Home At Last, Home At Last

Thank God Almighty, we’re home at last.

Our travels back from Boston were a bit beyond complicated so it’s no wonder I didn’t get a chance to recap until now.  So let’s start from the beginning –>

Wednesday

9:30am: Hotel breakfast of a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, some eggs with ketchup, and pieces of bacon I ate before I took the picture.

10:30am: Marylou’s coffee run.  Jack got the Funky Fanabla and I got a Creamy Chocolate Coconut iced coffee.

11:00am: Repacking and calling dibs on leftover stuff in the basement from Jack’s dad’s move.

1:00pm: Lunchtime consisting of a meatball sub with parmesan cheese, buffalo pretzels crisps, and pumpernickel onion pretzels.  Jack’s grandma made the meatballs and they were really good.

2:00pm: Begin a rowdy family game of Taboo.

3:00pm: Load the car and out the door to head to the airport for our 5:40pm departure.

3:20pm: Realize that our flight has ben delayed three hours (effective as of noon). This is what we get for not checking while still at home.  We were already well on the road.

3:25pm: The first call is made to Jack’s stepmom to have her call the airline and figure out what to do next.

3:55pm: Continental assures us we can fix this.

4:03pm: We arrive at the Providence airport and I work my mad airline ninja skills to get to Cleveland on the first leg of our flight and then out the next morning on the earliest available plane (8:40a).

4:30pm: The traveling group, plus Jack’s dad, sits down to wait out the long, long delay.  We started off with nachos (eventually we downed two plates full) and lots of drinks.  I’m fairly sure I drank 7 16-ounce (maybe 20-ounce??) glasses of water over the next 4 hours.

6:30pm: Our flight is again delayed, this time by an additional half hour.

6:50pm: By another 10 minutes.

7:10pm: By another half hour.

7:30pm: We have confirmation that the plane coming FROM Cleveland that will be our plane TO Cleveland has actually pushed back from the gate and is going to take off shortly.

7:35pm: We receive our dinners.  I chose an amazing lime infused chicken and brie sandwich on cibatta with roasted red peppers, caramelized red onions, and garlic aioli.  I also upgraded to onion rings on the side.  This baby was yummy!  I was very satisfied.

8:30pm: We finally walk through security and plant ourselves at our gate along with the 7 other people who have waited out the gigantic delay.  We proceeded to play gin rummy and Pass The Trash for a while.

9:30pm: The plane arrives and the passengers get off.  We say goodbye and prepare to board.

9:50pm: The gate agent has a cute sense of humor and says “Let’s board this baby.  We’ll do it by age.” *dramatic pause* “Alright, all seats, all rows.”

10:10pm: We take off, finally!

11:45pm: We land and make our way to the gate agent who is thankfully waiting for us with comped hotel rooms and $18 in food vouchers per passenger.

Thursday

12:10am: We arrive in the hotel and lay down for some much needed sleep.

6:30am: Wake up call and big buffet breakfast (courtesy of $12 Continental money). I had some of just about everything: French toast, sausage, bacon, eggs, home fries, and some oatmeal with a sprinkling of brown sugar.

7:30am: We stand in a 30 minute security line and pass without trouble.

8:15am: We arrive at the gate.

8:19am: We board the plane.

8:30am: We push back from the gate a full ten minutes early.

9:27am: Hello home!!  Thank Heavens!!  Chai tea latte with soy milk to decompress (also courtesy of Continental vouchers).

I suppose the moral of the story is that you really can’t help air travel, if you’re going to late, you’re going to be late.  The best thing you can do is to just roll with it, get some good food in your stomach, try and sleep as much as possible, and just make a few attempts to smile.  It also never hurts to have great people you’re traveling with. =D

I really need some sleep now so I’m going to call it a night but just wait until you see the new place Jack and I tried out tonight for dinner with my old college roommate.  It was scrumptious and the restaurant seems like a place we would like to be regulars at at some point.  You’ll love it.  I did and I can’t wait to go back.

Questions: What is your worst air travel experience ever?
What is your favorite specialty coffee/tea drink from Starbucks, Marylou’s, etc.?