Friends, this Christmas season may be tougher than I thought. We just received displays for chocolate drizzled popcorn at work. And if that wasn’t bad enough we also received some white chocolate and cinnamon drizzled popcorn. (sigh)
Forget the chocolate covered pretzels. I will be up a pant size by Thanksgiving! I’ll be the turkey!
You may have heard me sing my theme song “King of Somewhere Hot” from time to time.
“…where I can truly reign supreme,
Somewhere fresh and clean,
Where a man can claim…
I’m the King…
King of somewhere Hot.
Well evidently I may sing it maybe too much?
Saturday, Skylar, my 3 year old, had a cardboard crown from a Burger King happy meal. You know the kind. You piece it together and a tab on the back.
Well she was feeling very friendly Saturday morning and so she went over to our greyhound and put the royal crown on top of his head. And she says,’ You’re the king of somewhere hot Chumley.”
Chumley was ecstatic!
Well no, not really. You see he, our black greyhound, had just had a duel, a face to face bout, with Skylar’s 2 foot blow up Shark. And he won! So his day had already been made!
Jaws has been caged!
Compounding the issue of my 3 year old picking up Jimmy Buffett songs is my 5 year old who sings Buffett songs on the way ‘Back to school’.
If the parent police ever find out about my little girls already becoming Parrotheads they may just take my Parent card; or World’s Coolest Dadcoffee mug from me.
Another point of interest this weekend is, after much hard work, rearranging, unpacking and tossing out, I was finally able to park my car in the garage this weekend. No metaphor intended this time.
Getting both our cars in the garage has been a goal, a challenge, or quest ever since we moved in last May. I frankly thought the garage too small. But it fit! Cross it off the list! It fit!
And that, my friends, is the kind of extravagant family activities that have earned me the WordPress Family Award this week!
Presented by: Turquoise Compass
Yes, Jessica, at Turquoise Compassreally flattered, surprised, and completely dazzled me with the WordPress Family Award.
Since I will probably never get ‘Freshly Pressed’ this may be the closest I get to an award with a WordPress logo.
If you enjoy travel or a coastal read and pictures of turquoise blue water, Jessica has a blog for you! She is a well credited teacher taking a year off to explore the turquoise waters around the globe…I am sooo jealous.
Similarly, another new friend, although she never has told me her name, PeaceLove&GreatCountryMusic honored me with a comparable thrill in recommending me for a Sunshine Award last week.
I am smiling over here and happy to know that a few people actually enjoy reading about me and my girls and their crazy shenanigans. I know not everyone can stomach hearing about other people’s kids.
So thank you ladies so much!
And thanks to all of you that drop by and leave a comment to let me know you were here. These things keep me going.
Now I normally don’t really do awards. For me, they take a lot of my time, as you know how chatty I can be. I have told you everything worth knowing about myself already in previous award speeches. And I really hate passing out an award to a limited number or recipients when all of you are more deserving than I.
But this tribute is to ‘Family’ Bloggers I suppose and so the 50 other coastal, or fitness, or funny, or motivational or Stylish other favorite bloggers I love so much shouldn’t get too offended if I don’t nominate them this one time? Right?
So here are my nominations for favorite Family bloggers that rightfully deserve this award too. You all do a great job where I look forward to hearing about you and your families. And I am sorry I can’t pick all you great moms and dads out there….
Dances with Chaos: This is probably the best mommy / family writer out there in a world of great writers IMHO. Always amusing never dull.
Momma Gets Real: A very funny and candid mother who shares some of the highs and lows of raising her clan.
Don’t We Look Alike: This is a mom and daughter tag team (mostly mom) that write on all the various issues in adoption. The mom, an adoptive mother and the daughter a very talented singer and dancer.
Cuckoo’s Nest : One of my favorites. Mom does great illustrations of fun in her young family and her future heiress. She is equally gifted in front of as well as behind the camera. And in the kitchen!
Taking The World On With A Smile: Karen is a multiple award winner here in 3D. I probably annoy her with this stuff. She has two great teens that serve as an illustration of what I have to look forward to…if I do things right.
Leeanne Shirtliffe ~ the Ironic Mom: Leeanne is just a very, very funny writer and author of the hilarious new book, “Don’t Lick the Minivan: And Other Things I Never Thought I’d Say to My Kids”. Her motto is ‘if you can’t laugh at yourself, laugh at your kids.She is my go-to source for funny ideas to steal borrow when I have none of my own.
