Better late than never

Our flight is uneventful. There’s an overcast below us (does that make it an “undercast”?) almost all the way, so I can’t try to keep track of our location like I usually do. Because we’re at the start of Winter and with our later departure, we do have one new experience on this flight – landing in the dark! We actually descend through the sunset on our approach to Orlando.

I am thankful as we come in to land for the time I’ve spent on websites and programs, such as local.live.com and Google Earth, which allow you to view interesting locations from the air. Because of that, I am able to tell which side of the airport we are landing on and I actually locate our hotel from the air just before we touch down. (For his part, Benjamin spots a McDonalds below us, and asks if we can eat there for supper. Um, no.)

We’re on the ground at 5:45 (Eastern time). The pilot was dead on about the two hour flight time. Brandon comments that “flights go by faster than you expect.” For him, maybe, but not for me. I felt all 120 minutes, and am ready to stretch my legs.

Once in the terminal, we climb onto the automated shuttle for the trip to the main terminal – the first time we’ve taken it in the dark. It may just be about 6:00 in the evening, but our lengthy day makes it feel like 10 or 11. We pop down to the A-side baggage claim and flag a skycap to help with our bags (a lesson we learned from our first trip). We get an enthusiastic young guy named Zachary. Our bags are sloooooow in coming, but eventually we have them all and I call the Wingate Hotel for a shuttle pickup.

We’re told to head to slot A34. That’s almost at the other end of the terminal, naturally, but that’s why we have Zachary and his baggage cart!

At A34, we unload the bags from the cart, and the hotel van pulls up within a minute or two – the fastest we’ve ever been picked up. The six of us pile into the van and head out. We think we’re headed to the hotel right away, but the driver circles around and takes us to the B-side of the airport, saying that he has another pickup to make. We hope it’s only one guy, as only the front passenger seat is empty.

It’s a family of four. The driver doesn’t seem at all bothered by this, so… we squeeze them in. It’s tight, but we make it, and at least we can go to the hotel.

We arrive at the Wingate at about 7:15, check in quickly, and toss our bags into our rooms. Next stop: Tony Roma’s!

Here’s where we find out the effects of our delay. We’re used to eating our meals early (with supper usually around 5:30), which means we mostly beat the crowds. At 7:30 on a Saturday night, though, Tony Roma’s is hopping. We’re given a wait time of 45 minutes to an hour. Chili’s next door has the same, so we head back to the Tony Roma’s to wait. I might implode.

The wait outside is not that unpleasant. We have benches to sit on, and the temperature is in the lower 70’s. Fortunately it passes quickly – it’s amazing how quickly one can adapt to waiting around doing nothing – and we have a table at 8:25.

Service is mercifully fast, and we have our traditional onion loaf out promptly. Needless to say, it is quickly demolished. For our entrees, Bob has baby-back ribs, while Becky, Linda & I get our traditional St. Louis-style Carolina Honeys. Yum. Benjamin sticks with the kids menu, predictably getting pizza – he would get cheese pizza at Victoria & Albert’s given the opportunity - while Brandon tries a Turkey & Bacon sandwich that is very tasty.

Stomach rumblings settled for the moment, we walk back to the hotel before 10 p.m. We agree with Becky’s parents to meet them at the breakfast buffet around 7-ish tomorrow morning. (Becky comments, “Them ‘7’, us ‘-ish’!”)

Once in the room, the kids head to bed quickly. “ET” is on the television. I pull out our passports and cruise documents to prepare for our check-in tomorrow, get my clothes – and pin lanyard! – ready to go, and Becky & I crash before 11:00.

A long day of travel is worth it, if it means we get to see Mickey tomorrow!