Our driver arrived early at 4:45am, shivering as he stood knocking on our front door in the 30 degree temperatures. Certainly, we were ready to go, or were we? The three pieces of luggage were placed at the back of the garage last night, so all we had to do was throw in the last few things in our handcarrys, and jump into the van. That's when one of us felt something was missing. One of the handcarrys was still in the house, where one of us swore it was in the kitchen last night. Cleaning the refrigerator took priority after dinner, so that piece of luggage slipped by. It contained unreplacable items (prescriptions meds for one), so it's a good thing our brains were still working this morning.
We arrived at the SFO airport in one hour after leaving our house. The driver was very chatty, and we gladly engaged him, since last night was New Year's Eve, and he may have been up late transporting party-goers through the evening. It was our job to keep him awake and alert. Although, like we said, there was little to no traffic.....a dream.
The rest of the day went as well. Especially checking in at the United desk. Since we were early, there was no line. The three bags were under the 50# limit, and were tagged, charged, and on their way. Now the nice part. One of us got the TSA approved sign on the boarding pass, meaning that the security screening was minimal. Shoes stayed on, handcarrys went through the xray without taking out the liquid bag, and no special "arms in the air" super xray picture check. Piece of cake. Later on, reading the fine print, the TSA approved minimal check-in is strictly by random. And there is no guarantee it will happen every time we fly United. We can only hope it will apply to both of us sometime.
Time for some breakfast, since we left the house without eating. We always go to a favorite place right across from the security checkpoint. We shared a breakfast sandwich and toast. The coffee was hot and so good this chilly morning. Hard to believe in a few short hours, we wil be in 80 degree weather, and probably humidity too. Can't wait......
By the time we reached our gate, only 20 minutes had transpired from the time we entered the airport doors. So we had plenty of time to relax before our 9am flight. We sat facing the tarmac, and got to watch the plane being loaded with luggage. Now we thought we had seen it from the very beginning, and had some concerns that we had not seen one of our pieces. Occassionally, the fellows would put a bag on the belt, then take it off and throw it back in the truck, like it was mismarked or something. Could that have happened to ours? Well, maybe we just had to have something to worry about. The day was going too smoothly.
With the exception of a few bumpy spots flying over the Continental Divide, the flight went well. It was definitely a no-frills flight. It drives us crazy that there is no complimentary TV or even music anymore in coach. Same thing goes for the little pillows and blankets you used to get. With the nut allergies, we can understand why the peanuts are gone. But a small bag of mini pretzels would have been nice on a 5 1/2 hour flight across the country. Everything to eat is for sale, with the exception of two drinks of water, juices, or soda. No, we would not starve. We could have purchased something in the terminal, but at the time, nothing looked appealing. Better for us to wait until we got to Florida and have an early dinner there, skipping lunch.
The plane set down in Ft. Lauderdale spot on time at about 5:30pm EST. For some reason, the time seemed to go by fast. Maybe that's because we may have been snoozing, more or less, the whole way. That, and waiting in line for the bathroom.
Just as promised, we were met at the baggage area by an HAL rep, dressed in the familiar red jacket, holding a sign for us. She helped us load the first of the luggage on her cart, while we waited for the third one....the one we presumed was missing. Nope, it finally came, and obviously must have been there all the time. We simply did not see it being loaded in SF. The rep was waiting on one lady, who was supposed to arrive on a flight from Atlanta. However, after paging her with no reply, she took us outside to wait for our transfer to the hotel.
We had a whole huge bus to ourselves for about a 10 minute ride to the Renaissance Plantation Hotel. This was a first for us at this location. And it appears it will be a good choice so far. Our travel group will not be mixed with the HAL folks, so nothing should be overcrowded. Especially the elevators. Can you imagine at checkout time, and hundreds of guests are trying to gather their things to meet in the lobby for the drive to the ship? Mass chaos. So we shall see how this works here for a change.
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| Pool at the hotel |
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| Fountains in the surrounding lake at the hotel |
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| Sports Bar and Grill |
It was a sports bar and grill. OK, now we're talking. We found it easily, and were quite pleased with the menu. Half pound burgers and crispy fries were exactly what we craved. And extra large diet Pepsis. And to make things even better, the Rose Bowl game was in the last quarter, while we watched Stanford lose to Michigan State. Oh well, can't win them all.
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| Delicious! |
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| Banquet room hallways |
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| Last of the Christmas decorations |