Southern Sea Muse: This is a blog by a southern lady living on the coast. It is not so much about her family but ideas and conversations with ‘the Big Guy‘. Although I truly enjoy when she adds stories about her kids.
Talk To Diana: Another great read, that is not so much about family and more on business, philanthropy, and helping others. But then I read about the relationship she has with her kids and I know it is all worth it.
Swimming Into My 50’s: Here is a kindred spirit in more ways than one. We both hate being 50. Where I like to Salsa she is actually good at it. Her kids are an extension of her great personality.
Dirty Rotten Parenting: Don’t let the title fool you. She is a great and caring mom who just happens to put a funny spin on things, pointing out we all share the same things with our kids
So Congratulations and thanks to you 10 greaterable (Dylan’s word) Family blogs. I enjoy what you do and look forward to you doing it the next time. If you would like to pay your award forward, let me list a few of the rules:
For the WordPress Family award:
Include the award’s logo in a post or on your Blog.
Link to the person who nominated you.
Answer 10 questions about yourself. (anything)
Nominate 10 Bloggers.
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their Blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
Now, if you don’t want to do parts of the above rules I get it. As you can see I am not really a ‘Rules’ guy either. I know it takes time. I know many blogs out there don’t even acknowledge their awards.
On the other hand, why ignore some of your favorite blogs? Why not reach out somewhere and touch someone that touches you? I am sure that would make their day! Right? Its always cool to get (and give) an award.
Or, like my daughter Skylar, or my friend Paris, might say:
“…I don’t care how hard you look.
You won’t find me in a book.
Cause I’m here right on this spot!
The King of somewhere Hot….
**Thanks again Ms. Turquoise and Ms. Country Music!
Sorry I’ve been absent here this week. We’ve had a couple of issues here at home I’ve had to deal with, not the least of which is I’ve stopped receiving emails of your new posts. So sorry if I’ve missed a post or two. I’m still subscribed, my email is still in there.
Has anyone one else had this happen to them. What did you do?
We called out our local power company to do an audit to find out why our power bills have been so jigundous. It turns out the area over our master bedroom on our second floor has no insulation covering it in the attic.
Ceiling temps in our upstairs hallway were 74 degrees. Ceiling temps in our MBR were 85 degrees. It is no wonder our A/C continues to run all the time!
AND…
Our lovable new greyhound actually bit our nanny this week.
This friendly, submissive, 60lb ball of muscles turned on her and gave her a nip and broke the skin. Unacceptable! He actually growled at Mom today as she was trying to take some trash back that Chum pulled from the trash can. Not good!
So we are in touch with his trainers to try to figure this out. They call him a ‘fearful and not confident’ dog who is just coming out of his ‘honeymoon’ period in his new home, trying to establish himself, much like a child pushing some boundaries. Stay tuned. If he ever growls at these girls he has to go back. And we all agree that would be a shame.
These, along with more questions and anxieties arising for my cancer procedure next week, reminded me of my friend Jimmy’s saying, “When you attitude’s appalling, there’s a latitude that’s calling, so get yourself past that continental shelf.”
Coincidently, that verse come from Buffett’s “Party At The End Of The World” (sigh) ….
So I wanted to send you all a post card from our valentine’s day trip to St. Lucia a few years back.
First, I enjoy doing these Travel posts so much because doing the research and digging out out photos just bring back some great memories. So that is why this runs on. if you don’t have the time right now but want to take a quick trip with us to the island of St. Lucia, bookmark this and come back when you have some time or need that attitude fix.
If you only have time for a quick fix right now, here is a great, professionally done video, courteous of the island. I find it to be very accurate as to what we saw and explored. You can get a good look at this beautiful, romantic Caribbean island in 4-6 minutes. Or click on it and read on for a nice relaxing backdrop to the story.
Where did you go/what was it like?
We chose St. Lucia in part as part of our quest to explore every island in the Caribbean and in part for the great all-inclusives that are on the island. More on that later.
St. Lucia is part of the British West Indies. It celebrates a transient and colorful history from the days of pirates, new world exploration,and colonization, as all her sister islands do. You can get a good glimpse at her sorted-past right here.
