would never see otherwise.

While like certain others I LOVE taking long distance trains (I actually sleep well!), some people hate the whole experience. I think the Florida-DC run is just the right length (not too long, not too short) as a test run to discover which category you fall into. I say go for it; you'll never know if you don't try.

I like long distance trains as well.

Re Amtrak, just don't absolutely count on an on-time performance. The last couple of times I've used part of this route was on the Auto-Train and I found it to be relatively smooth, all things considered. Some obviously disagree and the ride is also related to the rolling stock in use and the Auto Train uses a different sort than you will have.

Food? I'm not terribly impressed with Amtrak food; lots of folks will bring their own snacks, coolers, etc.

Overall though for the basic train ride experience I think it would be worthwhile. Book as early as you can because the prices rise as accommodations sell out in Amtrak sleeping cars.

I also recommend you give this a try. I've ridden this route twice and, in both cases, the train was on time into DC. I enjoy long distance train travel so I take whatever opportunities arise. I also don't get upset by any minor inconveniences that arise. In my estimation, the average train trip is more enjoyable than the average cattle-car style airline flight as ling as you have the time.

You need to understand than Amtrak is nothing like european trains/service. US travel is designed for plane or car.

While train seats are more comfy than plane and you can get up and walk around, I have found the food dreadful, cleanliness iffy (esp on a longer trip) and - outside of the NE corridor trains from DC to Boston - is almost always late - often by several hours or more. Also - understand that the top speed is about 60 mph on almost all sections - so driving is actually faster.

If you want to experience it - then go ahead - but with your eyes open.

Thanks all. As I was about to book , my daughter found a Jet Blue sale with flights too good to pass up. Will take a shorter trip on the Amtrak from DC to Washington to get a tiny taste of train travel instead.

Um, DC IS Washington - perhaps you mean from Philly or NY to DC?