What a travel day yesterday! We were up early, why, oh why, do we keep waking up early…on vacation?! I don’t think I slept past 6am any day while we were on vacation…some mornings my eyes opened at 3am and they stayed that way until I went to bed again the next night, and you know me…it’s never an early night! And you would think after swimming and snorkeling all day, I would be wiped out…nope, not me!

We were up early again yesterday, I set the alarm for 8am because check-out was 10am, didn’t matter, I was up before the sun, go figure. But…this did allow us to see some really pretty sunrises, that goes in the win column! So… up early, repacked my bag, figured out what could go on the plane and what could be checked, what we would take, and what we would leave behind. We decided to check our bags on the way home so we didn’t have to deal with them in the airport and on two flights, good decision on our part, go us!

Up early, repack, check out at 10am, head to airport about 1030am, we were supposed to be at the airport about 3 hours before our flight, we’re rocking and rolling. We were flying out at 3:28pm, so we were going to be there in plenty of time. Turns out…Delta does not open their ticket counter until 1115am, so we got to hang with other people who thought the same thing.

We met a nice mother and daughter from Charlotte and a woman from Philly and New Orleans, lots to talk about! One of the things I enjoy about meeting people is finding out where they are from, getting to know one another and compare notes. I got to talk to the woman from Charlotte about places that MM would take me, and the woman from Philly/NOLA, we talked food, museums, and Magazine Street. Time passed and we checked our bags…sort of.

I forgot this is what it is like in some airports…you check in at the desk, then you take your bag somewhere else. This somewhere else involved going through customs/border control…we were in a US Territory, but yup, that’s what they require, ok…PSM and I took our passports, just in case we needed them and it turns out, if you have one, it’s best to bring it with you, getting there, no need, but coming back, it would help, and it did! But…we finally got to use our Global Entry cards! Wah to the hoo! We bring them, but haven’t needed them! This time…we could only use the Global Entry [super fast and empty] line if we had the actual card. What? Score!

We got through customs, then took our bags to another place to put on the belt. Whew, gone! We needed the 3 hours, now I get it. Now…got into the airport, hurry up and wait! The whole process, from waiting for the desk to open to giving our bags took about hour, fun…

Turns out this post is more about our travels than what I woke up to! Ha ha, well, you’ve met me, start here, veer there…we got some lunch, PSM sat at the only table left in this cafe while I waited on line and ordered food. We thought being out of the airport and on the island was expensive! Veggie burger, regular burger, one order of fries, plantains, and two drinks: $52, yes, you heard that right! $52! Yes, airport food is expensive, but, come on…

We ate, loitered, took our time, finally finished and got up to give someone a chance at the table, the line for this place never really went down. Oh, I know you’ll be surprised at this, yeah right…happened to start talking with someone who is going to Hawai’i in March, I said we had lived there, she asked for some recommendations, and then gave me her email and I sent her a list for each island. Need a recommendation? Let me know.

We finally boarded our flight, uneventful, PSM shared his first class meal with me, love him! A few hours later, we were in Atlanta. We were hoping to go to the Delta club to enjoy and relax for the 4 hour layover, but…I haven’t needed the Delta Sky Club in a while, well, for about a year, and it turns out Delta changed their Sky Club policy and I am going to refrain from telling you what I thought and said under my breath. In order to go in the club, no matter what status you have, and if you are willing to pay the $50 to get in, you can ONLY get in if you have one of Delta’s AMEX cards…seriously? grrrr

Next flight, slept about 20 minutes, finished a docuseries and started a new one and we were back in Philly. Then to get our bags, call for a shuttle, get the car and head home. It was now 1am and it’s about 1.5 hours back to the house, fun! I started driving, we stopped for gas and I turned over the reigns or wheel to PSM, thankfully he slept on the second flight, he was good to go! The funniest thing…after getting gas, we got a cup of coffee and two snacks…$2.58! I could NOT stop laughing! After what we spent on food and drinks for almost 2 weeks, $2.58! LOVE it!

We got home at 3am, unloaded the car, put on jammies, and managed to crawl in bed about 330am. I was pretty much sleep walking at that point, but my pjs and the flannel sheets, I was good to go! I set the alarm for 745a since we didn’t have the dogs in the house and I could sleep in, ha ha! I slept until the alarm went off and it was glorious!

Then I looked out the window…not the same view or view I was expecting, as you can imagine. The sky was grey and overcast, no water view, sailboats, beach, fluffy clouds tinged with pink from the sunrise, so, as I said…sigh.

The sun came out a while later and all was right with the world. I will say our backyard, when the sun is coming up, the way it throws light across the trees and the barn, yes, I said barn, which I will explain another time, it’s lovely.

After waking up to the sea, salty air, sunshine, 80 degrees for almost two weeks, a little different, but good to be home and this afternoon, even more sunshine, we picked up the dogs from doggie camp, they smelled so good [they had been groomed]! and so happy to see us! What more could you want?!

That was a long way to get there. Ok, I’m done! Thanks JJ, I know you’re saying! Time to crash! Nighty nights!