The island hosts a myriad of twisting, winding roads that certainly keeps any tourist on the edge of his/her seat when traveling in a tour bus or shuttle! The trip to a remote part of the island to go zip lining was probably the most thrilling part of our getaway!
The island seems designed to be sort of a romantic destination due to its lush foliage (more on that) and resorts designed for couples only
The topography of the island is very diverse, featuring a canopy of a tropical rainforest:
to an actual live ‘drive in’ volcano at Sulfur Springs….
to twin mountain tops that are adoringly called the ‘Twin Pitons‘ in this romantic hideaway…
….to a tropical flower garden, Botanical Gardens, that even any high testosterone male could enjoy! It features an orchid garden, white lilies, a wide assortment of colorful tropical plants; a tropical delicacy in flowers….
Red Lobster Claws
Red Crab Claws
You can caption this one…
The history of the Botanical Gardens gos back to the French in habitation, when they saw the baths in the gardens having ‘healing qualities’.
There is a stream flowing through the gardens, with the waterfall featured in ‘Romancing TheStone’. The clear water flowing down this fall illustrates the vast amount of minerals in the water.
The romantic Diamond Head Falls can heal whats wrong with you
You see the water flowing around Sulfur Springs volcano is a whopping 340 degrees. This hot water dissolves a lot of the minerals found in the soil and rocky landscape. So when filming the clear water it captures the colorful minerals trapped in the water. Besides touristy baths, advertising healing powers, today’s tourism also features mud baths as well. You won’t get cold!
Where did you stay/what was it like?
When looking for a vacation destination we didn’t chose St. Lucia per se, we chose Sandal’sResorts. We always enjoy a nice all-inclusive offering, some good water sports, and Sandal’s was hard to ignore.
Sandal’s is part of a larger chain with the motto, “Luxury Included” in the all-inclusives. And they really try to pull it off. Sandal’s is actually a ‘couples only’ resort. Their sister company, ‘Beaches‘, is a family oriented resort chain.
Lots of weddings at this ‘couples’ only resort
We actually chose St. Lucia because there happen to be 3 Sandal’s resorts on this one tiny island. This was a BIG perk when it came to dining. We stayed at the Sandal’s Halcyon, which was actually the oldest and most modest of the 3 Sandal’s resorts; the only one that could fit our budget. But we weren’t slumming….
Sandal’s Halcyon web site reads, “By design, this resort is built naturally into the environment with no building higher than the highest palm. Enjoy Classic Caribbean architecture and quaint, charming ginger breaded cottages, creatively designed to meld into the luxuriant surrounding landscape, during your ideal St. Lucia vacation.”
Oh, and its a couples only resort so no loud teenagers or exhausted toddlers. It just could be ‘romantic’.
Below is a view from our room balcony…
The resort featured lots of lush tropical foliage…
Some nice restaurants with great views…
Like at Kelly’s Dockside—dramatically extending 130 feet out over the water. It’s just one of six restaurants and seven bars, plus with there dine around program on St. Lucia there are sixteen additional restaurants at the neighboring Sandals Resorts to try.
Some of the required water sports…
What, no diving?
Yea, that’ll do!
Being in some upscale settings (for once) we met a lot of nice people from all over the world here in the British West Indies.
Our friends Marilyn and Frank, from Toronto were staying for a month!
We met some crabby locals too…
The grounds were lush and tropical as you would expect but with some FUN amenities that you might not expect…
I’m planning on recreating this little treat by our new pool
plus a pool or two that were absolutely toxic!
I’m not moving….
Plus, we were on the western side of the island, by design. So we had the opportunity to see this every night….if we could find the time!
The sunset our first day
All in all, not too bad for the ‘budget’ Sandal’s on St. Lucia!
What was the food like?/Where did you have the best food?
The good and the bad of staying in all-inclusives is that you rarely venture off the property to explore and experience the local cuisine. That liability was really mitigated with Sandal’s in St. Lucia. In fact it was a perk!
If any part of our stay at the ‘luxury included’ resort typified luxury it was the dining.
What do you think of when it comes to dining at all-inclusives?
The same breakfast buffets? In expensive entree’s prepared on flashy ways? Nothing too pricey or even tasty?
