Flying through Fay

It's amazing how fast the weather changes.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a beautiful morning in Maryland. It was in the low 80's and breezy as my family and I made our way up to BWI airport for a flight to Florida. We were flying to Orlando and Southwest only flies direct to Orlando out of BWI. Even though it is an hour drive for us up to Baltimore, the Southwest experience is far worth the minor inconvenience of the long drive. What's so special about Southwest? Southwest is the ONLY airline still offering great rates and ON TIME flights... even during the most delayed, most expensive time in air travel. All of the major carriers are now charging you $15 for your first checked bag... NOT Southwest! You get two free bags and you only pay $25 for a third!


Gone are the days of beverage service from airlines such as United and US Air... now, even a bottle of water aboard a US AIR flight will cost you two bucks. Southwest continues to offer FREE drinks, a 100 cal pack of crackers AND peanuts. Now, if she only had TVs at every seat... I would say that I like SW better than my Jet Blue. (Note... Jet Blue still offers free first bag, drinks, and yummy snacks; but their ticket prices are far more expensive than they used to be.) Oh, well... there is still nothing like watching a marathon of What Not to Wear or Keeping Up with the Kardashians while flying across country. That is just hard to beat.


We got through security and checked in at the gate and found that they were expecting an on-time departure. We were surprised... not because of the current issues with air travel, but because Hurricane Fay had just blown up through Cuba and was sitting right above central Florida. Nice. I have to say... I really do not mind flying anymore, but put my kid on a flight and tell me that I will be "OK" flying through a Hurricane? Well, let's just say that I might not have minded a cancellation.

We boarded on time... we took off on time. About half way through the flight (and after the FREE diet soda, peanuts and 100 cal pak), Eva and I were comfortably watching an episode of Mickey Mouse Club on my video IPOD when the Captain told us that he was turning on the seat belt sign for safety. He mentioned that there would be a bit of turbulence as we made our way south through the Carolinas and Georgia and into Florida. So, we buckled up... I said the Our Father a few times and settled back in to sing Mickey's hot dog song. Bump... Bump. It's fine... I took a deep breath. Bump. Lori, do not look anxious or you will scare the child. (Its weird when you talk to yourself. I have to say its weirder to talk to yourself and write it in a blog.)

We started to descend and the bumps got a little better but the plane kept being tossed from side to side. Our Father... I could see the ground and then the air... Who art in heaven... Pounding rain... Hallowed be thy name... landing. The entire airplane of people applauded secretly finished our silent prayers.

We just flew from perfectly beautiful weather to Florida in the middle of a hurricane. It's amazing how fast the weather changes.

Travel On.
Lori