From the Beach to the Wilderness Halloween 16 Day 2 A Travel Day Full of Delays

[karalma]

21.10.16
Despite the bed and pillow being really comfortable I woke at 4.45 so decided to read for a little while before trying for more sleep but Darren woke not long after so I read, surfed the net and started my trip report for a couple of hours before the kids got up at 7. We had considered breakfast in the airport but as Alix never joins us and usually spends that time getting ready we decided to have a full Scottish breakfast in the hotel. This was the same as a full English for us but I did have what I think was a Scotch pancake. Food was pretty standard but I savoured the 3 glasses of tomato juice I drank. Darren and I watched the planes for a while before walking off our breakfast.



It was quite a nice area, with the trees in full Autumn bloom and we spent some time watching the planes fly in over the river.





At 10.00 we rode the hotel shuttle on a 5 minute journey to the airport. There was a queue of about 4 or 5 families in front of us at check in but the VA staff member directed us to a desk with no queue apart from one family at the desk in front of us but as I approached a member of the check in staff invited us to another desk. As I turned around I saw the people in the queue giving us funny looks and I did feel guilty jumping a queue without a Fastpass but I was only following instructions. We were checked in by 10.45 and told that boarding would start at 11.15.
Security was very quick and smooth, at least for me. I was third to go through but when I came out the other side the others were nowhere to be seen. I waited a few minutes and Darren came through and then I noticed Matt was being screened, something on his cardi had made the scanner go off. Alix had been waiting for a while for her bag before she noticed it on the other side. She had forgotten to take her toiletries out of her bag and place them in the tray so the lovely security lady asked her to open the bag and take them out. She then scanned them before handing them back. As she had been so lovely Matt went and left some comments on the feedback screens. There were lots of notices around about feedback and I later witnessed a member of staff asking visitors about their experience. We had half an hour for Darren to grab a drink in Wetherspoons while the rest of us bought some snacks for the flight and Alix started her shopping by buying a couple of necklaces, one for her and one for a friend.

We got another taste of Xmas:

And then it was time to find the gate. We were flying in the Ladybird:


We were welcomed on board with a bottle of water and were soon seated in the bubble, back row on the left for, Darren, Alix and l, with Matt across the aisle although Matt did take the seat behind until we realised our error. We took off as scheduled at 12.30. Our first experience of Glasgow airport had been very positive and the flight manager who made the first announcement was very effusive with her Scottish welcome. The meal choices were not great for us today with Japanese chicken, beef chilli and pasta and cheese and we were grateful we had stocked up on snacks. Alix had the chicken while the rest of us had beef, all were OK. I was disappointed that there were no crackers but I enjoyed the cheese spread and bread roll. I watched "From Me to You" which was a wonderful film but I couldn't find anything else to watch so I read and wrote to pass the time (thank you Apple for the amazing iPad). Afternoon tea was better than lunch with cheese and pickle sandwich, crisps, chocolate and the tiniest mints I've ever seen. We were surrounded by a large family who liked to talk loudly, walk around a lot and make the most of the free drinks. One of the women sat next to Matt was constantly up and down and at one point spilled her drink all over Matt's chair. She did clean it up and after that spent the rest of the flight at the back of the bubble. Apart from that little irritant and a rather bumpy landing the flight was smooth, with no requirement to buckle up at any point. The staff seemed a lot friendlier than usual too. We landed on schedule at 9.10 and were soon on our way down the stairs.

And then the delays started. First, half way down the stairs the pilot announced the immigration hall was congested and we were not allowed to leave the aircraft so advised us all to retake our seats. Nobody behind us seemed keen on this so after a while we just sat on the stairs - not something I thought we would ever do. It was over half an hour before we were released to hit our second delay of the immigration hall.

We were held first in a room before we got to the immigration hall and asked when we last visited the USA. We were directed to the self serve machines which we managed easily apart from Alix's fingerprints needing a few tries. We then had another line to stand in but eventually we were at the manned desk. This then took just as long as Alix had to do both hands twice and I had to do one hand twice. Not sure whether there was some problem or we just got the slowest officer. Darren asked how the new system was working and he replied it was pointless as you had to repeat it all at the desk anyway. Despite the few hiccups it was still quicker than standing in the normal line. There was another line at the second inspection but we were soon through and on our way. Alix bought 2 rings from the SW shop and Darren and Matt grabbed a coffee from Starbucks before we left the airport. At the garage Darren quickly chose a full size SUV as this was an upgrade on what we had paid for. For some reason it has Georgia licence plates.

Finally we were on our way but it wasn't long before we hit our 3rd delay - the I4 was at a slow crawl.


We did get to see our first sunset though:

And soon saw signs of Disney



We had only ever seen it this busy at Xmas and it stayed like this until we reached Championsgate. Before long we stopped for food as Alix had hardly eaten anything on the plane. We chose McDonald's thinking it would be quick and we could use the drive thru but Matt needed to use the bathroom so in we went. We placed our order at the screens and located a table. After a while waiting we encountered our 4th delay as people who came in after us were being served and our number wasn't even showing as in progress. Then I realised - we hadn't paid as we thought we paid when we collected the food so the order had not been processed. So we paid and waited some more but it appeared that they were cooking to order, one order at a time. Eventually we were served: egg, bacon and cheese biscuit for me, nuggets for Alix and cheeseburgers for the boys.

It was at this point that we were starting to regret travelling to AMI tonight. We had 1.5 hours to go. To fight the fatigue we kept using shots of air con and continual chatting. Thankfully the rest of the drive was smooth and we arrived at AMI at 10.00. Key pickup was easy as the keys had been left in a drop box at the realtor and we were soon entering our new home for the next 3 nights. The photos on the website did not do this home justice and we all thought it was much better than we expected. We seemed to gain a second wind and instead of falling straight into bed we spent the next hour exploring and taking pics of our fantastic new home. i love the beach theme. The cottage has 3 bedrooms, wonderfully soft and squishy couches, a screened area with a table for eating and a beautiful pool and dock where we can tether a boat.











The boys found the bikes:



It was quite breezy but brilliant standing on the dock and we are excited about hiring a boat for the weekend. We noticed how bright the stars were and were amazed at how many we could see.




Somehow Darren and I ended up letting the kids have the double rooms and we took the twin - I blame the tiredness. Finally at 4.20am UK time our heads hit our pillows, after we had been up almost 24 hours, and our lights were out.

[Floridaagogo]

Wow you lasted well! Your cottage looks beautiful x

[Flimsey]

The cottage looks amazing!

[karalma]

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Wow you lasted well! Your cottage looks beautiful x

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Originally Posted by Flimsey

The cottage looks amazing!

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The cottage was incredible and the long journey was worth it the next day.