These Sandal’s resorts featured some literal Four and Five Star restaurants. This was no hype. They were excellent. And you didn’t need your wallet or a credit card to try the best thing on the menu….it was already paid for!
We enjoyed a fantastic meal at La Toc. I tried a few new things that I have never tasted before. Like escargot for appetizers and caviar for sides with my beef wellington; at an all-inclusive!
It was great! It was a moment. It is what going on vacation in new places is all about. Memorable!
From the French Restaurant La Toc at Sandal’s Regency
We also took the Sandal’s shuttle over to the Regency to enjoy dinner at their popular Japanese restaurant, Kimonos!
Grande shrimp at Sandal’s Regency’s Japanese restaurant
In the true definition of ‘a small world‘ the people seated immediately beside us were from our hometown. What are the odds?
Anybody can do ONE set of chop sticks…
The other Sandal’s resort, Grande we visited too. And it was! It was a gorgeous resort on the tip of the island with more restaurants that really put ours to shame. We went there for one special evening too!
Sandal’s Grande beach. The resort was grande!
What was the highlight of your trip
This survey asks what is the highlight of our trip?
As I alluded to earlier, the most thrilling part of our Valentine’s vacation wasn’t the zip lines but the ride to the zip lines!
We were dispatched in old worn out school buses that barely ran. No power! If you can imagine downshifting in a school bus on a 35% incline.
This bus had to make hairpin turns on narrow dirt roads at steep angles, both going in and coming out of the rainforest ( It didn’t rain) Every time we approached one of these turns I just knew the bus would just roll over down the mountain side into the jungle never to be heard from again.
But we didn’t. However I have no pictures to show you of the severity of this event (you see how I like a picture) so I will move on to memorable night number 2 (sort of).
The most memorable event recorded (thankfully)was our dinner over at Sandal’s Grande. We took the shuttle over early so we could explore. They had a private dining room on the end of a pier that was by reservation and currency only. Yes, in an all-inclusive, to eat in this private room at the end of the dock you needed some money!
We opted for the Bare feet Beach Restaurant where we could have a table right next to rolling surf.
A view from our table at Sandal’s Grande Barefoot Beach Restaurant…where we could only look at the private dining room.
This was nice! And only the beginning.
It was dusk. The gentle waves just feet from our table. My favorite date in front of me. And I could order anything on the menu at this 5 Star resort and not have to worry about getting a bill.
And so, like all cheap frugal minds, I couldn’t make mine up. There were two entree’s that I really wanted to try. I couldn’t make up my mind. Analysis paralysis!
So, after a glass of wine an haggling with my server, he let me have BOTH entrees. Yes, I am a pig!
It was delicious, light, tropical, star lit night. And then our server said the dessert buffet was right upstairs!
WHAT?
Dessert Buffet? Do you know me? We are called the dessert couple by our neighbors. Buffet? Here?
So we marched up to the British Pub where they told us it could be found
No passports needed.
We found a table in the British Pub and then I spied it. A dessert Buffet!
Where are the plates!
You see, they were teeny-tiny desserts that didn’t really fill you up. You could take all you wanted. Oh, and if you got thirsty, we were sitting right across from the after-dinner drink buffet!
just put it on my tab…
It was incredible. I ate the best stuff. I countered it with the best, soothing beverages. And it wa endless.
I AM such a pig!
After I moved the notch on my belt back as far as I dare we eventually found the shuttle back to our resort. If you have a culinary background, or just like tasting great things like I do, this was heaven on stick and worth the trip alone.
How could we ever top it off?
Yes, the swinging bed!
Luxury Included!
The last thing I remember
Any funny/embarrassing stories or disasters?
Not a good one but painfully embarrassing…
We had become good friends with the outgoing Activities Director at our resort. One day she asked if we would like to do a Dating Game type of game at the night’s activities, where they ask one person a questions and then pull their partner out and ask them the same question to see if they match.
Do you remember this game?
First we agreed we would NOT answer anything that puts the other person in an embarrassing light. We knew this part. Right?
We get there and right away we won a prize!
…for being the oldest couple on the stage!
She did her questions and then I did mine. The pressure was on! The last question, keep in mind this is a couple’s Dating Game, they asked me if my wife was a Doormat, a Chit Chat, or an Acrobat..in bed?
(gasp!)
I told them well she’s none of these…I can’t tell this stuff.
