Vacation, all I ever wanted….
I had a fantabulous vacation. Although, I am surprised that I didn’t have to be rolled onto the plane due to the extreme amounts of food that were ingested. Also beer. My in-laws are wonderful people.
We left pretty early Wednesday morning, and managed to arrive in Norfolk, VA (home of the weird 700-club mural) at 6ish. The only bad thing about the flight east was JFK airport. Seriously, who designed that thing? Four flights were leaving from Gate 25 at the same time, and so we all walked out of the airport, down the stairs and to a long, covered hallway-type thing on the tarmac to where the baby airplanes live. And then, you just guess which plane is going to your destination. We actually ended up with a few people who were trying to get to Buffalo on our plane. It was an adventure.
I hadn’t had anything to drink yet, because our first flight left at 7 AM, and that’s a bit early, even for me. I checked w/ the flight attendant on the 2nd flight to make sure they had a beverage service, and she promised me they did. When she came through with the drink cart I was clutching my $5 bill, ready to buy my g&t…and her face fell. Apparently, the JFK service people didn’t restock the liquor. She said they have that problem at JFK, and she didn’t even have any White Zin for me. I cried a little.
When we got to Norfolk, the architect’s father & father’s gf (here-after known as H & B) drove us around, looking for a place we could have both food (for the Delta snack box did not quite get us there) and drink (because damn, people, I just sped across the country in a metal box). We ended up at Maxwell’s Tavern. Which looked a bit scary. The (scantily-clad) waitress assured us that we were about to have the best food in Virginia. I’ve not eaten at too many places in Virginia, but I don’t think she was too far off the mark. And the collard greens? Just as wonderful as the owner said they were (he gave us free samples). The drinks were well mixed. The fried oysters were delicious. Everything was awesome. I love finding scary hole-in-the-strip-mall places like that. (Although I can’t find any great reviews online – only bad ones, so maybe our trip was an anomaly…)
H had rented a beach house (or, more accurately, a sound-side house) on the Outer Banks. In addition to the parents-in-law, myself & the architect, there was the architect’s older brother (H2), his wife (M), and two daughters (aged 12 & 3). A good time was had by all. We ate, and talked, and looked at jelly fish, and ate, and drank beer, and ate, and went to the beach, and ate…..are you getting the theme?
I really like my in-laws, and was really glad to spend this time with them. The last time I saw H2, M & the small ones was just before the architect’s mother died, and that was not the most cheery of gatherings.
The H2 & M, along with their brood took off early (like 5:30 am early) on Saturday morning for the long drive back to Atlanta, and we packed up the beach house & went back to H&B’s pad. The last day was pretty relaxing – a visit to obtain Salt Water Taffy for me to take back to my co-workers, and a movie rental, and a nice drive would have been enough – but then, we went to Chili Peppers – a weird Tex-Mex place. The food was very, very good – although the service was questionable, and there was something wrong with their tap beers.
Sunday, I slept in. That was nice. Then, the long trek back to Norfolk for the trip home. We were to fly United on the way back – through Dulles. But, we didn’t so much. Because our plane was canceled. And they originally said that our trip was to be delayed 24 hours (when I asked what kind of accommodations were made, they said “none, we guarantee that you will arrive within 72 hours of your scheduled time…and that’s all we have to do). However, even though United sucks my ass and I may never actually buy another ticket with them again, they always have awesome ticketing agents. I guess they need something to make up for their suckiness in every other realm. So – the ticketing agent got us on an American flight that got us home last night – albeit 3 hours later than the originally scheduled flight – which is to say, 21 hours earlier than the next United flight they were willing to book us on.
So – I went to Texas last night, y’all! And American? It was good, both flights landed early. When we got down to baggage claim with nary a restroom stop, our bags were already there. It was like flying on the bizarro-airline. The one with on-time departures and fast, efficient service.
If I didn’t already have another flight booked on United (to LA, in November) that would give me just enough frequent flyer miles for a free flight, I’d boycott United. As it is, I may write them a strongly-worded disapproving letter.
And now, I’m trying to catch up with the 198 blog posts waiting in my Google Reader, to say nothing of my LJ friends’ list.
And, from what I understand (since I spoke very briefly with him last night), my father is also home from his theological superstar tour of the UK where he was voted as most popular theologian since John Lennon – or something like that.
At least it’s another short week – I get this Friday off due to some surgery the architect is having. The rest of the days will be spent rewarding my body for not gaining 17 pounds last week, and exercising it until it’s too exhausted to realize just how much I did consume. Oh, yeah – and work. So, busy as usual! I might need a vacation.
Follow me on social!
