Thoughts on my 2nd to Last Flight

It's 8 p.m. at 30,000 feet. I'm half way to Orlando. I must be the luckiest person in the world. Fanning through my memories of the past month's adventures, I'm starting to realize the full impact of this amazing travel oportunity. I've got some new friends, a little more confidence, and exciting new life plans. I'm a little sad it's coming to an end, but I'm emerging from the experience newly inspired and thrilled for the next big adventure.
Oh! Commercial's over. Gotta get back to "White Chicks" on FX!

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From Chi-Town to the Golden Dome

Nothing makes me feel more nostalgic than the cadence of a marching band in the distance, dazzling foliage, and College Football Saturdays.  The one trip I had planned before the start of the All You Can Jet promotion was returning to my alma mater for the Notre Dame/Washington football game on October 2nd.  I'm not sure if I could have convinced myself to purchase the AYCJ pass if I didn't already have this flight in mind.  I'm so glad that I did!


My flight out of JFK happened to coincide with the first half hour of the Jetblue sponsored Happy Hour meet up in Terminal 5.  I got to meet some exciting individuals with a like-minded sense of adventure.  I'll share some more details of my new friends in a future post.  Mark joined me 5 minutes before we ran to our terminal to catch the flight to O'Hare.


After picking up the rental car and plugging in our GPS, we soon realized that the easiest way from Chicago to South Bend was certainly not the quickest during rush hour on a Friday evening.  I squirmed, watching the estimated destination time inch later and later, until it reached a full 1.5 hours past our initial quoted ETA.  I even tried playing navigator, using the map to pick side streets through Southside to avoid highway traffic.  Bad idea.  We got traffic AND traffic lights.


We stayed in the beautiful lake side community of St. Joseph at my cousin's lovely beach retreat.  My parents and cousins were already settled in when we arrived.  After some quick catching up, we headed to bed to rest up for the big game day.

The electricity of a Football Saturday at Notre Dame will make even the fiercest sports haters buzz with excitement.  The beautiful campus quads are packed with Frisbee throwers, happy families, and the smell of grilling bratwurst wafts over the grills in front of each dorm.  As a former band geek, I can't miss the concert on the steps of the architecture building.  If the football game only consisted of the band concert, and pre, halftime, and post shows, I would be a happy spectator.  Groan over that one if you want, but it's the truth.


We were rewarded by a nail-biting game full of excitement ending with a win in OT. (it should have been a win anyway, but dragging it out makes it all the more entertaining).  Also the halftime show was tons of fun, playing a not-so-serious rendition of Sean Kingston's "Fire Burning" (for reals). 

After dinner with my parents and friends at a local Italian restaurant, we retired in St. Joseph's for the night.  The next morning we relaxed and walked on the beach with the family before we realized that Mark's flight was actually at 4:15, while mine was at 6:50.  Back in the rental car for the drive to Chicago.

Sunday afternoon traffic was much more palatable. Jetblue was able to squeeze me in on his flight, and we were back in JFK in time to meet Clark from 12 Hours in a City and a fascinating duo of product promoters who were using the pass to meet with such retailers as Target and Walmart.  Now we have 2 nights to rest at home and feed the cats before our last AYCJ trip to Orlando!

Falls over Buffalo

I am not a morning person. When the 5:00 morning alarm went off, the trip to Buffalo didn't seem like such a great idea. I'm grateful Mark is a better morning person than I am (actually a better person all around). 5:30 a.m. might be the only time of day the Belt Parkway isn't backed up with traffic.

The flight lasted a short 50 minutes offering retina burning views of the sunrise over the clouds. We landed in Buffalo just in time to hit rush hour traffic on our way to Niagara Falls. We were able to find some great mid-week, off season deals packaging our hotel with Falls View and breakfast and $100 credit at A Cut Above steak restaurant. Yeah, it sounds like a barber in a strip mall, but it's actually really nice.

Our room at the Sheraton was our big splurge of the month. I needed do some work from the room, so we got a room overlooking the falls. During the first day I worked while Mark rested and explored. That night we had dinner at the falls view Pinnacle restaurant. I had seen it on the good network getting a chic New York style makeover.

After pasta and drinks we ran around downtown and enjoyed the many tourist traps ripe with Americana. (or Canada-cana) These activities included sweating it out in the wind whipped buckets hanging off the giant Ferris wheel, rocking out to glow in the dark indoor disco mini golf, and trying on all the Canadian-ware in the souvenir shops.

The second morning started with the free breakfast buffet, then a tour of the famous ice wineries of the Niagara Peninsula. After lunch we rode the Maid of the Mist with a giant tour group of senior citizens. We blew our whole $100 voucher at dinner and drinks at A Cut Above before hitting up Ripley's Believe it or Not and a was museum. We hit the hay early since we had a 3:30 wake-up call for a 5:20 flight. Out of all the trips so far, this was by far the most relaxing. Being goofy with no agenda can be the most fun.

