Our adventure home was one for the books. We were quite fortunate that DorianHurricane, hockey and airports stayed offshore, but it gave us quite the scare with the cone of death showing a direct hit into Palm Beach county. Unfortunately, the Northwestern Bahamas took a direct hit from the devastating category five storm.
While the media was whipping up mass hysteria about a possible Florida landfall, Goalielocks and I were safe in Worchester, MA. Our only complication came once the airports in South Florida started to close. Fortunately, I was able to rebook our tickets with a brief pit stop in Minny. Of course, leaving Worchester was complicated by weather in the area causing an almost two-hour departure delay. This was compounded by a ground stop that was lifted shortly after we landed in Detroit. Sadly, we missed out flight after sprinting through DTW. We sat at the gate as the agent refused to open the door even as I received notifications that our bags had been loaded onto the MSP bound bird.
To say I was upset may have been a bit of an understatement. It makes sense to not hold planes for passengers, I understand how that impacts operations downstream and flight connects for fellow passengers. However, when it’s the last flight of the night some consideration should be given to connective passengers whose landings had been delayed. Alas that’s not Delta’s policy or practice. After waiting in line for thirty minutes to get our new boarding passes and hotel room, the not so patient or kind agent told us to go stand in line at the customer service desk at A43. Cheese and rice, I was about to blow a gasket.
We paraded down to A43 only to overhear a woman requesting a new flight and a hotel room after falling ill with an asthma attack well running to her gate. The supervisor was quite kind and set her up with a room at the nearby Embassy Suites. It was our turn next and I explained our adventure and the commitment to providing a hotel room I had already obtained from corporate. She balked at first but softened throughout the conversation and ultimately gave us a complimentary room at the Embassy Suites.
Before heading to catch the shuttle, we picked up some Chic-Fil-A. There was nothing more satisfying than some fresh and hot fries. We made our way down to the shuttle area and secure our seats on the Embassy Inn shuttle. As we checked into the hotel, the asthmatic women was checking in at the next counter. No sooner had she finished the check-In process, when she asked the hotel staff where the smoking area was. Goalielocks and I looked at each other and I motioned for him to stay quiet. As soon as she walked away, he noted that it was no surprise that she, as a smoker, would have had some difficulty when running.
The accommodations were perfect for their purpose. We quickly ate our dinner, called home and went to bed. Sadly, we had a 5:00 am wake up call for our flight into Minny. The hotel had a wonderful allotment of sundries, which was quite helpful since all of our luggage was on its way to Minnesota.
I was a bit worried about security in Detroit, but those fears proved unfounded when we found ourselves in line with 3 other people at 5:45 am. Fortunately, it allowed us time to grab both Starbuck and Chic-Fil-A. Our flight was uneventful. I watched Rocket Man and quite thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite little issues that morning I was still worried that our luggage didn’t make it, or it would be long wait. Fortunately, my fears were proved unfounded as the baggage clerk had pulled our bags and set them out for us as soon as we landed. We were both relieved that our luggage arrived without issue.
It was great to be home if only for twenty-four hours. We got to my folks’ house relatively quickly and. I was able to wash our clothes and check out the gardens. After starting the laundry, we went to pick up my Grandma T for a quick lunch at Culver’s. It was great to see her again. Afterwards, we took her home and made our way to my Grandma H’s house. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see her when I was home in July, so this was a great opportunity to see her. We visited with her for about a half hour before heading home. Unfortunately, Goalielocks and I were quite tired and not feeling the best.
Goalielocks was asleep before we made it home. It’s a mere fifteen-minute drive from my Grandma’s house to my parents’ home. Once we got home, he went to take a nap. I completed the laundry and then went to read my book. I was able to read a chapter before I too fell asleep. When Goalielocks woke up he still wasn’t feeling great . Consequently, my Mom and I went to Target to get gatorade, medicine and some dinner. She even got me some potato wedges that she owed me from last month.
The next morning, we left early for the airport due to road construction. MSP airport is also experiencing long waits at security due to construction at the airport. The waits at TSA had been several hours over the course of the summer. Goalielocks and I lucked out! We made it through in fifteen minutes, which gave us too much time to shop at MSP. Our adventure home was finally complete when we landed in Florida Wednesday afternoon. All in all, it was quite the adventure home.
