Chicago

I didn't get back until LATE last night. My 6:22 flight (supposed to arrive in New Orleans at 8:37) didn't board until about 7:30. There was bad weather in other parts of the country, and just south of Chicago not where we were) that had closed a lot of the flying "lanes" - slowing down incoming and outgoing plane traffic. LOTS of cancelled flights, the airport was full of people trying to re-book and hoping to get out last night.

The girl from the office that I was flying with said "at least we're stuck waiting here, the worst is when you get stuck waiting on the runway inside of the plane". MISTAKE (I later told her it was her fault).

Get on the plane, next to a group of about 10 thirty-something guys from Chicago heading to a weekend long bachelor party in New Orleans. Their party had started (actually, they hadn't been drinking yet - just having a real good time). We move away from the jetway and start taxing around runways (lots of them at O'Hare!).

Then, we come to a stop and the engines cut off. Outside of the window we can see airplanes all around us, parked. The pilot comes on the intercom and says "Sorry folks....." There were lots and lots of planes ahead of us, some have been waiting for hours. They have to take off before we can. One had been sitting there for 4-1/2 hours and had to go back to the terminal for more fuel. Though he expected at that point that our wait would be just an hour or so. The seat belt sign is off, feel free to move around the cabin, use cell-phones, etc. Stay in YOUR assigned cabin (no loitering in first class). Oh, and we will be serving dinner and beverages in first class - coach, you just have to wait until we take off (for drinks - no food will be served). Damn, I KNEW I should have grab that McDonald's burger from the stand across from the gate. I didn't want fast food and knew that Chris had cooked. I could wait until I got home for real food. Or that is what I told myself when I thought we were taking off at 7:15.

Bachelor party gets up and moves around. They are having fun. I just want to get home. I've got a huge blister on the BOTTOM of my foot from all of the walking I did in Chicago. I'm tired, and I'm hungry. Ok, I'll dig into the Leonardo DaVinci biography that I picked up after viewing the DaVinci exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I'm tired, making serious reading a bit harder. Maybe I should have brought a light novel. Can't sleep on the plane ... what if I snore?

Boy it would be nice if they served us drinks right now. Oh, gotta call Chris and let him know. It is now after 8, and he thought I was in the air on my way home. I'll be even later than I said when I called just before boarding. Now, it's been an hour since the pilot told us "it will be an hour or so". How much of the "or so" will we have to endure?

Finally, the seat belt sign comes back on. It is nearly 9:30. The flight attendant makes an announcement, "it is our turn. Fasten seat belts, trays up, seat backs up...blah blah.." Lots of cheering! We start our taxi along the runway again. And we take off. The two hour flight seemed LONG. I was tired of sitting and my legs were getting stiff.

We landed around 11:30. By this time my legs and my butt HURT. I wanted to get up and walk around so bad. And I've got to pee. Don't want to wait in that long line to use that cramped stinky little bathroom. I can hold it, can't I? I think I just felt the plane drop. Could be starting our descent? Feels like it. Yes, I can wait.

The pilot comes on again, prepare for landing - seat backs up, tray tables up, fasten those seat belts, We will be on the ground in about 25 minutes. Maybe I should have taken the opportunity to use that little cramped bathroom with the bad smell. Can I wait 25 minutes? Sure, just don't think about it, not like I have a choice.

We finally landed. I made a run for the bathroom as soon as I could. But why is it whenever I land in our airport late at night, that the plane is ALWAYS placed at the gate at the farthest end of the terminal? No one else is there. It is a ghost terminal. Why can't we be parked at the first empty place? My feet hurt. And it's late. And this blister on the bottom of my foot is about 2 inches long and now feels like it is filled with fluid. Hurts to walk.... At least by the time we reached the baggage claim, our bags were there and people were getting their bags off of the belt. No standing around waiting for the belt to move this time.

I got a ride home and finally got my dinner about 1 am. And I left a message for my boss that I would be late in the morning.

The trip? It was mostly business. But I did have a bit of time to have some fun. I got to do some of the things that I haven't been able to do before. The Field Museum was great. We didn't get to see the Tut exhibit but we went through the rest of the museum's Egyptian exhibit. Then, we had dinner at Kinzie's Chop House (I've never been there before - and it was very good). We did something else I've never done before. A Chicago River/Lake Michigan boat tour. 90 minutes up and down the river and out into the lake, with information about the architecture and buildings on the river and lake shores. We did the 7:15 trip so it was an evening trip, as the sun went down and the skyline from the lake was beautiful. Sunday I took a cab down to the Museum of Science and Industry. Went through that and spent nearly 2 hours in the DaVinci exhibit. The DaVinci exhibit was well worth the extra $11. It was VERY interesting and I learned a lot. Most of it focused on his architectural/engineering designs and notebooks. He was so ahead of his time ....

Had several really good meals, from higher end places to the fun little neighborhood bar & grill we found (thanks to the security guard at the hotel) a few blocks behind our hotel.

I'm back to reality and back to work. Home Sweet Home....