A Perfect Day

Note: This post is out of order as I was waiting for a time of sunshine to take flower pictures. However the sun has been very fleeting since we have been in Florida)
Having been born into a military family, I have traveled by air from a young age. However, I have never taken this mode of transportation for granted. It has always seemed rather magical to enter this metal tube with wings at one point and come out of it a few hours later at a completely different location. Books and movies have been made about time travel, but this is space travel. Sort of like" Beam me up, Scotty!"

The only hitch is that for the past ten years, air travel has become a real hassle due to security measures. And then the airlines are encouraging people to carry luggage on board by charging to check bags. Couple that with living outside a large metro area like Atlanta with its unending traffic and traveling just ain't fun no more.

Last Friday morning, Gene and I, along with our neighbor, Carrie, got into our car and drove to Hartsfield Airport. Traffic flowed as it is intended to -no jams, no slow downs, just effortless smooth flow, even though it was still in a part of the day considered to have heavy traffic. We arrived at the check in area and saw lots of blank curb. We pulled right up to the curb, again no one in our way. We unloaded the bags and waved goodbye to Carrie, who returned our car back home. We walked right up to check in, second in line, where a nice woman said she could upgrade us to business class for an additional $9 each. Well, heck, why not?

Unencumbered by the luggage we had checked, we headed off to security. Again, no muss, no fuss and we breezed right through. We seemed to be the only people traveling today. We boarded the train for terminal C, less than 10 other people in the car and were soon at our destination. Plenty of time until the flight, how about lunch? Delightful sandwiches at Atlanta Bread Company while watching Delta planes arriving at their gates. Then down the concourse to our gate where they seemed to be in a pre-board mode, though it was still an hour until takeoff. Sure enough they were intent on getting everyone out on time and very soon called business class to board and on we went to our front row seats.

And so for the next two hours we read in our wide comfortable seats while a bevy of young women plied us with food and drink. In what seemed like no time we were preparing to land in West Palm Beach, FL. We were first off the plane into a very beautiful terminal. There were beautiful stores arranged in a village setting and the merchandise looked out of this world. Then I reminded myself, "Oh, yeah, this is West Palm Beach." Unable to stop and shop we were among the first at baggage claim. And, true to the tone of this story, our bags were among the first to appear on the carousel. We turned, and there was our new friend from last trip, Michelle, who directed us curbside where her husband, Bill, awaited to whisk us away in a spacious Cadillac.

We were chauffeured down scenic boulevards lined with Palm trees and blooming flowers until we arrived at a lovely Villa. There was a circular drive bounded by green lawn and wonderful topical foliage and flowers. We entered the large double doors into a large reception area and were greeted by our hosts. From here we could see the pool, the water and the boat at dockside at the rear of the structure. We were then taken to our room, a private enclave upstairs of two bedrooms, bath and sun room. This will be our home for the next 5-7 days.

Now doesn't that seem like a magical fairytale or a miracle? I thought so. I cannot recall such an easy journey in recent times and how nice it was to take a trip with absolutely no hassle. I should also add that the reservations were made only three days prior to travel at a very good rate. That there were only a few seats left and that the plane was completely full.

Yes, we are back out on the road with the Flagship Detroit, which has wintered in sunny Florida in celebration of her 75th birthday. She has spent the time "getting a little work done" down Miami way and basking in the attention of a myriad of fly-boys at Stuart airport. Recently she stole the show at a Ferrari event nearby. Tomorrow she is off to a fly-in breakfast with a full load of new members. The downside of all this is that us mortals are to be at the airport at 6 A. M. Ouch!

We are once again staying at Villa De Santes home of Tony and Judy. They are real troopers to keep us for a week. We are here that long because after this we make the long trek to Laredo, TX. Stay tuned.