Journey To New Orleans

Here I sit in the kitchen eating area of Jon's house in New Orleans.  Who is Jon?  I am certain that I have mentioned Jon in numerous blog posts in the past but, Jon is David's best friend.  Jon really is more of a brother/brother-in-law to us, a true part of our family.  Anyway, we are here visiting Jon in New Orleans.  It has been many years since we have been here.  In fact, the last time I was here was pre-Katrina and David and I were kid-free.

Jon has been bugging us to visit and it has always been one thing or another that has prevented our travel here.  It also didn't help the travel cause when Jon was making fairly regular trips to Buffalo, as his mom used to live there and Jon was able to visit us and his mom in one trip.  Jon's mom, however, has since moved to Texas.   Jon recently bought a new home in New Orleans, a true dream home.  Also, Jon sweetened our incentive to get our butts down south by offering up two frequent flyer reward tickets on Southwest Airlines.  Even still, timing wasn't right. David had limited time off from work in 2010 due to his bout with pneumonia and frequent travels to Indiana.  Our New Year's resolution was to make the trip in 2011 and since the flight reward tickets that Jon offered up to us would expire in March, we had to move on these plans.

So, Madeline and I flew together on Southwest while David flew separately on Delta.  Why did we fly separately?  Well, due to an amazing fiasco of events while traveling on Delta last May (click here for that story) we had compensation vouchers that covered David's airfare to New Orleans.  So, for a total of $15 , the three of us were able to make our way to visit Jon.

Armed with a fully charged portable DVD player and a backpack of toys, I was ready to mange a 5 year old on, what I thought would be, a 4 hour flight.  Here lies the problem.  After we boarded the plane in Buffalo for an 8:45am flight, because of mechanical problems, we were delayed at the gate (sitting in the plane) for THREE HOURS!  Although this really sucked, Madeline and I were in a good spot.  Although many passengers were going to be missing their connections and many of them were given the option to leave the plane in order to take a later flight out of Buffalo, Madeline and I didn't have to because we were already on our connecting plane.  We weren't supposed to have to change planes when we landed in Baltimore.

David's flight left later in the day.  After dropping Madeline and me at the airport, David had time to take Sobaka to the kennel and get back to the airport for his later flight before we even left our gate.  In fact, David and I were talking on the cell phone and I was able to describe my position on the plan and David and I were able to wave at each other - he inside the airport awaiting his flight and Madeline and I STILL sitting and waiting to leave Buffalo.

All was going well and Madeline was actually holding tough.  However, I mentally thought ahead about the remainder of the day.  We would only just be leaving Buffalo an hour earlier than we should've been ARRIVING in New Orleans.  Without a connection in Baltimore would mean no opportunity for food in Baltimore.  We ate a quick drive-thru breakfast on the way to the airport and would not end up landing in New Orleans until 4pm EST.  Forecast: a grumpy mama and even worse, an even grumpier, ravenous Madeline.  Outlook: stormy!

Just then, while STILL sitting at the gate, I hear an announcement from a flight attendant, "Passenger Amy Gxxxxx, please indicate where you are sitting."  David, from inside the airport, obviously thought through the same scenario in his head and purchased Madeline and me sandwiches and drinks and asked the Southwest crew to pass the food along to me.  As pathetic as I am, I was ready to cry over these sandwiches.  My Prince Charming saved the day!!  I tucked away our lunches and was able to pull out our meal at lunchtime, right after we departed Baltimore.  David, you are THE BEST!!