At JFK I took the Air Train to the A train straight to my office before 8:30. Tomorrow after work, l leave for Chicago!

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Lost at Sea in Aruba

Stepping off the airplane in Aruba was a real shock to the system. Having left JFK in 55 degree weather with a hoodie and long pants, I immediately broke a sweat when the 95, dry air blasted me in the face. Immigration and customs were fast and simple, and Mark and I were at the car rental and on our way to Coral Reef Beach to meet our hosts Peter and Julie.

Our beach apartment was clean and comfortable, giving off an old, dark wood colonial/pirate vibe with flowing white linens. The small group of rooms each have a private bath, a view of the ocean, a shared kitchen with icemaker. It's a little off the beaten path, but Aruba is so small, you can reach any part of the island in 30 minutes. Coral Reef is also located next door to the famous Flying Fishbone, and the not-as-famous, but equally if not more romantic Old Man and the Sea.

On arrival, Peter hopped in our car with us and gave us a quick tour of the island. He pointed out all the local eateries, beaches, grocery stores, and took us to the highest peak in the National Park for a view if the entire island. I highly recommend staying here (special thanks to fellow All You Can Jetter for pointing it out to us). All the Coral Reef trusted dive shops were booked when we arrived, and Julie called around to find us an opening for Saturday/Sunday dives at the Dutch run Fly and Dive.

We were on a crowded boat, with around 14 divers and 2 dive masters. The current was strong and the swells were fierce as we headed to the Jane C wreck. I had to face into the wind and keep my eyes on the water at all times to keep from yacking all over the deck. One poor girl honked the entire boat ride. I thought it would be wise to be the first person off the boat, but I was wrong. I was desperately holding onto the rope behind the boat while all 13 other divers (some learning for the first time) very slowly entered the water. The strong current and 6' waves jerked my body around like a rag doll on a rope. Our tanks were banging together as we got whipped around.

Quickly after our decent, Mark was having a few problems clearing his ears. I signaled to our dive master, but he didn't wait for us. He told us to "follow the big blue flippers." After Mark's ears were cleared, we happened upon a group of divers, all of them wearing blue fins. After we swam with then along a reef for 10 minutes, the dive master signaled a safety stop. Confused, we ascended with the group, and saw a dive boat, but it wasn't ours. The annoyed new dive crew helped us aboard and drove us to our boat and kicked us back in the water. It was a long boat ride to our boat, and we passed groups of our lost divers bobbing in the ocean. They kicked us off their boat and we swam to our boat.

Our dive boat spent the next 45 minutes picking up strays scattered around Aruba. The last pickup was our dive master, with only 3 of his original group of 8 divers. I wonder when he noticed he lost 5 divers and if he was worried down there, because he sure didn't look worried getting back on the boat. He didn't lead the 2nd dive.

When we got back, Mark and I headed to the beautiful Baby Beach for a swim. We made it back home in time to sit on the lawn chairs and watch the sunset and have Bellinis before we headed to Old Man and the Sea for dinner. After some fresh caught red snapper and nearly falling asleep in our seats, we slept inside, and turned on the AC.  I was in no mood to roll the bed outside and battle mosquitoes.

The next morning, my whole neck and shoulder was in shooting pain.  Getting jerked around on a rope the day before had given me whiplash!  I did not feel like diving again, but Mark convinced me to go along and tough it out.  We only had 7 on the boat this time, and the swells weren't nearly as bad.  The first dive, we had to swim against the current, but we did finally get to see the Jane-C wreck.  The ship acted as an artificial reef, with beautiful new coral formations.  The second dive was along a coral wall.  The coral was mostly oranges and browns, and we didn't see too many fish.  We did come across a beautiful huge school of blue-colored fish that swarmed around us.

When we surfaced, it was like the film "Open Water".  There were large swells and no boat in site.  After bobbing in the water, trying to stay together as a group for 10 minutes, Mark took the signal balloon (thank goodness we just bought them before this trip).  I inflated it manually, since it appears to be made for a dry suit valve attachment.  After bobbing in the water for another 10 minutes, the boat captain saw the balloon and came to pick us up.  Exhausting.  I'm surprised the dive master didn't have any kind of signaling device.  I'm not sure how long we would have been floating out there if we didn't.

We had dinner at the Flying Fishbone our last night.  After dinner, we chatted a little with Peter, then we met 2 more All You Can Jetters who arrived at Coral Reef that night.  Guy from Boston and Charles from Austen had been traveling all month, mostly to international destinations.  They were shooting video clips with the iPhone and were planning on constructing a documentary.  If you're reading, we'd love to see it!

