We were scheduled to disembark between 8:15 and 8:30, but the ship hadn’t been cleared to disembark the ship by 8 AM! People with early flights were getting quite anxious to get going. We had to clear customs, which can take awhile as many international travelers know. But this time, we just had our customs cards collected without even being checked. We went out to the chaos of hundreds of pieces of luggage, every single one seeing to look like ours of course. (Can you say, “Needle in the haystack?”) After finding ours, we hauled it to the bus taking us to the American Airlines Terminal. We sat there for over a half hour waiting for the luggage bin to fill and people began to get nervous again. Finally it was full and we were on our way the short distance to Logan Airport. We followed the route to the Arrivals Terminal. Arrivals Terminal? Was he lost? Why was he taking us to Arrivals? When he stopped at the door for Arrivals, he announced that in their wisdom, the architects who designed the terminal had made the ceiling too low to accommodate large buses and all buses had to drop off passengers at Arrivals and they had to go up to Departures!
We paid our mandatory fees for checking our luggage (wonderful! right!) and headed for security. Barb, with all the metal in her body from two knee surgeries, wrist and shoulder surgeries, nearly always sets off alarms for more checks to determine that she’s not a terrorist. I got in another line, took off my shoes, belt, watch, put everything through and by that time, Barb was done and waiting. My carry on triggered their concern which mandated a personal inspection. They pulled things out and opened them to see what illicit items I might have. I knew what it might be and directed their attention to it. They looked at it and decided I wasn’t a risk and let me go. The airport was calm and peaceful. Yes, flights to all NYC areas airports were cancelled as to DC, Charlotte and a few other cities, but everything was a go for Atlanta and south and anything west.
We boarded our full plane and had still another surprise! A young man was seated by the window. I was assigned the middle seat and Barb was on the aisle. As I tried to flop into the middle seat, avoiding banging my head on the overhead bin above, the man told me to watch the floor in front of my seat. It looked like the carpet was pushed up, so I tried to avoid it, but then realized a large black dog was lying there! He apologized but didn’t explain why this large dog was occupying the floor in front of his and my seats! We had seen a man walking a dog through the airport but assumed he might be part of airport security. I was not expecting to go to my seat to find a large dog there. Barb, being an animal lover, was full of questions. Yes, it was a security dog. He specialized in bombs. (Was I still a suspect??) The owner was a military man who had been to Martha’s Vineyard as part of security detail for a certain president on his vacation and the dog and owner were returning to their base in Oklahoma. I must say that only a couple times did the dog even brush my foot as it adjusted its tight quarters under our feet. That was quite a feat for a German shepherd. The dog was silent and hardly moved. Barb and I decided that nearby passengers probably had no clue that a dog was so close. The owner was friendly and answered our questions but volunteered nothing. Barb gave him a DAR card expressing thanks for his role as a serviceman and asked the dog’s name. The owner said “Buli” had a business card of his own that he would give Barb when he could get his carry on in the compartment above. In addition to his duties today, Buli is also a “veteran” of Iraq. When we arrived at O’Hare, we got out and Buli popped up. Passengers nearby gushed and wanted to pet Buli and he willingly obliged. It was an interesting and different experience.
We collected our luggage, tossed them into our friend, Pat’s car, and headed home. Pat’s a great friend and we appreciate her willingness to give up a good portion of a summer Saturday to make the run to O’Hare to pick us up.
Now it’s back to the routine, but first the annoying job that follows every trip -- unpacking, and worse yet, checking through all the mail!
It was a great trip and we thank Marcia, our travel agent, for helping us get the dining steward we wanted, Deris, who had been our dining steward on the 2007 cruise with our cousins, Lyman and Beryl and Joan and Orlan. The memories of the bad weather in some places, the prospect of maybe being left behind in Acadia National Park, and the concerns over Hurricane Irene will fade as we think of the wonderful ports and the experience of Atlantic Canada, Greenland and Iceland (especially meeting Gretar for the first time since the 1960s, and his wife Kristin), the UK, Amsterdam, Ireland, and France.
We know that several people were stranded in Boston, including an Australian couple who intended to go to New York City until Monday. Those plans were cancelled as NYC had shut down on Saturday. They have waited out the storm and hope to get a flight to LA on Monday to take their scheduled flight back to Sydney. I am sure there are other stories. I checked the same flight we took yesterday and found it is cancelled on Sunday. What a difference a day makes!
The Voyage of the Vikings 2011 is over, but the memory continues as we look forward to the biggest cruise ever, starting in January! Till then……………..
Chuck
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