They insisted on an answer. I insisted she was not any of these! They insisted harder and brought the crowd in to the picture.
I failed. Whatever answer I said, it was the worst one! It was going to be no matter what I said.
The game was over. She steamed off. I groveled with apologies, promises, I’m sorry’s and more.
She was mad for the next 36 hours…on our vacation in paradise. PAINfully embarrassing!
How was the weather (and when did you travel)?
The weather was great. We wondered what it would be like with a tropical rainforest on the island. But all we had was a few morning showers at daybreak and a few around 4:00pm, never lasting longer than 30 minutes and that was it.
It was the kind of light rain you might welcome at a ‘couples only’ resort on a tropical island.
Most useful word/phrase you learnt.
“What time is the shuttle”. our days were planned around this, whether planning meals at other resorts or catching a commercial travel activity like zip lining or volcano hunting.
And the other useful piece of information that we have tried to build into our trips to tiny islands, “Always stay on the western side of the island!
Our practice is to sit and watch the sun go down on every last day of a trip, wringing every lat drop of Travel and Escape out of our trip.
If I haven’t lost you yet, and want to see glimpses of this trip in action, click on the video and join us one more time. I think its worth it!
The weekend turned out to be a Beee-yout-ti-ful one. We tried to make up for Memorial Day this weekend, now that a lot of the tourists have gone home.
We made it out to the beach by 10:30 Saturday morning. We do this to beat the crowds, traffic and get the girls off the beach in time for some naps. It was a perfect day; perfect temps, perfect winds, perfect tides.
We go out to a beach called Isle Of Palms. It is more of a residential beach (summer homes) than a touristy one (hotels and condos). The beaches then are unprotected by the lack of use of stone jetties. Accordingly, the beaches kind of reshape themselves about every full moon.
Sand bars head off the beach and parallel to it as as well. These parallel sand bars turn into warm tidal pools when the tide goes out. They are the perfect place for youngongs to play that are otherwise intimated by the ocean’s waves.
They are warm and safe. They can explore and jump and kick safely.
Here’s a brief look at the girls making do in their Atlantic backyard…
And so that’s where our two girls spent the majority of their morning. Since it was our first time back to the ocean since last September, Dylan digressed a bit in her love of the ocean. We played in the waves a little but it only took a couple of knock downs from the waves and mouth fulls of water to have her come in.
But we had a great day.
It reminded me of all the things I missed over the winter, the beach combing, riding the waves, the therapeutic sound of the sea. So I wanted to see of mommy wanted to head back out on Sunday too. (hint, hint)
Kicking back in our lounge chairs, watching the girls make their own fun in the tidal pools couldn’t help but remind me of one of my favorite beach songs. And so I will leave you with that and a few more pictures of summer to start your week. Cheers!
I know I don’t get there often enough But God knows I surely try It’s a magic kind of medicine That no doctor could prescribe
I used to rule my world from a pay phone Ships out on the sea But now times are rough Oh I got too much stuff I can’t explain the likes of me
But there’s this one particular harbor So far but yet so near
Where I see the days as they fade away And finally disappear
But then I think about the good times Down in the Caribbean sunshine
In my younger days I was so bad
Laughin’ about all the fun we’ve had
I’ve seen enough to feel the world spin Mixin’ different oceans meetin’ cousins Listen to the drummers and the night sounds Listen to the singers make the world go ’round..
Lakes below the mountain Flow into the sea
Like oils applied to canvas Oh how they permeate through me
But there’s this one particular harbor Sheltered from the wind
Where the children play
on the shore each day And all are safe within
A most mysterious calling harbor So far but yet so near
Where I can see the day
when my hair’s so gray And I finally disappear
But Not Yet…
Have a great weekend everyone! Make it the best week yet!
(Thanks to Jimmy Buffett for that One great Particular Harbor)
It is time for a Use Me and Abuse Me post. This is the idea I wanted to steal from Susie Lindau’s Wild Ride. She is a very creative blogger and is always finding new and fun ways to interact with her readers.
So what is Use Me and Abuse Me Day?
This is a Christmasy way to share some of your favorite things and meet and / or pick up a few new friends and subscribers. Abuse me by bringing ONE link to your favorite Christmas post. If you bring two, you will end up in Spam Prison.Simply pick your fav Christmas post you think everyone will enjoy reading. You have some by now, don’t you? Everyone has a favorite. After pasting it, write a small introduction to entice some readers to your blog.
