Like almost always, I was ahead of schedule. The Uber was booked for 8:45. At 8:20, I stepped out of the hotel, the check-out process had taken 15 seconds. While waiting, the guy who got his room cleaned out two days ago, he got his stuff back, and the hotel said there had been a misunderstanding. Ya think?
Just before the Uber came, a police car, followed by a pickup and a truck, drove by, very slowly, with sirens and way too loud speakers. Someone told me they were baseball champions. It must have been a school championship; they did not look old.
The car was early (yay!), so I got in, and we took off towards the airport. Very nice driver, and the ride was smooth. When I got in the terminal, I saw a sign that said all luggage must go through a USDA scanner. I guess they want to track so no illegal food leaves the island. After that, I got my luggage tag, dropped it off, and headed towards security.
Pro, they had signs stating what you need to do at the security checkpoint. Con, you had to take off your shoes… Just as I was about to go through the body scanner, it had to be calibrated, so I got to go through a “normal” metal detector instead.
I managed to read the signs wrong, so I ended up on the B-pier. Turned back and had to check the signage, and yes, I had read it wrong; I should have gone left instead of right.
Found a coffee shop for some breakfast and sat down in my gate C4 (boom?) and waited about an hour for boarding. They kept asking people to check their carry-ons for free since it was a full flight. I approached and said I could check my small backpack (my “overflow” bag, which only had some clothes in it). However, I was a bit worried about the straps and if they would get stuck somewhere. When I check in like a larger backpack, I have a travel bag I pull over to protect all the straps. The gate agent said it would be fine, so I gave it to him. It was nice not to have to carry a second backpack at the next airport.
I had seat 15C, just ahead of the emergency exit. It means you can’t recline your seat, but I’m fine with that, and it’s relatively far forward in the aircraft. And it’s close to an exit if something’s happening! I got a space in the overhead bin for my backpack, which is nice. I hadn’t thought of it, but I didn’t have a ton of time between the flights at Miami. ETA was 12:45, and boarding was 13:30. At first, the information said it was the gates next to each other. But during the flight, it changes to gates at each end of the terminal, an estimated 20-minute walk.
During the flight, I read some and watched some TV. I haven’t really watched any TV shows during the trip; usually, that has been my go-to entertainment while riding a transport, eating dinner alone, or just hanging around at the pool or room. I blame my brother Peter for this change. When we landed, one overhead compartment opened, I guess from when the plane hit the runway. The stewardess tried to close it, but couldn’t do it; it wouldn’t lock. Fortunately, nothing fell out during the taxi to the gate.
Roughly 15 minutes after we touched the ground, I was standing in the terminal, looking for a toilet, some food, and my gate. Took me about 30 minutes, but then I sat down at the next gate, eating some empanadas I found on the way.
Boarding started a bit late, at 13:40, and I had the same seat as on the previous flight. During boarding, I got a drop of water on my arm and looked up at the roof; there was some condensation at the top. It’s the first time I’m exposed to rain inside an airplane. I recognized a few passengers from the previous flight, who were apparently doing the same trip as I was. A woman with a toddler sat down next to me across the aisle. Interesting to see how that will go.
After the security briefing, the cabin crew announced (first time I heard of something like this) that American Airlines has a Quiet Cabin Policy, which means that if you are listening to some audio, you need to do that through a headset, regardless of age. The kid did well. Tried to grab everything in reach, her mom’s coffee was in danger. Dropped stuff on the floor and so on. After a while, some crying and then sleeping. All in all, didn’t disturb me at all. I kept reading, watching TV shows, and using my noise-cancelling headphones.
I noticed on both flights that people in uniforms, I guess the pilots, were using the toilet at the front of the plane, and while they were doing that, the cabin crew placed a cart across the aisle, blocking the cockpit so no one could charge it while the pilot was outside.
Touchdown at 16:10 local time, took a bit longer to get to the gate this time. While waiting for my luggage, I started to look at Uber to get to the hotel. I hadn’t thought of how far from downtown Dallas the airport is. The current price was $90, and it was going to take 45 minutes. I looked for alternatives, and they had a commuter train/tram (DART, Orange line) that had a station at another terminal, and stopped a few blocks from the hotel. Travel time 52 minutes. Price, $3.
When our bags arrived, the first one on the belt was my backpack, and it was whole! Second bag, my suitcase. The strap had come off, but it came with the third bag, so easy to snatch. I guess my short transfer in Miami made my bags the last ones on, or something.
I grabbed my bags and started to look for the Orange line; it felt like a good thing to save some money on. Found the bus that took me from Terminal B to Terminal A and followed the signage. As soon as I got outside, I felt a bit underdressed. According to my phone, it was 8 °C. Shorts and a t-shirt weren’t really the correct attire.
While I was buying the train ticket, the train departed, so I had to wait 15 minutes for the next one. I used the time to get out a jacket, while putting the overflow backpack in the suitcase, so I had one less bag to carry.
During the train ride, I watched the game between Gripen and Sirius. I forwarded some since I had 50 minutes to watch 95 minutes of bandy.
The 10-minute walk (according to Google) took only 7 minutes. I was highly motivated by the temperature and my lack of clothing. Found the hotel and got up to the second level, where the lobby was. Fancy elevators where you use a panel to tell what floor you are going to when you call for the lift, and then it tells you which of the three lifts you should take. Inside the elevator, there are no floor buttons.
Very nice lady helped me check in. I got a room on the 16th floor (out of 21, I think), and it was much bigger than I expected. It includes a kitchen, a small dining table, a desk, a shower with good water pressure (!), but no safe 🙁
I switched from shorts to trousers, grabbed my laptop, and headed down to the hotel bar for some dinner, writing, and research. Tomorrow I have a new town to explore! And in the evening, my first ever NBA game.
