TSA Archives

Getting there is half the fun

When you travel you have to keep in mind that getting there is half the fun. Day 1 of any of my vacations is always a travel day. So I remind myself that the journey is as important as the destination. Since I was only going to Florida you’d think this one would be easy. Just a hop, skip and jump down the east coast. Well, not quite. I never do anything the easy way. My flight is out of Logan (Boston) at 8:30 am. That’s a late flight for me but getting to Logan is an adventure in itself.

Park ‘n Fly Josh Gates adventurer

Turns out the easiest part of my journey was the Park ‘n Fly. It’s much more expensive than the Logan Express but my car will be better located for my dash to Lynn when I return. Yes, I got a ticket to hear Josh Gates speak and it’s the same evening I come back from Florida. My car needs to be handy or I’ll never get to Lynn on time. So Park ‘n Fly it is and they were great. Easy to get to and the shuttle to the airport picked me up right at the car.

Check in

Getting through security with my new hip was anti climatic. My Doctor said I’d light up the metal detectors so be sure to tell the TSA. Although I did let them know nothing happened when I walked through the metal detector. Not a peep out of those machines. The TSA operator asked me if my new hip was made of plastic because it didn’t set anything off. Wait til I see my Doctor again!

First Class Travel

As has become my habit I was flying first class. You get treated so much better that I’m willing to pay the extra if it isn’t too much. Today Delta really out did themselves. They made me feel like I was visiting royalty from the first person I saw in the terminal to the flight attendants in first class. Thank you Delta. Another fine job.

The planes.

I had a layover at JFK in New York. What a huge airport. We landed in one terminal and had to take a shuttle to another one to board a different plane. That was fine with me. The first plane was a little plane with only 3 seats in each row. Very cramped even in First Class. One seat was in the left with a window the other two were on the other side of the aisle. I had the left window seat. So I got to sit alone. When we changed planes we had a bigger plane with 4 seats per row, 2 on each side of the aisle and the seats were bigger.

The flight attendants on this plane were great. They were attentive, funny and always smiling even when a child passenger had a major meltdown.

MIA

MIA does not mean Missing in Action although the Miami airport does look like it went through a war. The People Movers are moving walkways that are meant to make it easier and faster to get through the airport. I’ve used them elsewhere and they do help but not in Miami. Very few of the walkways were working so I took off trudging with my luggage trailing behind me for what seemed like miles to find the car rental section of the airport. After a ride on a tram and more trudging I final spotted the Hertz counter.

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.