faline
05-14-2012, 03:04 PM
When – May 3 – 13, 2012
Who – Gene & Linda
Where – Beach Club Villas
Plan for the Day:
Fly from Boston to Orlando
Check in and get Settled
Perhaps an Early Dinner / Late Lunch at Beaches and Cream
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered
Orlando – Cloudy with some sun; nice breeze; warm but not too humid
Miles – Walked around 4 miles before the day was done
Wednesday afternoon, May 2, Gene and I leave our respective offices with glad hearts and the knowledge that we are now officially on vacation! Once at home, I run through my packing list to begin to pack up all those last minute items that were not packed last weekend when the suitcases were first pulled out of storage. Boarding passes are printed. A hold is put on the newspaper. Checks are written for bills that need to be paid over the next couple of weeks. Some final items will need to wait for morning before being packed.
We finish up some leftovers for dinner, watch a little bit of television though nothing interesting is on and head off to bed. The alarm is set for 6:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 3 - We are both awake and up before the alarm sounds. Our flight is not until 11:40 so we have plenty of time to make this a relaxed trek to the airport.
The last minute personal care items are packed, timers are put on lights throughout the house, house is double checked and we are out the door before 8 a.m. It’s a dreary, cool and cloudy day but, fortunately, it is not raining. Still, traffic on Route 1 South is very heavy this morning and, of course, we are driving right in the midst of prime rush hour. Still, we have ample time so we’re not worried. Finally, we arrive at the off airport car lot and park. The shuttle is right there. We, and our luggage, are loaded aboard and, due to bridge construction, take a roundabout route to the airport. After stops at two other terminals to leave behind other passengers, we arrive at the Jet Blue Terminal.
We are left at the luggage retrieval level so need to go up a level to get to security and gates. There is absolutely no line for bag drop – the longest part of the process was zigzagging back and forth between the barriers set up for when there are lines. Checked bags left behind, we take our remaining luggage and head for security. Once again, there is no line. We get through security, put our shoes back on, regather the stuff we had to take out (like our quart bags and netbook computer) and reorganize. Once we have everything together again, we look for someplace to have breakfast. I forget the name of the place – some sort of beer house with a large bar and a few tables. Luckily, a couple of tables are available so we are seated.
Somewhere along the line, I must of scraped my thumb – probably on a zipper from the looks of it but I’ve managed to smear some blood across the front of my tee. Not good. A trip to the rest room gets me cleaned up again and I’m able to cover up with a sweatshirt until the tee dries again.
Back at the table, our coffee has already been delivered. Soon after, plates are placed in front of us containing our breakfast of eggs, taters, toast and, in my case, bacon. Breakfast concludes much more quickly than I expected it might and we still have almost 2 hours until our flight.
Gene buys a magazine. We meander over to our gate. I tell Gene I almost upgraded us to extra legroom seats last evening as there were some open – mainly in the exit rows. Almost, on a whim, we decide to see if seats are still available. There are. We upgrade from row 8 to row 11 – window and middle. (We inquired if any of the extra row seats were totally unbooked but, no, someone was in the aisle seat of each available. Okay. No problem)
Our plane arrives at the gate with plenty of time to turnaround for our outgoing flight. A few folks with special needs are boarded. With our upgrade, we are able to board before general boarding so are in the first group called after those needing assistance are called. That was easy. We’re all settled in before the rest of the plane starts trekking down the plane’s aisle. It’s been a while since we’ve sat in an exit row. Back then, exit rows didn’t cost extra. Our responsibilities are explained to us and we acknowledge that we understand them and will remain in these seats.
The door is closed and everyone is seated by our scheduled takeoff time. Then we sat. About 10 minutes later, I noted we had been sitting for a bit and just after uttering that remark, we began to back away from the gate. We’re on our way.
It is now 12:30 p.m. We’re in the air. There’s still a great deal of cloud cover below. From the Jet Blue map, it appears we are somewhere over Pennsylvania or thereabouts at this time. Ride is slightly bumpy and seat belt signs are on. They’ve just come through with the snacks for purchase. I’m still full from breakfast so no additional internal fuel is needed at this moment. We’re scheduled to land in a little more than two hours and it appears we’ll be more or less on time.
