It’s Super Bowl Sunday night as I write this, and the Eagles are 9 to 3 over the Patriots. While I’m not actively watching the game, I did see the headlines as I’m just getting back from dinner at the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport. I’ve lost interest in watching the NFL since the players started kneeling at the National Anthem, but fortunately tonight they didn’t as reported on the internet. The Eagles haven’t ‘kneeled’ at all this season, so I hope they win, as a matter of respect.
Steve (DOS) and myself are staying at the Hyatt MCO Airport tonight, as I have an 8:15a flight in the morning to Chicago, and connecting to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where I’ll be working for the week. We haven’t stayed here in a while, but it’s always nice coming back to. We got our favorite room too, on the 10th floor, with a balcony overlooking the runway, and the international jumbo jets.
As usual, we like taking a long walk thru the airport terminal, both for exercise and people watching. The Orlando Airport terminal has been under renovations for what feels like years, but it’s starting to look a bit better. This one area of flooring was replaced by a huge section of floor tiles.
I’m starting to get back in the work grove after the Christmas and New Year’s holiday. Last week I was in the Baltimore/DC area suburbs on business,
while this week I’ll be working in frigid Wisconsin. I will be in Wisconsin Monday thru Friday, before heading up to Calgary, Canada for the start of a whirl-wind vacation trip around the world to Singapore. DOS had planned this trip almost a year ago, and it’s partly a mileage run, aircraft premium seat selection experiment, and airport lounge quiz all in one. Oh, and yes we are even going to be in Singapore for 4 days!
The work week in Baltimore was actually south of there near Waldorf, and about an hour’s drive from BWI Airport. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waldorf, MD, and it was nicely furnished and quiet.
One enhancement BWI Airport made recently was doubling the length of their buses which take passengers to and from the consolidated Rental Car Facility. The off-site rental car facility has been there for several years, but until now waiting for and taking the bus from the airport has been a nerve-jerking, stressful experience due to the chaotic and slow system of buses shuttling passengers from Baggage Claim to their rental cars. I remember in years past waiting and waiting for a bus to come, and then it is filled up already, or loads of people waiting for the bus quickly crowd in and fill the bus until it reaches an absolute capacity of people uncomfortably standing up squished together. I used to call the BWI Airport comments line every time I rode the bus as it was always a miserable experience. I must say, with this double length bus, it has truly changed the ease of getting a rental car at Baltimore – definitely much appreciated!
For the weekend, it was a bit of shopping at our neighbor’s church rummage sale, followed by clearance winter shopping at Dillard’s. The rummage sale at our neighbors (Kenny and Mary’s) Catholic Church had lots of things as in years past, but I settled on a couple seasons (years four and nine) DVD’s of Seinfeld, and a couple Christmas CD’s. Quite a bargain at $8, and it’s for a good cause.
Later in the evening we went out to the new Bahama Breeze in Orlando, along with their son Kyle who was back in town the weekend for a wedding. Kyle had told us about the winter clearance sale at Dillard’s so DOS and I also went there over the weekend.
Likewise, there were many bargains to be had at Dillards. One of the nice things about living in Florida is the winter clothes go on clearance in mid to late January, where it is still quite cold up north. For people like me that travel up north in the winter, its a great way to get cold-weather clothes at bargain prices!
Anyway, heading to be soon for my early flight to Wisconsin. Our vacation trip to Calgary and Singapore starts this Friday. DOS is meeting me in Calgary where we are staying for a couple nights, before flying on to London and ultimately Singapore. DOS did this trip last year (solo) and really enjoyed it, so thought we would do this together this year. All our flights are in Business Class (no First Class on the international segments), and we will be on a British Airways 787 to London, Fin Air A319 to Helsinki, and a A350 from Helsinki to Singapore. Along the the way, we will have several hour layovers in London and Helsinki, so we will get to try the different airport lounges. It sounds like a really run trip, but first I have to get thru the work week in frigid Wisconsin!
It’s been somewhat of a challenge packing for this trip as it will be so cold in Wisconsin and Calgary, followed by tropical weather along the equator-zone of Singapore. I was there (solo) back in the year 2000 as part of a 17 night Royal Caribbean cruise from Sydney to Singapore, (before DOS) and remember taking the sky ride over the city and the Raffles Hotel bar, where the Singapore Sling was invented, but that’s about it. DOS has hired a guide, and it will be Chinese New Year while we are there, so it should be a lot of fun – hopefully like a kid in a candy store! LOL! Here’s DOS in MCO Airport tonight, followed by me.
Now if I can just get thru the work-week! Have a great week!
P.S. Just peeked on the Superbowl; it’s now Eagles 22 – 19 Patriots in the third quarter with 12 minutes remaining.