My Summer Vacation; Days 1 & 2
Posted on June 9, 2008
Filed Under Travel Diary, Off the beaten path
Saturday morning 7am, I’m up and headed to the shower. Our goal was to depart for the airport by 10:30 for our 12:15 flight, time was currently on my side. Showered, coffeeed and breakfasted by 8:30, we were in great shape. We packed suitcases, double, then triplechecked that we had everything, then as we pulled out of the driveway, my 13 year old son remembered he didn’t have his swimsuit….ah the best laid plans.
We made it to the airport in record time, parked, check bags and were at security by 11:15, in short we were doing great, the keyword being ‘were’. As we shuttled through security we realized we’d made one tinsy little mistake; we didn’t check our toiletries and we weren’t caring the <4 oz sizes. No problem, I thought, I’ll run down and check the toiletry bag and we’ll still be fine. So I send the family on to the plane while I head back down to check the remaining bag. It’s now 11:45, in short too late to check my bag. Evidently 30 minutes isn’t enough time for my little bag to make it to the plane. Ok, how about we put the bag on a later flight. No, I was told, ‘you have to travel with your bag’, even though I assured the US Air rep my bag wouldn’t get lonely without it me it was no dice. By this time it’s 12:00 and I’ve got barely 15 mins before my plane leaves, but only 5 until I could lose my seat. I’m flat out sprinting back to security. Once I get there I start throwing out those things bigger than 4oz, so about $40 worth of stuff, when I come to my cologne bottle, it’s definitely too big, but I’m not about to throw it away. What to do? You guessed it I stuffed it my pocket and risked 25 to life in Leavenworth for the $60 cologne. Fortunately for me the TSA guys were much too busy checking size of my toiletry bottles to notice any pocket bulges. Thank God for competent government workers. One last mad dash and I slid into my seat just in time. Why is it always such an adventure.
So we settle in for our 4 1/2 hour flight. We’d purposely kept my 15 month old daughter up in hopes that she’d nap on the flight. Stop laughing, it could have worked, but it didn’t. All things being equal she did great. 2 bottles, various snacks, books, toys, iPods, plus anything else we could think of for the most part kept her entertained. That and 3 different trips to the bathroom. Fortunately the stars aligned and we landed 20 minutes early. Phew!
Once again we divided and conquered, with my wife and kids taking care of the luggage while I went for the rental car. I hooked up with them and we were on our way to our rental place. Then the storm came. Wind, rain and lack of sunlight lead to a much longer trip to our rental than ideal. The good news is our place was amazing! 2 blocks from the ocean, nestled in the trees, quiet, cozy, it’s perfect.
We started Day 2 with a quick trip to the grocery store and of course Starbucks. We then headed out to do some exploring and grab some lunch. Which brings me to my second clue to our destination for Williamson Family Vacation ‘08 or where in the world is Scott and his brood? We stopped by one of my favorite places, Middleton Tavern for crabcake sandwiches and the local brew. If you still can’t figure it out ‘Google’ Middleton Tavern or keep guessing. As for us, life has seldom been better. I was telling my wife how happy I was and she accused me of tearing up, I prefer to think it was the crabcakes.
As Day 2 draws to a close, I’ve got some cold Yeungling in the fridge, my family with me, what more could I ask for?
Tomorrow we’re off to see some sights, stay tuned.
Until next time…
LOL! You guys and airports…
Traveling with just you for business, you can get there an hour early and be safe. But with the entire family…gotta get there earlier
Mike Olbinski’s last blog post..Holy Frak! A three-hour BSG finale?