This collection of entries is from June 21, 2003.
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The landing in Orlando was the worst I've experienced for no good reason - no wind, no rain, just a hard, smackdown landing. A 757-300 should have handled better. Baggage claim was long - it just seems to get longer with every flight. A quick shuttle bus to Hertz Number 1 Gold to get a Ford Taurus (hey, it's a full-size car and it really wasn't bad).
It became obvious that we needed food now. Fortunately, outside the Hertz lot was a Cracker Barrel. After a lunch that was delayed by over 40 minutes, we went out to the car, plugged in our destination coordinates into the NeverLost GPS system, and we're off to our condo at Liki Tiki Village. It's a timeshare place and much better looking than the name implies (Carol won a week for us in a Christmas raffle at work). The condo is a 2-story villa, with 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, complete kitchen washer & drier. Perfect for our stay.
We took a quick trip to a Publix for some snacks and necessities for the week, Walgreen's for things that we couldn't find at Publix, and it was off to Downtown Disney for dinner. We had made reservations at Gloria Estefan's Bongos Cuban Cafe . Really fell in love with the place and the food is just great. It was a great find and we'd go there again in a heartbeat. After 9 o'clock they had live salsa music and dancing. it was just a great vibe... Oh! and we discovered Mojito's!!! YES!!!
Drove back home to the condo and watched the Lennox Lewis fight on HBO. Gruesome. There must be a re-match...
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Well, here I am, stuck in seat 26A on ATA Flight 536. We're somewhere in the air - have no idea where - on or way to Orlando.
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This has been an experience this morning. I didn't expect that getting to to a small airport like Midway 2½ hours in advance of your flight was unreasonable. We got on the plane 20 minutes after it started boarding. The check-in lines for ATA were horrendous. Note to self - always get an e-ticket. The new buildings at Midway, though nice, can't handle the new security procedures. I'm used to just going up to a ticket counter and checking your bag. Those days are gone now. First you have the extremely long line to get up to the counter. We hit the counter an hour before the flight. We were lucky that the rep was good and processed people quickly, unlike others who where lallygagging (Yes, I actually used that word). From there, it was over to the baggage scanner to make sure the luggage clears - and they did without a problem. Then it was the long walk to the security checkpoint - I didn't make it through. My damn Rockports have metal shanks in them for the arch support! I'll remember that for the return flight. Then it was the mad sprint for the door. Of course, the plane pushed-back late, so the rushing was a bit moot.
So here we are in the air. As you would expect, there are kids on the flight. Not a lot, but quite a few. I think I have heard every single one of them during the flight.
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I'm up early to go pick up Barry & Buffy - We're on our way to a week in Orlando!!!! I am off for a WEEK!!!! Hopefully I will fill you in during the week - if not, you'll know where I am.
See ya!