03:58 The alarm went off.
04:00 The next alarm went off.
04:02 And then the next alarm.
04:04 And the next!
04:06 Last alarm!
Got up, checked emails, got ready, quick breakfast, packed the car...set off for the airport at 04:50. We promised each other when we moved to Blyth seven years ago that we'd share sunrise over our new home town, and this morning we did... there was a surreal quality to the relative stillness of the streets, the lack of traffic, and the gold and red clouds as the sun started its climb into the sky.
On checking in we found that the small suitcase we'd taken as carry-on luggage in the past was now too big, and had to be checked in as normal checked hold baggage. Ah well, so be it - we just hoped that it didn't get lost en route as it held all manner of chargers, adapters, extension leads, connecting cables etc... without those we'd be stumped. Other than that the Newcastle end all went to plan.
At Heathrow we found that our connecting flight to Miami had been delayed by almost an hour, so we wandered aimlessly milling around the shops, killing time. So at 10:30 our 747 Jumbo lifted off on the long stretch over the Atlantic. The on board food was surprisingly good, and we were plied with copious supplies of various liquids - some hot (very!), some cold, some alcoholic, some not. Not a great deal of legroom though, and Val's in flight entertainment system was playing up and had to be re-set twice by the cabin crew.
We made the acquaintance of a delightful young chap (Samuel) who enjoyed playing hide and seek, making faces and catching each other's hands as they sneaked around, above and under the seats. It was very touching when he stretched his arms out so we could hold his hands as we landed in Miami.
The customs guy was really sweet when Val told him our story and how we were to be married in El Cajon. Then we had a half mile trek to the (un-signposted) baggage reclaim area... we then had to get our baggage checked in again before we could get our boarding passes. Check in was simple - hand the cases over and that was it. We then tried unsuccessfully to print our boarding passes using the self-service system and were refused entry to the boarding area, so were referred back to the American Airlines check-in desk only to be told that the flight was now closed and we'd have to wait three hours for another one. In the meantime our baggage had gone on ahead of us on the flight we had missed. So we trailed around the airport shops and food places before settling down to a hot chocolate at Starbucks.
We wandered outside thinking to get a breath of fresh air to clear our heads a little - we'd been awake for 17 hours by this time... oof! The warmth was incredible, intimidating, so we made our way back into the air conditioned airport mall to meander around the shops again ubtil it was time to make our way through security and on to the departure lounge. And there we met Samuel again - his family had also missed their connection to Orlando.
Once seated on the plane we were taken back by the announcement that the weather en-route was forecast to be severe and that we should keep our seatbelts on all the way, and even the cabin crew should do the same... and... and... and... there was only a 75% chance that we'd be able to make it to Orlando - we might have to divert, or even turn back if the conditions were really bad. But it was an uneventful flight and we touched down early at Orlando... and the heavens opened, rain poured down... and were kept waiting for a further 15 minutes while a ground crew could be mustered to guide the plane the last 200 yards to the terminal.
Then we had to find the baggage services area as we couldn't just pick up from baggage reclaim as our cases weren't on the same flight as us! Next we trooped off the car rental area - four people in front of us, all of whom seemed incapable of just picking up their car... it seemed everyone wanted to haggle about insurance and rates and damage waiver and liability and deposits. At last someone took pity on us and beckoned us to an adjacent desk of a different rental company who shared bookings with ours - 5 minutes later we were back out in the steamy heat (the rain had slowed to a moderate drizzle) heading for the car park to pick up our compact Nissan Versa.
A quick bit of familiarisation with the controls of the automatic - plug in the sat nav, and off into the night... but wait, the sat nav wasn't doing its thing... it wasn't updating... it wasn't talking to us. So, after some inspired guesswork we managed to get onto the correct highway heading east to the coast... Val got the sat nav to co-operate and we managed to find our accommodation - the Casa Coquina Bed & Breakfast. Not a B&B in the British sense, more a hotel with our own 3-room suite and large balcony. Upon letting ourselves in we found the place entirely empty as the staff had gone home after we'd phoned and explained the delay in Miami.
04:00 The next alarm went off.
04:02 And then the next alarm.
04:04 And the next!
04:06 Last alarm!
Got up, checked emails, got ready, quick breakfast, packed the car...set off for the airport at 04:50. We promised each other when we moved to Blyth seven years ago that we'd share sunrise over our new home town, and this morning we did... there was a surreal quality to the relative stillness of the streets, the lack of traffic, and the gold and red clouds as the sun started its climb into the sky.
