LaceyinPgh
04-07-2005, 03:50 PM
We have all read the magazines. One that I recently read recommended that if possible the future bride and groom and a small vacation together to relax and get away from wedding plans. My fiance and I thought that would be a great idea. We have all the big stuff out of the way for the most part. Now it is just passing time and looking at little thinks like napkin color and invitation font. Not to mention that I am teaching sumer school this year so I won't get my two month break. To sweeten the deal my fiance was invited to give a presentation at a conference in beautiful Key West, FL. This meant that we would get several wonderful days with our rental car, hotel, most meals, and his plane ticket paid for. The only thing we would need to worry about would be my plane ticket and the odds and ends - nothing major. It is important to note as I tell this story, that I HATE to fly. Does anyone out there remember the old show "The A Team" with Mr. T? Well Mr. T's characted has nothing on me.
So, on Saturday morning our trek begins. We wake up and leave for the airport after a wonderful breakfast cooked by my mother. She came to house sit and watch the dogs for us while we were gone. We get to the airport, running late only to find one guy working at our airlines ticket counter. There was a line about 50 people deep. So after a while we clear that after having to pay for an upgrade since it was a new airline for us and neither of us had any miles to trade in. We make it to our gate thinking that we might miss the flight. Fortunately it was delayed by an hour and half due to weather. Now I don't know how bad this weather had to be considering my plane took off in time when Hurricane Ivan hit Pittsburgh in September. So, this panics me thinking of all the turbulance I have to fly through. Finally we board the plane and leave for Ft. Lauderdale. The tubulance wasn't as bad as I thought. In fact after two sedatives (a traveling girl's best friend) I actually dozed off for about 20 minutes.
So we land in Ft. Lauderdale. Now originally we had 2 hours to make our connection. But, being delayed now meant we only had 30 minutes. The best part was, Airtran, the airline we flew to Ft. Lauderdale on doesn't transfer bags to other airlines. So, we had to wait 15 minutes for our luggage. Then we had to wait outside the terminal for a shuttle to drive us to another terminal to check in on our Continental flight to take us to Key West. The shuttle, of course, is running behind. Regardless to say we make it to the terminal with two suitcases and a garment bag. Both of us run the first four minute mile of our lives to the ticketing counter. We check in and make it to the gate in record time. Only to discover that the flight has been delayed for an hour and half. No one at the ticket counter felt the need to tell us this. Perhaps it is their form of sick and twisted entertainment.
Finally it is time to board and take off for Key West. No one felt the need to tell me about the plane I had to fly on to get there. It looked like it had been put together from a bunch of other planes that were no longer in service. It had a row of single seats down one side and a row of double seats down the other. Let's just say that God doesn't make a valuim big enough for me to relax on that flight. But, we made it to Key West. Let's just say that God and I forged an amazing new relationship on that little trip.
Key West was great. We had an amazing time. I sat on the beach. (I have the sun burn to prove it.) I ate more crab, lobster, and Key Lime pie than a decent person should. If any of you ever go there, I highly recommend the Wyndham Casa Marina where we stayed. The bartender in their steak house makes a killer espresso martini too. Than, the true adventure began.
On Tuesday we left around 4:00 for the airport. Upon getting there we had a hell of a time getting through security because the one officer they had working there truly felt my fiance's laptop adapter in his carryon was a threat. We finally make it to the plane only to learn there is going to be a 30 minute delay because the cargo door fell off. Not at all what I needed to hear with that fear of flying thing. Well that hour turned into 2 hours causing us to miss our connection in Ft. Lauderdale to get to Pittsburgh. Not a big deal, they can put us on a flight leaving for Atlanta ( a real size plane mind you) going to Charlotte to Pittsburgh. Ok, I can do this - anything to get home. Well that flight was delayed in landing meaning it was delayed in taking off in Key West meaning that we would miss the connection in Charlotte. So, we had to stay an extra night. Now normally this wouldn't be a bad thing, an extra night in Key West. We each had clean clothes and our toothbrushes so not a big deal. The exception was that we had been hanging out in the airport for about 4 hours at this point, it was 8 at night, and we were exhausted. But, Continental did pay for our hotel eventhough it wasn't nearly as nice as the one before and they covered dinner, unfortunately the voucher was only good for Denny's in our hotel and no they did not provide room service.
Now onto Wednesday, April 6 the greatest day in human creation because it is also my birthday. We get on the plane. This time it was so small that there was one row of seats down each side and no stewardess. I met the pilot and I'm not sure the guy could legally buy a margarita either. But, I finally made it off of Key West and safely into Miami then to Pittsburgh. It was the best present ever. Regardless to say, Florida will not be considered for a honeymoon at this point. We have never gone there that there weren't airline problems and tons of turbulence.