If you have a favorite Christmas video or song, go for it!
Feel free to introduce yourself to others in my comment section. Say, “Hello!” You all seem pretty cool! I want stop by your place and check yours out. I think some others will too.
Subscribe to a few blogs and they may subscribe to yours. Tell them, “Susie and Andy sent you”.
Adding some favorite Christmas songs might be the orchestral version of Carol Of the Bells. If you enjoy that song here is a wonderful version of it:
That song always stops me in my tracks. A few of my non-traditional favorite Christmas songs might be the 80’s girl group, the Waitresses, and ‘ChristmasWrappings‘ about a young lady finding the Christmas Spirit in a busy A&P store. ..
Come on, you gotta like that one (my wife hates it too). Another, Silver Bells by the Roches, is found on Martha Stewart’s Christmas CD. I liked it so much I used it for the background music to Dylan’s second Christmas story:
They grow so fast! Finally, being the beach bum that I am, here is a Coastal Christmas fav. warming into my heart each year; Jimmy Buffet’s Christmas Island:
But now that is way too much about me. Howabout you?
Let the virtual Christmasparty begin! Come on in. Socialize! Mingle with the other guests! Every sumptuous entree and decadent dessert offered here is for your virtual pleasure. Indulge! The drinks are on the house, although they are at my house. Everything is calorie and guilt free! Except for me, for shamelessly pirating Susie’s ‘AbuseMe’ post.
Thank you Susie! Be sure to check out the party at Susi’s blog. You may never leave! Have a Merry Christmas everyone and please drop off and unwrap some of your Christmas gifts for everyone below…
My wife and I were real excited to go on this trip to the Caribbean for a big reason, we have not been on a vacation since August of 2011. We each have changed jobs over the past year and taking time off was just not possible as we each tried to get established in our new positions. Add to that length of no R&R was the fact that a lot of the utility and benefits of that last vacation were wiped out by the plane ride home.
You see our last vacation we flew the kids up to Ocean City, NJ. We could do this as US Air owed us a trip after we cancelled our flights that we made 3 weeks before we found out Skylar was going to be born back in 2010.
Well on that last flight home, US Air neglected to send a plane to take us.
You see we were to fly out of Philly. It rained real hard that day. It turned out that it rained real hard up and down the east coast. The flight that was supposed to take us home that Sunday was never able to leave the ground in New York, due to all the rain. This was Sunday afternoon around 12:00 noon. I HAD to be at work Monday by 5:00am and now no way to cover those 600 miles to get home.
It was very stressful. Daddy had to stand in line and then bargain to get a flight the same day. Staying overnight was not an option. Mom had the tougher job of pacifying an 18 month and 3.5 year old little girls that desperately needed a nap in an airport. At 3:00pm we were at our end.
We ended up finding a flight that landed at the closest airport some 6 hours later. We found a friend to go pick us up there and we got home around 11:00pm. We did. Or luggage didn’t. No one told our luggage that our flight was cancelled and it showed up in Charleston the next day. All in all not very amusing.
But that trip was far in the past. Just a memory of what could go wrong, not that it ever would again. Right?
Last week he had to hop on a ‘puddle jumper’ to Miami from Charleston. The international trip began at 7:00am in Charleston. So get there with plenty of time. Right?
We all woke up around 4:30am. We got showered, dressed, breakfast(ed). As I am finishing up poor Dylan walks in my bathroom, her head held down. She says, “Daddy…this is a disaster.”
“Huh? What do you mean Dylan? Why is this a disaster?”
She said, “Getting up this early. This is a disaster.” ~preachin’ to the choir girl!
“Well maybe you both can sleep on the plane Dylan.” I hope, I hope, I hope.
The girls didn’t sleep but they did pretty good and we were proud of them. The last time Skylar was on a plane she was 18 months old with an ear infection. This trip had to be better than that? Right?
She and Dylan both did great. As much as they love to spot planes in the sky, they each were unimpressed as the plane’s wheels left the ground at takeoff. In fact, Dylan pulled the window down. The rising sun was too bright for her eyes.
