The Northeast is digging out from another winter storm with rumors of still another by weeks end. Still the calendar doesn’t lie and Old Man Winter will have to relinquish his grip to make way for the birds and flowers of spring.
Category Archives: Weather
Final Hours in Fort Lauderdale
My Mexico cruise/ Fort Lauderdale adventure is winding down. I have one last thing to squeeze in and that is a visit to family.
I met my cousin at Lester’s Diner in Fort Lauderdale where we enjoyed a real good old-fashioned breakfast of pancakes and bacon. The diner is like a blast from the past, an authentic 50′s style restaurant and home to the infamous 14oz coffee cup. This signature landmark has been a family owned and operated business in South Florida for over 43 years.
My cousin told me she used to work there and met her husband there. Another old-fashioned touch. She was a waitress, he was a trucker. Sounds like the basis for a romantic movie. 🙂
My cousin is the outgoing one and she seemed to know everyone as we made out way to our booth.
After breakfast we headed to my aunt’s home which turned out to be literally around the corner from the Diner and after a short visit there we went on to the airport also just “around the corner.”
That should have been the end of the story. Drop off rental car, get on plane , arrive home but it turned out it wasn’t quite that easy. I dropped off the rental and grabbed the shuttle to the terminal. I checked my bags curbside and headed into the security line. It was huge. As I stood there looking around I realized I didn’t have my coat! It was still in the rental car. I tried calling the lost and found but kept getting lost in the IVR prompts so back to the shuttle to reverse my previous trip.
At the Hertz counter they directed me to lost & found and there was my coat. Yay! Now back on the shuttle again to the terminal and back on the line. It hadn’t moved much. I was in the same place as when I left. Slowly , very slowly the line began to creep forward.
In the Fort Lauderdale airport the security is on a slightly lower level from the check in counters. As the line crept forward I eventually reach a point where there was a ramp that led down to the TSA agent and security scanners. I wish the TSA had allowed pictures because at that point I could look out over all the travelers and it was a wall to wall sea of people all jostling and pushing for position! It was an amazing sight and I had lots of time to watch as I waited for my line to move forward again.
Once at the scanners the routine was the same…shoes off, lap top out of the luggage, walk through scanner, retrieve, put shoes back on and find the gate. Whew! from the time I got back on line the 2nd time until I made it to my gate it was over 1 hour! So glad I went early. My cousin had suggested I chat a little longer saying I’d be through security in 10 minutes. Maybe if I was on an early flight but apparently not if you are flying mid-day!
The rest of my flights were uneventful. I offered to be “bumped” in exchange for a $400 voucher but I would have to fly out the next day, not just a later flight on the same day so I passed it up.
My flight finally landed around 8:30 pm amid snow and sleet. The parking valet had my car warmed up and cleaned off when I got off the shuttle. The drive home was not too bad in spite of the weather and there they were. 2 little furry faces meeting me at the door.
I love travel but I love coming home too.
March Blizzard 2013
Oh it was tempting to skip work today but I am getting close to the end of my employment. With that deadline looming I dragged myself out the door about 9 AM. Here’s what greeted me.
The tree by the front door
The decorative bench on the front lawn. Pretty clear we have a bit of accumulation.
Along Rt 44 trees weighed down and other snowy vistas
Christmas tree anyone?
Can you believe it was still snowing? This isn’t Alaska. It’s Southern Massachusetts!
It’s supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow! Talk about weather extremes.
But my favorite…Here come the plows.
I got this picture of the west bound plow by holding the camera out the car window as I drove eastbound.
End of the Line
After viewing the gorgeous sunrise
as we pulled into Miami we headed into the Horizon Bar and Grill for our last breakfast while the ship docked and prepared for our disembarkation.
We’d tagged our bags and left them in the hall outside our cabin the night before. The tags had been left by the staff and each bag had a number. Ours was 23. That would determine when we could leave the ship.
Everyone congregated on the Lido deck by the pool to wait for their number to be called. It seemed to take forever to get to 23 but once it was called we were processed off the ship pretty quickly. We were disappointed that at no time did we collect a stamp in our passport. The passport was essential but I guess traveling by cruise ship accords some shortcuts and one of them is by passing the custom stamp.
One glitch. We left our cell phones in the car because I had heard that even if the phones were off if a call or text came through to voice mail that we could still be charged for international calling (roaming). Not wanting any surprises on our bills we left the phone behind. Now we were standing in front of the terminal with no way to call for the shuttle to the Park & Cruise. There were no old-fashioned pay phones anywhere and no courtesy phones either. Tensions started to rise when I had an inspiration. I approached one of the security personnel with our parking tag and explained our situation. She chuckled a little and made the call for us . Within half an hour we were back where we started, loading up Joe’s car.
Next stop is Fort Lauderdale Airport where I have a rental car waiting. That’s where Joe will drop me off and head back to Orlando and I will head into Fort Lauderdale to find my hotel. I’m going to spend a couple of days here in hopes of getting to the Everglades for some serious photo opportunities.
We found the car rental return but not the pick-up so Joe dropped me off at the return and I hoofed it to the lobby. It’s not even noon yet. With luck I’ll have most of the day to explore.
Storm Stories
The New England Blizzard of 2013 is winding down. The storm centers are starting to compare past major storms to this one. My favorite storm was the Blizzard of ’78 but I’d say this one was handled much better. With a driving ban starting yesterday at 4 pm they avoided having cars stuck on the expressway and stranded drivers which was one of the most horrific memories from ’78. The storm surges are still battering the coast with widespread evacuations but I haven’t heard too many reports of homes being washed into the sea the way they were in ’78.
I was a property insurance adjuster in 1978 so had first hand exposure to the devastation. Now in 2013 I’m a dispatcher for a telecommunication company so still on the front lines, just in a different way.
Here are some pictures from 10:30 last night.
Our Entryway door at the condo in Taunton
Plowing the parking lot
The tree in front of out building
And then 9 am this morning.
Still snowing
Nice job clearing our walk way
And the stairs but what happens at the bottom???
Wake me up when it’s spring.
Where’s my car?
