You’d think this trip would seem longer, as we’ve not been able to travel for so long. But, looking back it seems like it was just a blink of the eye before we were hopping in an Uber heading to the Miami airport.  Can’t believe it is over all ready!  The whole thing was just fabulous (icky large ship notwithstanding) and we’re already ready to go again!

At the airport all is…well…typical airport pandemonium for 3 days before Christmas.  It’s bustling busy and packed. But virtually 100% compliance with masks, which is very comforting, particularly here in Florida. 

There is no Priority Club in our terminal in Miami, but there is a voucher for Corona Beach House restaurant, which we make good use of to tide us through the 3 hours we have before our flight.  Nice little lunch and drinks before boarding our flight to Charlotte.  That flight goes off without incident, packed, but all is well, and we arrive on time with oodles of hours to spare in Charlotte.

Again, no clubs per se here, but there is a mini-suites place that we are laughing about using.  We first hit the bar – sigh – a Wicked Weed bar.  That says it is local!  Yeah, right. A) it is not local to Charlotte, B) it ain’t local no more, not after Budweiser bought them out.  But any port in a storm.  Except this port is super expensive.  Most we have ever paid for a wine and beer, anywhere in the world, including on the seafront in Bergen, Norway.  Oh well, rack it up to the horrors of flying and having to burn time in a packed airport.

Drinks done, we head to the gate and pass the mini-suites on the way.  Oh what the hell!  We go on over, check in, and spend a delightful hour out of the masses, in a quiet little suite with a sofa, desk and TV. And a bathroom only for the suites.  That was totally worth it, even though we laughed about it before we made the decision to utilize it!

Ready for the plane now, we board, take off, only to be annoyed the entire flight by the old guy in the aisle seat across the row who refuses to wear his mask. The flight attendant tells him.  We tell him.  Nothing doing.  Oh, and he’s sniffling away. Thank you very much.  Finally, the man behind us waves down the flight attendant and tells him that the maskless guy only puts it on when the attendant comes down the aisle and that the guy “is doing a big disservice to us all.”  Thank you kind and tactful man!  So, the flight attendant then proceeds to stand right in aisle behind the guy for the rest of the flight, almost until we touch down, ensuring he has his mask on!  Thank you Mr. Flight Attendant!  Very much appreciated.

And with that?  We are back in Asheville, preparing for our Christmas dinner from Smokey Park (no real prep necessary actually), and thinking fondly about the most wonderful time we have had on our very first post-pandemic-lockdown trip!

We’re ready to go again!