A story

I woke up Saturday morning feeling sad about leaving, but satisfied with the trip. We ate some breakfast and headed to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. As we headed to the Spirit counter, we noticed that every screen said FLIGHT CANCELLED. I was praying this wasn't accurate until I heard the people in front of us using expletives. At that point, we were terrified.

We walked up to the counter and asked why our flight was canceled (I prefer one L). The representative said that they couldn't get an aircraft there. We asked when they'd be able to get an aircraft there, and they said they didn't know. At that point, the workers told us we would get a FULL reimbursement for our round trip and would just have to book a flight home on another airline.

I started getting feisty with the guy asking him if he would just book my flight himself. Believe it or not, he offered for me to stay at his house. He told me we could call his wife to see if I could stay there. NO THANK YOU. So, we headed over to the Delta counter to figure out another flight home. At this point, I was trying to decide if I should head to Atlanta or to Jacksonville, Florida since I'd be heading there first thing on Sunday morning. The flight to Jacksonville wasn't much more than the flight to Atlanta, so I went ahead and opted for the Jacksonville route, even though I'd stop in Atlanta. Mind you that I've now spent another $800 to get home, when my original round trip was only $640.

Spirit neglected to mention that its pilots were on strike, but one of the workers secretly informed my friend. When we landed in Atlanta, though, and used Google, the top result for Spirit was informing us of the pilot strike - the first one in at least five years or something. Now that's some good luck. If anyone I know ever books on Spirit, we will no longer be friends.

The Delta flight to Atlanta took off almost an hour later than expected. Then, when we landed in Atlanta, I knew I was starting to cut it close with my Jacksonville flight. When I finally got off the plane, I had to go get my bag to go through Customs in Atlanta before heading to Florida. However, my bag was nowhere to be found and my plane was boarding. A worker suggested that I just leave without it and figure it out when I land in Florida. I then busted into a movie-like expedition through the airport, literally sprinting and knocking people out of the way.

When I got to security, I just ran up to the first worker I saw and asked if I could go to the front of the line. The guy guided me through the line, unhooking chains to let me through to the very front. No questions asked. I've never felt faster than I did running on the moving walkway. When I ran off the moving walkway I almost slammed into the wall in front of me because I still had such momentum. I can't think of a time that I worked out so hard. Maybe I should start carrying a 15-pound bag when I do sprints on the treadmill.

I got to my gate 30 minutes after boarding started (8 minutes before takeoff), and there was not a soul in sight. I ran up to the counter and handed the two ladies my boarding pass, at which point they said that they thought I was an unaccompanied minor. Then they started talking about how 'tiny' I am and, after simply staring at them through all of this, I just asked if I could get on the airplane. They said yes. I got on the plane looking so frazzled and made my anti-Spirit announcement for the plane to hear.

The flight was nice. I talked to a 69-year-old named Mary who said she wished her sons were younger so I could date them. When I arrived in Jacksonville, I stood hopelessly at baggage claim waiting for the bag that I knew was probably nowhere to be found. After the place cleared out (and I was the only one left waiting, again), I went to the baggage claim office to learn that my bag was at JFK airport in New York City. At that point, I really didn't even care.

A nice man named Carl brought my suitcase by yesterday at about 3:30 p.m. I did go to Target to take advantage of Delta's $50-in-the-first-24-hours-of-baglessness policy, so I got a new shirt, a pair of shorts, and some other miscellaneous stuff. Lordy.

All that being said, the trip was wonderful. I can't believe that I still have another week left. This is the way to do it! I literally haven't thought about work the entire trip. I used to like the idea of a bunch of long weekend trips versus using vacation days all at once. The thing about the long weekends, though, is that you're not far enough removed to ever really feel dissociated from work.

Today should be a great day since I have a bathing suit. Although, if I were in the Dominican Republic, having a bathing suit would be irrelevant.

More to come...