Airport H*LL
Have you ever heard people tell outrageous airline stories about numerous airline delays that eventually result in a flight cancellation, an expensive overnight stay, a rescheduled flight the next day that is also delayed (and will drop you in a city 70 miles from home)?
You guessed it: I had the return trip from Hell out of Chicago. There was delay after delay followed by cancellation after cancellation because of several days worth of weather backups resulting from storms in the mid-west. So, these days, not only do you need to get to the airport two hours before your scheduled flight and pay really careful attention to the size of your carry-on bottles and be prepared to ditch other"contraband" (like bottled water), you have to sit in a stifling, stinky, overcrowded, tension-filled airport for seven hours. Your reward: paying $250 a night to stay in the Hilton that adjoins the airport so you can get back to the gate bright and early, only to find your morning flight delayed. AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!! This is tough stuff to swallow for someone who can't stand crowds and hates to stand in line for anything. No wonder I can't imagine watching that show "Airline" on the A&E channel. I get really uptight just thinking about it.
The worst part: I missed the opening of Fairport's Canal Days and the fireworks on Friday night (I was originally supposed to be home by 7:30pm), I had to cancel my sister's visit, I missed Jasper's puppy class graduation (more on that later), I missed all of Saturday's Canal Days' activities, and I got Cameron to his mandatory People to People meeting an hour late.
But, I got home at 2pm (Mark had to drive to Buffalo to pick me up) and all is well. Originally, this blog was going to be about how awesome a city Chicago is (I was staying at the Hyatt Regency downtown, which was a couple of blocks away from the exclusive shopping district of Michigan Avenue), and how clean and beautiful it is, with amazing architecture all around. I would love to spend more time there, but next time maybe I'll drive (which is pretty unrealistic, though, given gas prices). Now I know: my kind of town, Chicago is!
You guessed it: I had the return trip from Hell out of Chicago. There was delay after delay followed by cancellation after cancellation because of several days worth of weather backups resulting from storms in the mid-west. So, these days, not only do you need to get to the airport two hours before your scheduled flight and pay really careful attention to the size of your carry-on bottles and be prepared to ditch other"contraband" (like bottled water), you have to sit in a stifling, stinky, overcrowded, tension-filled airport for seven hours. Your reward: paying $250 a night to stay in the Hilton that adjoins the airport so you can get back to the gate bright and early, only to find your morning flight delayed. AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!! This is tough stuff to swallow for someone who can't stand crowds and hates to stand in line for anything. No wonder I can't imagine watching that show "Airline" on the A&E channel. I get really uptight just thinking about it.
The worst part: I missed the opening of Fairport's Canal Days and the fireworks on Friday night (I was originally supposed to be home by 7:30pm), I had to cancel my sister's visit, I missed Jasper's puppy class graduation (more on that later), I missed all of Saturday's Canal Days' activities, and I got Cameron to his mandatory People to People meeting an hour late.
But, I got home at 2pm (Mark had to drive to Buffalo to pick me up) and all is well. Originally, this blog was going to be about how awesome a city Chicago is (I was staying at the Hyatt Regency downtown, which was a couple of blocks away from the exclusive shopping district of Michigan Avenue), and how clean and beautiful it is, with amazing architecture all around. I would love to spend more time there, but next time maybe I'll drive (which is pretty unrealistic, though, given gas prices). Now I know: my kind of town, Chicago is!
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