Quest for Skymiles

Seriously BWI and Delta?

2011-08-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

So we arrived at BWI (Baltimore Washington International) in plenty of time for our flight home. Getting through security was breeze and we even had enough time to have a sit down meal at the airport (a rarity sometimes).

Our Delta (want it clear what airline we were flying, lol) flight was scheduled for 4:30. At 4:05 the call for boarding people that needed extra time went out. All seemed normal. The second call for those needing extra time went out. Finally around 4:15 the announcement came that there was a slight mechanical problem and that they would keep us posted.

4:45pm- Update is that there really is no update other than it looks like it will be at least 5:30.

5:30pm- Well now comes word that it is going to be (hold on to your horses) 8:00 pm before we are ready to leave.

6:00pm- Reason? Our plane had a flat tire and there were NO tires to replace it at the BWI airport so a tire was being flown in from ATLANTA.

7:30pm- Would now be closer to 9:00pm before we would actually be taking off and by the way all the restaurants were closing soon.

8:30pm- Earlier than expected we are told we can board the plane

8:45pm- The doors of the plane are closed and we are asked to turn off all electrical devices so we can push back from the gate and taxi.

9:25pm- We FINALLY push back from the gate (yep, 40 minutes later)

Ok so here goes the observations on BWI and Delta. Let's start with Delta...

1. If you can fly me a tire from Atlanta why can't you just fly my a plane? (Thanks Janis for that observation)

2. A $50 credit (that I still don't see on my account) is not reasonable compensation for almost 5 hours of delays and sitting in an airport terminal.

3. If you are not going to be allowed to push back from the gate until a certain time then please just let us sit in the terminal.

4. Let us use our electronic devices until we actually start to push back from the gate. I mean it's not like it's a surprise to the pilots right? They know it's coming don't they?

5. Don't feel that putting out a few canned sodas and the worlds tinniest bag of pretzels will make all of us passengers happy.

OK BWI your turn!! (and as I write this I am actually starting to have more anger towards BWI than I originally did)

1. What airport in the world has not ONE SINGLE way to get from one terminal to another without having to exit security? BWI is made up of four (maybe 3) terminals, each with their own security checkpoint. What this means is that essentially once you pass through security you are pretty much stuck in your terminal unless you exit security. Don't like the food choices in your terminal? TOUGH!....want to shop at a certain store in another terminal? Guess you will be spending your day going back and forth through security lines. This makes no sense BWI. Give passengers a way top get between terminals.

2. If there is anyway that you are going to have passengers "STUCK" in your terminals at least make sure that the restaurants stay open to feed them. Yep our plane didn't board until after 8:30 but all the restaurants closed at 7:30-7:45. There were no signs up with hours so I, and many other passengers, ended up eating a breakfast sandwich from the coffee shop that had been there since that morning.

3. Also if these same passengers are going to be stuck you will have to assume that some of them will be smokers. I think it's 100% ok that your airport is smoke free (and this is coming from a smoker myself) and I have no problem with having to go outside to have a smoke. The problem is that if we are stuck then you shouldn't be allowed to close down security at 8:00.

Combining 2 and 3 above led to most of us actually feeling "stuck" in the terminal with nowhere to go.

DELTA SKYMILES= 12,826

Cumberland, MD summary

2011-08-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

So the rest of the week in Cumberland was pretty uneventful (except one brief power outage the day after the Earthquake).

A few highlights were:

- Deep Creek Lake is beautiful, surrounded by mountains on almost all sides. We ate at Uno's and for the first time I tried cheese crab dip. It was actually pretty good and I would probably order it again.

- Downtown historic Cumberland is a cute, quaint place. They have tried, you can tell, over the years to clean it up and revitalize it. There are a number of cute little shops and nice places to eat. Was a nice place to walk around.

- Trains, trains everywhere. Cumberland always seems to have a train passing through. If you stay at the Holiday Inn in Cumberland and you like train sounds ask for an odd number room, if you like some peace and quiet ask for an even number room (downside of an even number room is a view of the city parking garage).

- Cumberland is a very beautiful place with lots of nice views of the mountains (once I figure out how to post pics from my cell phone to this blog I will show you that even the wal-mart has a view of the mountains)

- Cumberland is obviously a town that has not done a lot of modernization in recent decades. This gives the town a weird vibe. Part nice, older town and part run down town.

If you are passing through and want a place to stay for a night, walk around a nice downtown area and get a bite to eat, Cumberland, MD may just be that place.

8/23/11 My wife's birthday and an Earthquake

2011-08-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

So I stopped my blog because it was bed time for me and it was almost my wife's birthday....now back to the end of the first day and the second day in Cumberland, MD.

Let's just say that the Holiday Inn in Cumberland, MD is the epitome of an old hotel that tried to clean things up by throwing a LCD tv and some clean sheets on a bed. The problem is that it was still dirty, a little smelly and just kind of, well, old.

