New Orleans Part 2

 Wednesday 27th. We had a quick “Grab & Go” breakfast at the hotel as we were leaving too early for the hot buffet to be ready. Muffins and hot coffee were  good enough for now. 

Put our “Cranbrook Fall Jackets” in the car (another great reason to stay at this hotel is the free parking! Bonus!) but wore our jeans and a lighter jacket/sweater to the airport. It’s always such a dilemma when you are going from a cold place to a hot & humid place. I find the planes cold, so a sweater and long pants are needed for the flight, but then they are in my way and annoy me for the duration of the trip, although that’s actually only an issue when you are on a tour and have to pack and unpack constantly, in this case we are in one hotel for the whole trip. And we both do carry-on only, so not a whole lot of extra room, so the less to pack around the better.

The shuttle fellow was at the door, so we hopped in and I hardly had time to find my seatbelt and put it on and we were there, I felt bad taking the shuttle as it’s such a short drive. Walked into the airport, walked straight through the passport check, cruised directly through security and found our gate. The plane left exactly one minute late. Small airports are the best!

We flew United and I was really impressed. I paid a bit more to sit in Economy Plus and the leg room was so spacious. Now, I have short legs, but there was about 8 inches between my knees and the seat in front of me, so I think even a long-legged person would be comfy. And finally…FINALLY….an empty row! We each had an aisle seat and he had an empty seat beside him too! I do like a window seat, but then I feel hemmed in, plus I feel guilty if I have to ask Middle and Aisle to move, I do like to get up and stretch, not to mention a bathroom run now and then, so it’s aisle for me. Plus, if the plane goes down, I am out that door ASAP, no waiting for someone else to get out first. And not only that empty seat bonus, but Steven was chit-chatting with the flight attendant about the difference between tomato/Clamato/Bloody Mary mix/spicy tomato and when he decided to have just the spicy tomato the flight attendant slipped him a mini vodka to put in it. He makes friends everywhere he goes, as opposed to myself who prefers to scrunch in a corner and not talk to anyone. They do say that opposites attract though.

We landed in Denver on time, the flight had been a couple of hours and we had an hour and half in Denver, so no rush. We cruised down to our gate (which actually took a long time, the airport is well organized, but HUGE) Got to our gate and the sign said “Baltimore”. What? I checked my boarding pass and it said “Concourse B. Gate 27” which is where we were. I looked at the board and it said “Gate change. Concourse A. Gate 14” 

I understand a gate change, but a whole concourse change? How do I even find Concourse A? I asked a security guy and he said “Oh, it’s easy, go here and there and down an escalator and take a left (or a right) and turn some corners and take a train” Uhhhh..what? A train? We hustled along the moving  sidewalks, found some escalators that seemed to be correct, ended up in a sort of train/subway stop and asked a fellow if this was the right way? I guess luck was on our side because it was correct, and the train appeared in a minute and whisked us off to the magical land of Concourse A, where we found our gate and still had time to relax. This plane also left on time and we were in New Orleans by 1:30 in the afternoon. I mean seriously, planes are the best invention ever. 

Louis Armstrong airport is big, but not massive, and it’s very new, so it’s well set up and easy to navigate. With only carry-on’s we just followed the signs to ground transportation and went outside to get a taxi. As soon as we went out the doors, man, did that heat hit with a vengeance. Holy Moly, it was hot, and remember, we were still in jeans. Luckily the taxi was well air conditioned and off we went. It’s about a 35 minute drive and the rate is a flat $36. I am far (far) beyond the age of waiting for shuttles or trying to figure out bus schedules. 

When we got to our hotel, the room wasn’t quite ready so we stored our luggage and walked down the end of the block to a little restaurant and had a light lunch. A chicken salad sandwich for me and a “hot bunwich” for him. They were massive! I had to hide half my sandwich under my salad because I couldn’t eat it all. The place was called “Cafe on the Square” and we had breakfast there every day. 

After we ate (and became buddies with the fellow who turned out to be our favourite and regular waiter) we went back to our hotel and checked in. What a place! I will talk about it in Part 3.