The moral of the story....the magazines are all in a big consiracy. They get you to travel then you get stuck places like airports where the only thing to do is read more magazines so you have to go into the book stores and pay an arm and leg to by more bridal magazines to give you more bad ideas that leads to more magazine buys. It is a cruel and brutal cycle!! :wink:
So, on Saturday morning our trek begins. We wake up and leave for the airport after a wonderful breakfast cooked by my mother. She came to house sit and watch the dogs for us while we were gone. We get to the airport, running late only to find one guy working at our airlines ticket counter. There was a line about 50 people deep. So after a while we clear that after having to pay for an upgrade since it was a new airline for us and neither of us had any miles to trade in. We make it to our gate thinking that we might miss the flight. Fortunately it was delayed by an hour and half due to weather. Now I don't know how bad this weather had to be considering my plane took off in time when Hurricane Ivan hit Pittsburgh in September. So, this panics me thinking of all the turbulance I have to fly through. Finally we board the plane and leave for Ft. Lauderdale. The tubulance wasn't as bad as I thought. In fact after two sedatives (a traveling girl's best friend) I actually dozed off for about 20 minutes.
So we land in Ft. Lauderdale. Now originally we had 2 hours to make our connection. But, being delayed now meant we only had 30 minutes. The best part was, Airtran, the airline we flew to Ft. Lauderdale on doesn't transfer bags to other airlines. So, we had to wait 15 minutes for our luggage. Then we had to wait outside the terminal for a shuttle to drive us to another terminal to check in on our Continental flight to take us to Key West. The shuttle, of course, is running behind. Regardless to say we make it to the terminal with two suitcases and a garment bag. Both of us run the first four minute mile of our lives to the ticketing counter. We check in and make it to the gate in record time. Only to discover that the flight has been delayed for an hour and half. No one at the ticket counter felt the need to tell us this. Perhaps it is their form of sick and twisted entertainment.
Finally it is time to board and take off for Key West. No one felt the need to tell me about the plane I had to fly on to get there. It looked like it had been put together from a bunch of other planes that were no longer in service. It had a row of single seats down one side and a row of double seats down the other. Let's just say that God doesn't make a valuim big enough for me to relax on that flight. But, we made it to Key West. Let's just say that God and I forged an amazing new relationship on that little trip.
Key West was great. We had an amazing time. I sat on the beach. (I have the sun burn to prove it.) I ate more crab, lobster, and Key Lime pie than a decent person should. If any of you ever go there, I highly recommend the Wyndham Casa Marina where we stayed. The bartender in their steak house makes a killer espresso martini too. Than, the true adventure began.
On Tuesday we left around 4:00 for the airport. Upon getting there we had a hell of a time getting through security because the one officer they had working there truly felt my fiance's laptop adapter in his carryon was a threat. We finally make it to the plane only to learn there is going to be a 30 minute delay because the cargo door fell off. Not at all what I needed to hear with that fear of flying thing. Well that hour turned into 2 hours causing us to miss our connection in Ft. Lauderdale to get to Pittsburgh. Not a big deal, they can put us on a flight leaving for Atlanta ( a real size plane mind you) going to Charlotte to Pittsburgh. Ok, I can do this - anything to get home. Well that flight was delayed in landing meaning it was delayed in taking off in Key West meaning that we would miss the connection in Charlotte. So, we had to stay an extra night. Now normally this wouldn't be a bad thing, an extra night in Key West. We each had clean clothes and our toothbrushes so not a big deal. The exception was that we had been hanging out in the airport for about 4 hours at this point, it was 8 at night, and we were exhausted. But, Continental did pay for our hotel eventhough it wasn't nearly as nice as the one before and they covered dinner, unfortunately the voucher was only good for Denny's in our hotel and no they did not provide room service.
Now onto Wednesday, April 6 the greatest day in human creation because it is also my birthday. We get on the plane. This time it was so small that there was one row of seats down each side and no stewardess. I met the pilot and I'm not sure the guy could legally buy a margarita either. But, I finally made it off of Key West and safely into Miami then to Pittsburgh. It was the best present ever. Regardless to say, Florida will not be considered for a honeymoon at this point. We have never gone there that there weren't airline problems and tons of turbulence.
The moral of the story....the magazines are all in a big consiracy. They get you to travel then you get stuck places like airports where the only thing to do is read more magazines so you have to go into the book stores and pay an arm and leg to by more bridal magazines to give you more bad ideas that leads to more magazine buys. It is a cruel and brutal cycle!! :wink: