The Florida trip started off not so good, but ended good. Kelly and I woke at 4AM last Thursday to head to the airport for a cross country flight to Ft. Lauderdale. As the plane pulled away from the gate, we were informed that Hurricane Erin was in the Houston area and our plane was going to be grounded until the weather got better. After sitting for an hour and a half in a plane, we finally took off. The flight to Houston was supposed to be two and a half hours. After two and a half hours, our plane landed in Austin, Texas. We were told that the plane was low on fuel and things were still backed up in Houston. We sat on the ground for another hour in Austin before we finally got back in the air. We finally landed in Houston after being on the plane for 7 HOURS!
Needless to say, we missed our connection to Ft. Lauderdale. After a long process at customer service, Kelly and I were put on stand by for 3 flights to Florida. We waited around for two hours and got the last two stand by tickets for a flight to Miami. We were 20th on the list, so we were happy to get on the plane. During this whole process, Kelly and I really didn’t eat, we were stuck in lines or on a plane.
When we get to Miami, the story gets better. Because or original flight was scheduled for Ft. Lauderdale, or bags were put on the flight to Ft. Lauderdale. We landed in Miami at 10:30 PM. The flight with our bags wasn’t scheduled to land until 12:15 AM. After waiting in line to get this information, we went to look for a rental car. When we got to the rental car locations (not near the airport) we were informed that all the cars were rented. So, we went back to the airport to look for a car or shuttle to Ft. Lauderdale. Several people on our flight had to do the same thing, so it felt like we were on an episode of “The Amazing Race.” We finally found a shuttle and took a 45 minute drive to Ft. Lauderdale. $60 later we got our bags. We did manage to get our bags before the other people who flew on stand by from Houston. After getting our bags, we caught a taxi to meet Rodger at the Hotel. We got something to eat (take out) we finally went to bed at 3 AM Eastern Standard Time; 17 hours after our day started.
The next day we went for a walk on the beach and got lunch at a very interesting restaurant. It’s called “The Oasis Cafe.” The food was good, but the atmosphere was better. The restaurant is right off of the main drag in Ft. Lauderdale Beach. There are great views of the ocean. All of the seats have canopies and the tables rock back and forth on a rail like a swing. Be sure to look at the pictures.
After lunch was a long taxi ride to Miami, about an hour. We got to the hotel in time to unpack freshen up and head across the street to the University of Miami to do our sound check. We had a great time at the show. The students were great and the students and staff working the event were amazing. Things ended around Midnight. We went in search of food and crashed around 3 AM again. Poor Rodger didn’t sleep because he had to be to the airport to catch a 6AM flight to South Caroline for a Saturday show.
Kelly and I woke up Saturday to head back to the Miami Airport to pick up our rental car. We arrived to find a SUPER LONG line. I was worried our car would be gone! I got the keys to the car and headed out to the parking lot. We were expecting a little compact car. We ended up with a 2007 Ford Mustang. The car looks great on the outside, but the inside is another story. The hood is higher than the seats, so it’s hard to see out the front. The driver side seat raises up to help see out of the car, but passenger has no view. My seat was about a foot higher than Kelly’s. The seats aren’t that comfortable either. Not too impressed by the Mustang. We got in the unimpressive car and headed up to Tampa to see my family.
Got to see my mom, sister and brother. It was good to see them all and have dinner. Plus it was the first time for Kelly to meet mom. I think everyone was nervous. Kelly has a great personality and got along great with my mom and especially my sister. The visit with the family was short. Kelly and I got on a plane the next morning to head home.
I’m happy to say that the flights home were uneventful. We finally got home very tired, but the trip that started off not so good, ended really good.
Thank you everyone for reading. Here are some more pictures from the trip.
1 comment:
FRANK! miami is GORGEOUS!!!
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