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As usual, it was not easy to get out of town. Between the guilt factor of going on vacation when others are not on vacation, coupled with the (seemingly) spinning clock that speeds up as time goes away, can make for added stress. But it always seems to get through that difficulty, and now that I'm here, it's pretty easy to forget about that left behind, at least for a while.
Getting to Savannah, GA from McAllen, TX is both easy and not so easy. I had to get up very early today at 0345 for an 0600 flight to DFW, then onward. I had to stop by the ATM on the way to get money and then when I got to the airport, at the counter was a friend of mine, Jessica, who works for American. I was not sure how things would work since I had 2 confirmation numbers, one for American and one for US Airways. So I had not checked in. I was thinking I might have to pay double checked bags fees.
Jessica was of course very nice. When I had my credit card out to pay for the bags, she waved it off. That was a pleasant surprise, $60 saved already. Then when I got to the gate, I looked to see what boarding group I was in when they were calling out. "Priority Access" - wow - she also upgraded me to First Class on the way to DFW. So that was a double benefit. As I was thinking of the trip, God will Provide.
It reminded me of a trip I went on to Los Angeles when I was in college. It was the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs (ACE). My friends had set this chapter up on campus and the convention just happened to be during our winter break. I recall that I went on this trip with an absurdly small amount of money, like maybe as little as $20, less than $100 for sure for the week. Part of that money was a check for $17.00 that my roommate Craig has written me.
To start off the trip, Craig took me to Washington Dulles airport, which was only about 10 minutes from his home. I think I arrived maybe 20 minutes before the flight was to leave. I wasn't planning on carrying on but it seems there was no other reasonable choice. So with my suitcase (forturately it was small) I headed right on to the plane. Can you believe I actually had a hard sided suitcase then?
As I said, God will provide. I had arranged to stay a few days with my mother's cousin Ann and she picked me up at the airport in a Cadillac limousine, no joke! We went back to her home. For the next few days I was there. I don't recall having to spend any money. I did go into some branch bank, requested to speak to the manager, let him know I was from out of town and would like to cash this check from Craig Monroe of Centreville, VA drawn on a Virginia bank to me, a Texas resident. I must have approached him right, for he walked me to a teller and I left with 17 well needed US dollars.
I guess we had paid for the conference ahead of time, because I don't remember spending much money there. I did have a credit card "for emergencies". I did use it for one emergency, when we were at a nightclub on the last night, we met some local women and one of them ordered a very expensive drink on my tab, a Long Island Iced Tea, which back then cost $13.00 in Los Angeles in 1986. I guess it would be at least twice that now.
Needless to say, by the time I got to the LAX airport to leave, I literally had about $1.00 left. I'm sure I don't remember the story exactly about how little money there actually was, but the part about the $17.00 check is very clear that such amount was a good percentage of the total week's budget. I can't say I'd recommend doing this again, but I made it happen. Do more with less, that is the Marine Corps motto!
Anyway, for this trip as of yesterday, I had spend all the cash I had, and it was a good thing that I could hit the ATM at 0445 before leaving today. And then, I fly First Class.
The layover in DFW went by quickly. Susan doesn't like flying American through DFW because she thinks it is always late but it's not a problem for me. I think once you are at DFW, it's particularly easy to go to either coast.
We flew on a full flight to Charlotte where it was a long walk from one terminal to the next. They don't have a train system so there is a lot of distance to cover. I met up with Sean and we flew together from CLT to Savannah. Savannah airport has kind of a French Quarter vibe to it. We met his dad, Brian and we headed up the now familiar drive to their home in Okatie, SC, from where this byline is coming.
After a settling in, we had some snacks on the screened in porch and then his mother, Kathy made a nice Ziti dinner, with turkey sausage, homemade sauce, spinach salad and fresh bread coupled with a tasty ice cream dessert. She's of Italian descent, so she is a good cook.
As with many couples in their 70s, we had a discussion of conservative politics after dinner followed by a turning in at 8:30 p.m. Plenty of time for rest for golf tomorrow at
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