To be continued……..
Who – Gene & Linda
Where – Beach Club Villas
Plan for the Day:
Fly from Boston to Orlando
Check in and get Settled
Perhaps an Early Dinner / Late Lunch at Beaches and Cream
Weather:
Boston – Cool and Cloud Covered
Orlando – Cloudy with some sun; nice breeze; warm but not too humid
Miles – Walked around 4 miles before the day was done
Wednesday afternoon, May 2, Gene and I leave our respective offices with glad hearts and the knowledge that we are now officially on vacation! Once at home, I run through my packing list to begin to pack up all those last minute items that were not packed last weekend when the suitcases were first pulled out of storage. Boarding passes are printed. A hold is put on the newspaper. Checks are written for bills that need to be paid over the next couple of weeks. Some final items will need to wait for morning before being packed.
We finish up some leftovers for dinner, watch a little bit of television though nothing interesting is on and head off to bed. The alarm is set for 6:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 3 - We are both awake and up before the alarm sounds. Our flight is not until 11:40 so we have plenty of time to make this a relaxed trek to the airport.
The last minute personal care items are packed, timers are put on lights throughout the house, house is double checked and we are out the door before 8 a.m. It’s a dreary, cool and cloudy day but, fortunately, it is not raining. Still, traffic on Route 1 South is very heavy this morning and, of course, we are driving right in the midst of prime rush hour. Still, we have ample time so we’re not worried. Finally, we arrive at the off airport car lot and park. The shuttle is right there. We, and our luggage, are loaded aboard and, due to bridge construction, take a roundabout route to the airport. After stops at two other terminals to leave behind other passengers, we arrive at the Jet Blue Terminal.
We are left at the luggage retrieval level so need to go up a level to get to security and gates. There is absolutely no line for bag drop – the longest part of the process was zigzagging back and forth between the barriers set up for when there are lines. Checked bags left behind, we take our remaining luggage and head for security. Once again, there is no line. We get through security, put our shoes back on, regather the stuff we had to take out (like our quart bags and netbook computer) and reorganize. Once we have everything together again, we look for someplace to have breakfast. I forget the name of the place – some sort of beer house with a large bar and a few tables. Luckily, a couple of tables are available so we are seated.
Somewhere along the line, I must of scraped my thumb – probably on a zipper from the looks of it but I’ve managed to smear some blood across the front of my tee. Not good. A trip to the rest room gets me cleaned up again and I’m able to cover up with a sweatshirt until the tee dries again.
Back at the table, our coffee has already been delivered. Soon after, plates are placed in front of us containing our breakfast of eggs, taters, toast and, in my case, bacon. Breakfast concludes much more quickly than I expected it might and we still have almost 2 hours until our flight.
Gene buys a magazine. We meander over to our gate. I tell Gene I almost upgraded us to extra legroom seats last evening as there were some open – mainly in the exit rows. Almost, on a whim, we decide to see if seats are still available. There are. We upgrade from row 8 to row 11 – window and middle. (We inquired if any of the extra row seats were totally unbooked but, no, someone was in the aisle seat of each available. Okay. No problem)
Our plane arrives at the gate with plenty of time to turnaround for our outgoing flight. A few folks with special needs are boarded. With our upgrade, we are able to board before general boarding so are in the first group called after those needing assistance are called. That was easy. We’re all settled in before the rest of the plane starts trekking down the plane’s aisle. It’s been a while since we’ve sat in an exit row. Back then, exit rows didn’t cost extra. Our responsibilities are explained to us and we acknowledge that we understand them and will remain in these seats.
The door is closed and everyone is seated by our scheduled takeoff time. Then we sat. About 10 minutes later, I noted we had been sitting for a bit and just after uttering that remark, we began to back away from the gate. We’re on our way.
It is now 12:30 p.m. We’re in the air. There’s still a great deal of cloud cover below. From the Jet Blue map, it appears we are somewhere over Pennsylvania or thereabouts at this time. Ride is slightly bumpy and seat belt signs are on. They’ve just come through with the snacks for purchase. I’m still full from breakfast so no additional internal fuel is needed at this moment. We’re scheduled to land in a little more than two hours and it appears we’ll be more or less on time.
To be continued……..