“Daddy, the plane has a leak”
We landed in Miami and hustled to our next terminal, got on the plane and prepared to be vacationed. No problem mon.
We taxied out to the runway and then we sat. And we sat. And we sat. Are we waiting for takeoff I wondered? Then, the pilots voice came over the loud speaker, “Attention passengers…we have a warning light on our dashboard so we are going to have to turn around and get it checked out.
And we sat. Can you imagine what runs through your mind when the pilot says we have to fix your plane? Especially through all the waiting and no communication?
Finally the plane began to taxi back to the American Airlines terminals.
And we sat.
The pilot’s voice came over the intercom again, “Well we have made it back to the bays but now we are waiting for one to open up. All the bays are full. As soon as we get word one is available we will head over. Please stay seated with your seat belts on.”
“Did you hear that Dylan? Skylar?” Yea, good luck with that!
And we sat. We had enough time on hands to wonder why this mysterious warning light on the dashboard didn’t come on before we pulled away from our terminal?
Actually we were still quite pleased with the behavior of our girls. They had not cried or whined. Mommy did a great job of prepping their carry-on bags with some great kid activities. No more disaster in Philly! Right?
Dylan played school on her computer
Another twenty minutes went by and we started to roll again. We had to taxi over to the other side of the airport where a terminal became available. The pilot’s voice came on, “Well we found a bay to get repairs. When we come to a stop we will let you disboard so you can stretch your legs. The repairs should take about an hour so meet back at this terminal in 60 minutes.” Only an hour I thought?
And we sat.
It turns out nobody told the maintenance man where we were or he didn’t have a ride over. Eventually they did let us leave the plane. We grabbed our carry-ons and the kids and tried to find something to eat. We rode the skytrain at Miami International, hit the restrooms and found our way back to our new terminal, where we sat. Well Dylan and Skylar didn’t. They were either climbing the windows or laying on the carpet by the terminal doors now.
Eighty minutes went by from our unboarding when a voice finally came over our terminal.
“Well flight 1491 we have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that it is going to take longer to fix your plane then we originally thought. The good news is that we found another plane for you to take you to paradise. You can board that new plane now. It is at terminal 6. If you have not grabbed your carry-ons please pick them up from this plane before you head down to terminal 6 and your new plane. No worries, no cry”
Well he didn’t actually sing the Bob Marley song but he did say paradise, which sure wasn’t the interior of an American Airlines jet!
We were at terminal 46. OK, here we go. We were familiar with the airport by now. We opted to hoof it to the new terminal instead of climbing the stairs up to the sky train (this was good!)
The four of us had made it all the way down to terminal 30 when a voice came over the airport’s intercom, “Attention flight 1491, your plane is now ready. Head back to your plane and prepare for takeoff.
REALLY!? Is this a joke?
So we restepped our path back to the terminal, stood in line, and prepared to board.
We found our seats, strapped in and prepared for our overdue trip to Jamaica. We really should have been at our resort by now! Step up American Airlines!
Well……we sat.
It turns out those that rode the skytrain down to terminal 6 missed the call back to the plane. So we had to wait for everyone on the flight to make it back. We sat.
It turns out American Airlines never staffed terminal 6. The handful of people that made it down there waited and no was there to tell them they were at the wrong place. We sat in our airplane’s seats a total of another 40 minutes waiting for the very last passenger to make it back to the plane.
Well they eventually did. We DID taxi to the runway. We DID take off this time. As the plane’s wheels left the ground the passengers all erupted in a sarcastic round of applause. Dylan had nailed it, “Disaster”.
You may know the rest of the story and our License To Chill. We landed in Jamaica some five hours late, found our ground transportation waiting for us, rode to Runaway Bay and then were “Wow’ed” with our reservation’s upgrade, chocolate cake and champagne.
Upon departure, EACH of our flights on the way home were delayed from the incoming flight being a late arrival as well, making our wait and traveling day that much longer. Again. But it did give us some time to goof at the airports!
They’re not in Finland but….
at the Margaritaville restaurant in the Jamaican airport
…where I met an old friend. Yes, I am a Pirate…
American Airlines, being the international airline that they are, really did step up. We all received emails saying they were giving us an additional 40,000 miles on our frequent flyer accounts. As if?
I think I am trying US Air next time. I never thought I would be saying that again.
OUR LIFE IN 3D 