Time to depart the condo and head back to Lexington. We got up and cleaned up. Went to the rental car place to pick up our car for the trip to Punta Gorda. Bad tire. We will upgrade you, they said. A GMC Terrain. Ok.
We packed up and started north. Still no gators along the highway. Haven't seen one live gator in the wild this whole trip.
We arrived at the Punta Gorda airport about 2:30pm. Way ahead of schedule for our flight out at 5:42pm. When we walked in the terminal there was Dr. Jim and Rev. Petie McLean. I knew they had been in Florida this past week. Still, what a surprise to see them in the terminal. We visited a bit. Allegiant wouldn't let us check in until 3:30 they said, so we sat and waited. About 3:45 they started checking us through and through security we zoomed, and right into our second surprise of the day. Sydney Burdette, one of our very favorite servers at Malone's was there.
Sydney and Dallas have been sort of buddies here and there. She's not quite 19 yet and took a weekend away to go see a friend. She sat with us at the gate and provided immense entertainment. She is filled with snark. Good snark. Funny snark. For 18, she's quite a mature, thoughtful and dedicated human. We feel like her grandparents in some ways. We enjoy her.
The first delay was announced when the plane we were set to take arrived from Knoxville and sat on the ramp without pulling up to the gate. Lightning. It was quite a while before the gate agent said, "they've opened the ramp, please get ready. When we get these passengers off we are going to hustle you on." Didn't happen.
The ramp is closed. They waited on the plane. We in the terminal.
I walked into the little shop that had a news stand, a bar, a grill and some snacks. Eric Hastie grabbed me. What a surprise. Eric and Bennett were set to fly from Punta Gorda to Lexington so Bennett could get a CT Scan at the Markey Center.
The ramp is open. The passengers deplane.
Get ready everyone.
The ramp is closed.
We visit. We wait.
The flight is canceled. It's 7:30 pm. Weather they said. Except that the flight next to us, the one headed to Raleigh is loading as we are told our flight is canceled. Methinks the aroma of bullsugar is in the air. Raleigh flight departs. We are stranded. Sydney, we confirm has a ride and a place to stay. We are uncomfortable leaving her there, but she assures us she is ok and will text us when she gets picked up.
What are we going to do?
I book a room at a local hotel called the Punta Gorda Waterfront Inn. The reviews online look decent. Eric Hastie comes in and says, we are headed back home to Naples, come stay with us. I just booked the room I tell him. We have rented a car he says. Let us take you to the hotel. So, off we go. They decide to stay at the hotel too. The reviews lied. More about that in Tuesday's post.
We check in and eat in the Hurricance Charlie's restaurant.
The room they give to me and Kelly won't lock. So they move us to another room. It's a humongous suite with a jacuzzi. Not bad we think. We have a bayside view of Charlotte Harbor. Not bad.
So, the day began ok. We said goodbye to the condo which we enjoyed so very much.
We were surprised at the airport to see Eric and Bennett, to receive such gracious kindness from them and to get to spend some quality time with them.
The gate agent had a hard evening. It was obvious she had no clue they were going to cancel the flight. She did a good job for her company. So, I thanked her and told her a couple of my patented stupid, corny jokes, and I wished her a good evening. Flight is rescheduled for 2:45pm on Tuesday. Thunderstorms are in the forecast. We will see what we will see.
Peace and Love,
Jerry
No comments:
Post a Comment