On checking in we found that the small suitcase we'd taken as carry-on luggage in the past was now too big, and had to be checked in as normal checked hold baggage. Ah well, so be it - we just hoped that it didn't get lost en route as it held all manner of chargers, adapters, extension leads, connecting cables etc... without those we'd be stumped. Other than that the Newcastle end all went to plan.
At Heathrow we found that our connecting flight to Miami had been delayed by almost an hour, so we wandered aimlessly milling around the shops, killing time. So at 10:30 our 747 Jumbo lifted off on the long stretch over the Atlantic. The on board food was surprisingly good, and we were plied with copious supplies of various liquids - some hot (very!), some cold, some alcoholic, some not. Not a great deal of legroom though, and Val's in flight entertainment system was playing up and had to be re-set twice by the cabin crew.
We made the acquaintance of a delightful young chap (Samuel) who enjoyed playing hide and seek, making faces and catching each other's hands as they sneaked around, above and under the seats. It was very touching when he stretched his arms out so we could hold his hands as we landed in Miami.
The customs guy was really sweet when Val told him our story and how we were to be married in El Cajon. Then we had a half mile trek to the (un-signposted) baggage reclaim area... we then had to get our baggage checked in again before we could get our boarding passes. Check in was simple - hand the cases over and that was it. We then tried unsuccessfully to print our boarding passes using the self-service system and were refused entry to the boarding area, so were referred back to the American Airlines check-in desk only to be told that the flight was now closed and we'd have to wait three hours for another one. In the meantime our baggage had gone on ahead of us on the flight we had missed. So we trailed around the airport shops and food places before settling down to a hot chocolate at Starbucks.
We wandered outside thinking to get a breath of fresh air to clear our heads a little - we'd been awake for 17 hours by this time... oof! The warmth was incredible, intimidating, so we made our way back into the air conditioned airport mall to meander around the shops again ubtil it was time to make our way through security and on to the departure lounge. And there we met Samuel again - his family had also missed their connection to Orlando.
Once seated on the plane we were taken back by the announcement that the weather en-route was forecast to be severe and that we should keep our seatbelts on all the way, and even the cabin crew should do the same... and... and... and... there was only a 75% chance that we'd be able to make it to Orlando - we might have to divert, or even turn back if the conditions were really bad. But it was an uneventful flight and we touched down early at Orlando... and the heavens opened, rain poured down... and were kept waiting for a further 15 minutes while a ground crew could be mustered to guide the plane the last 200 yards to the terminal.
Then we had to find the baggage services area as we couldn't just pick up from baggage reclaim as our cases weren't on the same flight as us! Next we trooped off the car rental area - four people in front of us, all of whom seemed incapable of just picking up their car... it seemed everyone wanted to haggle about insurance and rates and damage waiver and liability and deposits. At last someone took pity on us and beckoned us to an adjacent desk of a different rental company who shared bookings with ours - 5 minutes later we were back out in the steamy heat (the rain had slowed to a moderate drizzle) heading for the car park to pick up our compact Nissan Versa.
A quick bit of familiarisation with the controls of the automatic - plug in the sat nav, and off into the night... but wait, the sat nav wasn't doing its thing... it wasn't updating... it wasn't talking to us. So, after some inspired guesswork we managed to get onto the correct highway heading east to the coast... Val got the sat nav to co-operate and we managed to find our accommodation - the Casa Coquina Bed & Breakfast. Not a B&B in the British sense, more a hotel with our own 3-room suite and large balcony. Upon letting ourselves in we found the place entirely empty as the staff had gone home after we'd phoned and explained the delay in Miami.
Just imagine...
late at night... thunder and lightning...
the place is desrted... you let yourselves in...
there's a juke box playing...
and THIS is what you see...
EEEK!!!
late at night... thunder and lightning...
the place is desrted... you let yourselves in...
there's a juke box playing...
and THIS is what you see...
EEEK!!!This place is a veritable cornucopia of delights and oddities, too much and too many to explain in detail - it is a place of such character... more on this later... we've been up for 23 hours now, so have to get some shut-eye.
175 photos today.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Casa Coquina website
175 photos today.
Links
jiva website
jiva MySpace
Casa Coquina website
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