Spent the day in Key West, Florida, doing as we usually do, just Meandering around the town on foot. We visited an old fort, the southernmost point in the US, the Key West cemetery, and did a lot of window shopping in this very popular tourist destination.
After almost six weeks of on the go travel, we have finally arrived to our vacation from the vacation: a one-week cruise on the Celebrity Equinox, with stops in Key West, FL; Costa Maya, Mexico; Cozumel, Mexico; and Grand Cayman, Grand Cayman Islands. This is the time where I can finally gain back the seven pounds I’ve lost, to catch up on reading, to sleep and lounge, and to drink! We have the beverage package for both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, so I’ll definitely take advantage and try out some new cocktails. And I suppose I’ll try some samples of wine. At any rate, it’s a week of rest for us, our vacation from the vacation!
Phase 3 of our summer vacation is taking the train from New York City down to Miami. We boarded the Amtrak silver meteor on Friday afternoon, schedule departure at 3 p.m. that right away it was delayed by one hour so we left at 4 pm. For the next 27 hours we traversed South through Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, and Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. This trip normally costs about $600 for the sleeper car but we were able to use Amtrak points and basically take this trip for free. The really great thing about this is that we get free meals on board and a private room with bunk beds. Plus just lots of free time to just watch the scenery and landscapes go by out our big windows…
Although our flight departed a little later than scheduled, we landed on time and we deplaned around 7:15pm. Customs was very quick and after locating our check in luggage on the carousel, we headed outside for the curbside passenger pick up. We waited for about half an hour because traffic was so bad, but eventually my brother Quelen arrived and we drove back through heavy traffic and towards Summit, NJ. We stopped for some take out barbecue on the way home, finally getting there by 10pm. Lisa and I had now been awake for over twenty hours and Lisa was fading, so she turned in for bed and I stayed up to eat and catch up with Quelen and his wife. I ended up hitting the sack around midnight and woke up the next morning at 8am, perfectly adjusted to the new time zone. Lisa and I did some laundry, packed, ate lunch and then Quelen dropped us off at the Summit train station for the next phase of our vacation…
After five weeks in Italy, it is finally time to return home … well, back to the US at least. Our flight was scheduled at 4pm and we left our hotel at 11:15am in order to walk the short mile to the train station and catch the express train to Malpesna Airport. When we came to the Emirates Airlines check-in area, there were three lines: one for first class/business class, one for online check-in, and one for regular passengers. The regular passenger line was very long! The online check in line only had a wait of two or three people. Sure am glad I opted to do the prior online check-in, which initially I wasn’t going to do but after seeing that line, I’ll be sure to do it as often as I am able to! We were greeted at the line by a airline employee, who asked if we were willing to give up our seats and fly the next day in exchange for free airline tickets. Of course we’d love to! But logistically, we were not able to. Our Amtrak train leaves at 3:15pm on Friday and we wouldn’t land into JFK until 7pm so we would completely miss our train. Plus I had already made arrangements with my brother Quelen to pick us up at the airport for our original flight. So although we would have jumped at the opportunity, it just wasn’t in the cards for us, dang it!
After check in, security clearance and customs, we headed to the lounge offered by our Priority Pass membership, a perk from our credit cards. We lingered for almost two hours, enjoying some great chicken curry and other light snacks, before heading to the gate where we had another lengthy process that lasted for over an hour. This was because they “randomly” selected some passengers for extra security screening, as identified by an ‘SSSS’ designation on boarding passes. However, it seemed that at least half of the passengers had this extra security screening, so it made for a very long wait at the gate. But once we finally got through and seated on the plane, it was a “short” nine-hour flight to JFK — short because we had plenty of entertainment options at our seat to keep us occupied. I just pretended that I was at the movie theater for an all-day affair, but this time without having to sneak into other theaters. I ended up watching four movies, plus enjoyed the dinner, pizza snack and complimentary drinks offered by the flight attendants. And just like that, nine hours in the air had passed and I didn’t sleep one wink, which is exactly how I wanted to avoid my jet lag. Mission accomplished.
