Christmas In Jacksonville, Fl (with slight detour in Detroit, MI)
On Christmas Eve, I set off to visit my parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece in the significantly warmer climes of Jacksonville, Florida. I had a 11:30 AM flight, which made me happy. I could still take the bus and train, plus I could sleep in a bit. Check in and security was comparatively painless. So far so good.
And here my troubles began. My flight was delayed forty minutes, possibly related to the disastrous weather trouble they were having in Chicago. That was worrisome, as I had a very short layover in Detroit. But I figured my flight out of Detroit would be in the same boat, so I resolved not to freak out about it. But then the flight crew couldn't get off their incoming plane quickly, for whatever reason, so there was a bit more of a delay. Then we got on the plane, and there was trouble with (if I remember right) the front strut. So a bit more of a delay as they put a new gas cylinder in. It didn't take that long, really. But then we had to wait a bit more, as we lost our place in line to take off. The flight itself was fine, but when we landed in Detroit, we again had to wait on the tarmack a bit as other flights went to the gate first. Every little bit added up, and I wound up missing my connecting flight by about an hour.
There were no more flights to Jacksonville, or Orlando, or anywhere reasonably nearby for the rest of the day. I stood in line with a bunch of seriously angry people for a couple hours, waiting to get rebooked. The next flight with space wasn't until 7ish the next evening, but I could get on stand-by for a morning and an afternoon flight. I sighed and was resigned to my fate. But thank crap for the strut problem. As there was a mechanical issue, I got hotel and meal vouchers.
Now, I didn't have it as bad off as a lot of people. I didn't have kids to wrangle. I didn't have physical issues. Christmas doesn't have any special meaning for me other than "designated time to spend with family." I got vouchers. So I lacked the irritation factors of many other travelers. But holy hopping catfish... the degree to which everyone took these inconveniences as personal attacks, excuses for drama and rudeness. Sure, they had reason to be upset, but not like that. I made an active decision to have fun with the situation, to treat it like a little adventure, and I have to say it worked very well for me. It's too bad so many people can't do that.
So I got on the shuttle bus for the hotel (another drama moment, a bunch of people were waiting for the shuttle in the wrong place, and then tried to blame the bus driver) and got myself checked in. I watched a couple episodes of Futurama on Comedy Central, showered, then went to sleep. It was around 9:30.
I got up early on Christmas Day, and shuttled back to the airport, hoping to get on the early stand-by flight. Success! Another woman and myself lucked out and got on. I landed in Jacksonville a bit before noon. My biggest Christmas present was surprising everyone with my early (yet ultimately late) arrival.
Usually, Jacksonville is in the forties and fifties during Christmastime. And in previous years, Minneapolis was in the twenties or thirties. So there was never that much of a difference. But this year, I left a Minneapolis in the single digits, while Jacksonville was in the eighties. They had near record highs the whole time I was there. Stepping out of the airport was like walking onto another planet. I was barefoot and in shorts while opening presents, and I was still sweating. I know you all hate me right now, but honestly, it was a bit much.
The rest of the week was seriously lazy. We played cards. We walked. We went to the beach. We ate. We played silly games with my niece. And we watched the same episode of Dora the Explorer about a jillion times. Boy, that's a weird show to watch as an adult. I could go on and on. I much preferred Peep and the Big Wide World, which is easily the best show for little kids I've ever seen.
And I got to experience some really primo toddler meltdowns. The niece has hit the terrible twos, and had just started potty training. It got tense at times. I've been around toddler tantrums before, I know they blow over, and aren't as traumatic as they look. But then again, it's different when it's an actual blood relative. I hope my brother and sister-in-law get through it okay.
The flight back was as painless as the flight down was painful. Absolutely trauma free. Boy, did I appreciate it.
It's not clear whether or not we'll have Christmas in Jacksonville next year, but I'd vote for it. Florida Christmases have started to become almost normal. You just sort of substitute fresh-squeezed orange juice for eggnog.
And here my troubles began. My flight was delayed forty minutes, possibly related to the disastrous weather trouble they were having in Chicago. That was worrisome, as I had a very short layover in Detroit. But I figured my flight out of Detroit would be in the same boat, so I resolved not to freak out about it. But then the flight crew couldn't get off their incoming plane quickly, for whatever reason, so there was a bit more of a delay. Then we got on the plane, and there was trouble with (if I remember right) the front strut. So a bit more of a delay as they put a new gas cylinder in. It didn't take that long, really. But then we had to wait a bit more, as we lost our place in line to take off. The flight itself was fine, but when we landed in Detroit, we again had to wait on the tarmack a bit as other flights went to the gate first. Every little bit added up, and I wound up missing my connecting flight by about an hour.
There were no more flights to Jacksonville, or Orlando, or anywhere reasonably nearby for the rest of the day. I stood in line with a bunch of seriously angry people for a couple hours, waiting to get rebooked. The next flight with space wasn't until 7ish the next evening, but I could get on stand-by for a morning and an afternoon flight. I sighed and was resigned to my fate. But thank crap for the strut problem. As there was a mechanical issue, I got hotel and meal vouchers.
Now, I didn't have it as bad off as a lot of people. I didn't have kids to wrangle. I didn't have physical issues. Christmas doesn't have any special meaning for me other than "designated time to spend with family." I got vouchers. So I lacked the irritation factors of many other travelers. But holy hopping catfish... the degree to which everyone took these inconveniences as personal attacks, excuses for drama and rudeness. Sure, they had reason to be upset, but not like that. I made an active decision to have fun with the situation, to treat it like a little adventure, and I have to say it worked very well for me. It's too bad so many people can't do that.
So I got on the shuttle bus for the hotel (another drama moment, a bunch of people were waiting for the shuttle in the wrong place, and then tried to blame the bus driver) and got myself checked in. I watched a couple episodes of Futurama on Comedy Central, showered, then went to sleep. It was around 9:30.
I got up early on Christmas Day, and shuttled back to the airport, hoping to get on the early stand-by flight. Success! Another woman and myself lucked out and got on. I landed in Jacksonville a bit before noon. My biggest Christmas present was surprising everyone with my early (yet ultimately late) arrival.
Usually, Jacksonville is in the forties and fifties during Christmastime. And in previous years, Minneapolis was in the twenties or thirties. So there was never that much of a difference. But this year, I left a Minneapolis in the single digits, while Jacksonville was in the eighties. They had near record highs the whole time I was there. Stepping out of the airport was like walking onto another planet. I was barefoot and in shorts while opening presents, and I was still sweating. I know you all hate me right now, but honestly, it was a bit much.
The rest of the week was seriously lazy. We played cards. We walked. We went to the beach. We ate. We played silly games with my niece. And we watched the same episode of Dora the Explorer about a jillion times. Boy, that's a weird show to watch as an adult. I could go on and on. I much preferred Peep and the Big Wide World, which is easily the best show for little kids I've ever seen.
And I got to experience some really primo toddler meltdowns. The niece has hit the terrible twos, and had just started potty training. It got tense at times. I've been around toddler tantrums before, I know they blow over, and aren't as traumatic as they look. But then again, it's different when it's an actual blood relative. I hope my brother and sister-in-law get through it okay.
The flight back was as painless as the flight down was painful. Absolutely trauma free. Boy, did I appreciate it.
It's not clear whether or not we'll have Christmas in Jacksonville next year, but I'd vote for it. Florida Christmases have started to become almost normal. You just sort of substitute fresh-squeezed orange juice for eggnog.