The last morning, we did some quick snorkeling at a beach near by, packed up our stuff, and headed to the airport.  We would be at home Sunday night to feed the cats and swap our shorts and sundresses for jackets and sweaters for our flight to Buffalo first thing Monday morning.

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Wicked Fun in Old Portland

Today I had the pleasure of traveling with Mark again. We started the morning off with Jamba Juice smoothies in Terminal 5 at JFK. The ticket agents were kind enough to give us #AYCJ luggage tags. Our flight was on time, and lasted 50 minutes. Before I could finish my blog entry about New Orleans, I was already in Portland, ME.

After a quick stop at Hertz, we headed to the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport where we spent over an hour trying on fleecey and cloggy things. I purchased a new travel backpack to replace my heavily worn and ripped open Hawaii Walmart pack, and we headed to Old Portland to walk around and get lunch.

We stopped at Meredith Alex Designs to look at her amazing gallery of intricately designed theme dresses (and to ask directions). Meredith was kind enough to give us a map and point out the most important sections: breweries and lobster houses. We headed to the Portland Lobster Company on the water for some beautiful sunshine, lobster rolls and Shipyard Pumpkin Ale. Mitch Alden, local guitarist and songwriter (Now is Now) serenaded us with some awesome covers and originals.

After lunch we took a ferry over to Peaks Island and back to get a view of Portland Harbor and the beautiful houses dotting the coasts of the small islands. Back in Old Portland, we walked through cobble stone streets and had brews at Gritty's Brewpub, the oldest microbrewery in Portland.

We dropped off the car back at the airport and were treated to #aycj pins by Cynthia and the staff at the Portland airport! The flight home was quick. One of the flight attendants was a retired firefighter from the Bronx, and he and Mark talked shop. The guy in the isle across from us started hurling into a tall, white kitchen trash bag. I hope he was just air sick and didn't have Swine Flu. We were back at hone to watch the Giants pull out a win in the 2nd half.

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Gettin' Queasy in the Big Easy

Special note: since this is being typed on iPhone mid flight and published on landing, editing for syntax and spelling will take place later!

In MYU airport, I hopped a shuttle bus making all necessary hotel stops for $15. Latin Quarter is the last stop on the list. I got a room at the Royal Sonesta facing Bourbon St. After dropping off my stuff, I headed to Carousel Bar.

When I first stepped into the bar, I made a full circle around the round bar and did not see a free seat. An older gentleman, probably close to 70 years old, stood up to offer me his seat. As soon as I stopped moving, I realized the room was spinning, and I hadn't even had a drink yet. My stomach lurched, and i grabbed onto a railing, until I realized that the bar itself was moving. The round bar, along with the bar stools, makes a full rotation every 15 minutes. I wasn't about to let the old guy stand, but he insisted, and quickly a new seat for him opened up, so it all worked out.

The man's name was Steve, and he ran a heavy construction company with his brothers. He was born and raised with a family of 6 brothers And 3 sisters in New Orleans. Every Friday he meets his brothers for dinner and drinks, then he comes to the Carousel Bar to people watch and chat with visitors and tourists from all over the world.

I ordered a Sazarac, one of the oldest and most traditional NOLA cocktails: bourbon, bitters, and a lemon twist.


After drinks I headed over to Tulane to Boucherie (thanks, Mr.Cook for the recommendation). I had bouchon balls, a deep fried, spicy Cajun sausage meatball) and beef brisket. Both were delicious. I sat at the bar and chatted with a young and friendly server named Andrew. He's an LA native, being the first generation of his family not to speak French as his first language. Michael the bartender was super nice and helped ms navigate the menu. The hostess also stopped by to say hello, and we all had a Jameson shot.

To be continued...


TBC...

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Cranky, Complainy, Long Friday Flight

I'm on the plane to New Orleans. There are 4 people sitting in my row of 3: a grandmom, a friend of a mom, and mom's 2 year old daughter who is very unhappy about having to share a seat. She's kicking and crying. Mom is sitting behind me with 2 other kids, also both kicking.

We sat on the plane at the gate for an hour and 20 minutes before takeoff because the plane inspector found dents and scratched in the engine blades. After careful measuring, the dings were determined to be safe, so we took off.

I started watching "My Life in Ruins" to block out the sound of being encircled by toddlers, who had started singing. It's not as cute as it sounds.

Then my back of the seat monitor crapped out, even though I still have audio in my earbuds. I try to watch the mom's friend's monitor, but since she likes to watch the TV with one finger on the up channel button, I couldn't keep up. She lingers on VH1 the most, that seems to be playing a marathon of a delightful show called Tool Academy where an English "therapist" humiliates promiscuous meat heads and their crying girlfriends. We just hit turbulence and I have cramps.

YAY!! Touchdown in the Big Easy!

Mobile Blogging from here.

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