My first day of teaching was going really well until we felt the building shake a little. At first we all thought maybe someone had just dropped something on the floor until the shaking kept happening. We all decided that in order to be safe we should get out of the building. On the way out everyone had different ideas as to what had caused the shaking. Turns out it was an earthquake. Now I know that for anyone living in California it was a "small" quake and I also know that the earthquake was hundreds of miles away. What matters is that I felt it, the building moved and my stomach was queasy for a little while after that. I wasn't so much as scared as just confused with what was happening. Ok I admit it I was scared. Hurricanes I can take, you know that they're coming. Earthquakes, not so much!

Needless to say no one could get any cell phone reception after that. Speaking of cell phone reception.....come on Verizon please put a cell tower somewhere (anywhere) near Cumberland, MD. Never once got 3G service and was lucky to get more than two bars of 1x service.

8/22/11 Cumberland, MD Day 1

2011-08-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today found me at the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International Airport with my wife nice and early. During a trip we took recently we discovered the lower level passenger drop off/pic-up. There are not a lot of cars and passengers down there and there is a Delta baggage check. So much less stressful than the upper level ticketing and check-in.

The flight actually was full (I am completely kidding as every flight I have been on recently has been full and there is never any room for everyone's overhead bag). Surprisingly enough we actually left the gate on time but I was not prepared for the almost 20 minute taxi time to what seemed like a runway in South Carolina. So by airline math we left on time (flight scheduled for 10:05- pulled away from the gate at 10:03+18 minute taxi time=taking off on time).

The flight was uneventful as I put my headphones on right away and therefore got away with not saying one word to the guy next to me in the isle seat. I'm not trying to be a jerk I just want to get on the plane, listen to some music, read a book and maybe try to catch a few minutes of sleep. Also I understand that airlines had to make some cutbacks to in service items (American Airlines removing an olive from each salad on the flight to save hundreds of thousands of dollars) but when did they remove choice. On today's flight I wasn't even given the choice of what snack I wanted. I was just handed some peanuts. WHAT??? no biscoffs??

Besides the biscoff fiasco of 2011 the flight was smooth. After landing in Baltimore my co-worker and I headed to baggage claim where it took about 30 minutes for the bags to show up and even then they came out the American Airlines baggage claim (not the Delta one) and I just happened to see our bags. We then headed to the bus to take us to the rental car lot. The bus was full when we got outside but they driver was determined to turn his bus into the American version of the Tokyo subway. He refused to leave until every single inch of space was taken up by either people or luggage. Standing in the aisle I had to hold on for dear life while trying to keep my crotch or ass out of the people who were fortunate enough to have a seat. Fast forward to us driving out of the airport in our shiny black Hyundai Elantra and onward to my co-workers favorite sandwich shop for lunch.

You know what I love about people with iPhones sometimes? The people that think that the iPhone is so perfect that what they see on the screen must be the truth. My co-worker read that this deli was open (turns out he read it on urban spoon) and that the address was sort of on the way to Cumberland, MD. Even after driving around for over 30 minutes, doing no less than 4 circles of the same 3 mile loop we still had yet to find the place. But everytime I thought he was about to give up he just kept telling me to turn around and go back because the iPhone said that it was there. He kept saying that the blue dot was right there so why wasn't the deli.

Finally he gave up his mission to find this deli and down the road we went towards Cumberland. About 45 miles later we pulled into the quaint downtown area of Frederick, MD. We saw a sign on the road that promised a shopping area ahead of multiple shops and dinning opportunities. Maybe people in Maryland have a different mathematical understanding of the term "multiple" because after parking we quickly realized that there was, in fact, only one restaurant.

Danielle's turned out to be a very nice, quaint place for us to grab a bite to eat. I don't know if it was the fact that it was a monday, 1:30 in the afternoon or just a small town, but we were only 2 of 6 diners in the whole place. I ordered the Danielle burger (because I was super excited about the avocado and the Gouda cheese). The service was quick, the food came quickly and the burger was pretty darned good. The meal came with some free bread while we waited and some dipping oils and spices. My bill for all of this and a water, plus tip, came to right around $12. Not too bad for a nice little break from the road and for a decent burger.

It's late and night and my wife's birthday starts officially in 13 minutes. I am going to have to finish here and will finish up tomorrow as well as anything from tomorrow's adventures.

Delta Sky miles=11,705

Pre-blog

2011-08-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

So here is my first blog post for what I want to use to capture all the up's and downs, pictures and interesting information from my trips around the country. My job takes me to small towns for a week once (sometimes twice a month). We don't (usually) get the chance to go to bigger cities and most of the places we go require us to rent a car at the major airport we just flew into and then drive at least and hour (if not three) to get to our destination.

The places we go don't have a lot of selections for hotels or places to eat. They usually have one walmart and a few grocery stores. Most of the places don't have an airport (well at least ones that can land planes that carry more than a few passengers at a time) and I say it would be pretty safe to say that very few of these places ever make it on anyone's vacation itinerary.

I thought it would be neat to collect my thoughts, pictures and other information on these towns as I get to travel to cities that most people will never visit in America, all in a quest to receive more sky miles and make the next level in my frequent flier miles quest.