So the day arrives, booked for 4 months and we’re off. Thursday we head from Yakima to Bellvue, Washington to spend (part of) the night at Barb’s dad’s place. We decide to buy stuff for sandwiches as that’s going to be cheaper. Somehow we turn this in to $30 expense but that’s life.
The horrible wine we left after our last visit must have matured as for some reason it tasted better.
10 o’ clock off to bed, 4am I am rudely awakened as we have to be at the airport by 5 to check in with nationally know carrier AirTran. We find their desk and hang around while the check clerk weighs everyones bags with a passion and gleefully informs those who incur a penalty. We scrape through unscathed and head for departure.
It’s good to see the TSA being so motivated to perform their jobs. The guy checking our tickets went through the motions of comparing our driver’s license photos to the names on the tickets and even looked at our faces. We proceed.
Having paid the princely sum of $56 to ensure we could sit together we find the airline has us in seats that don’t permit baby seats so we disturb a disgruntled geezer eating a sandwich and force him to move back. And we’re on our way!
As a point of reference we fly over St Louis and 5 hours after take off land in a humid Atlanta for a 2 hour stopover.
Atlanta’s airport is big and very crowded and we have to navigate from one side to the other to get our connecting flight. We make it and I sit down and play baseball computer games while Emma befriends a small boy and plays with his collection of toy cars. I end up talking to some teachers from Washington about the merits of the English educational system and Bar visits the bathroom a lot. We are told our flight hasn’t come in but all of a sudden we are loaded on and off we go again, Emma singing and coloring as we go. We get free drinks and can even use the lavatory on the plane. I read and Barb goes to the bathroom a lot.
Charleston – 1st impressions? Lots of military aircraft on the runway and humidity as we leave the plane. Airport is pleasant and cool and off for the drama that is collecting your luggage. Only 43 other passengers had the same red cases Barb did so that eased identification, my army duffle bag made it unscathed and looking like rabid pack ponies we headed outside to get a taxi. It was hot and humid and we were ready to be at the hotel. The taxi arrived and after off we went, clanking down the freeway with a monsyllabic driver, into the hotel and $40 later we were unloaded.
The hotel was imposing and attractive with a huge bronze of 4 horse playing in a water fountain out front. We checked in and found the room, 4th floor near the gym and pool and the ice room, biggest balcony in the hotel, a result. Nice big bathroom, two sinks, 2 beds, internet access tv and Bob’s yer uncle.
We unpacked and wandered into town. We saw guys selling roses made out of palm leaves, restaurants with no veggie options, a market with very expensive baskets, horse drawn carriages and a tourist information place that told us we were in the wrong place for food.
So back past the hotel we turned left and not much there wither but high end clothing stores. As we sweatily despaired of finding food and faced the prospect of more of our expensive sandwiches Barb spied 3 people drinking wine in a clothes store. She asked if they knew any veggie places and bingo the geezer was a vegan chef, the store was having an open night and they had food if we just wanted to come in. So there we were, Emma ate 27 strawberries, I ate bean balls, rice wrapped in cabbage, eggplant dip and barb got chatted up by the chef while I ran round after Emma. AFter Barb had exhausted conversation with the culinary linguist we headed the right way down the street and 10 blocks later found a Mexican restaurant. A welcome change from the kind of food one can find in Yakima. The had chips and a big pitcher of beer so it was all good.
Tired we retreated to the hotel where Barb used the bathroom and I surfed the web, the time difference messing with my body clock. I had been reading A Fighter’s Heart on the journey and got into that when I finally got in the bath. It felt good to soak, relax and get the sweat off after a long day.
The room was great and the air conditioning was refreshing as my mind whirled before going off to sleep.
