I also managed to slip in a visit to my favorite restaurant in Atlanta, The Varsity! It's not the healthiest of meals but I think it would be downright un-American to go through there without stopping for a couple of chili dogs, onion rings and an orange frost. Besides, I had oatmeal for breakfast yesterday morning so I'm pretty sure that it offset any potential damage from the chili dogs other than the barking they did a few hours later.
Beth and I generally have one rule of thumb when we fly, never, ever check a bag unless it's absolutely necessary. Our philosophy is travel light and that there are two kinds of luggage, carry on and lost. Yesterday afternoon I changed my Southwest flight home from Atlanta to an earlier flight. In doing so I gave up my primo A-34 boarding position for a "you're sitting in the middle" C-30 position. When I went to board I was told that all the overhead space had been taken and it would be necessary to check my bag at the gate. Quite honestly I wasn't too worried for a couple of reasons. First, by checking it at the gate it would be put on last and one of the first bags off. Second, I love Southwest Airlines and surely they wouldn't mess up such a simple task as reconnecting me with my bag in Tampa. Well..................
I got off the lovely, short flight from Atlanta to Tampa excited about getting home a few hours early. I head to baggage claim to pick up my bag with visions of being merrily on my way to the island in no time. I wait and wait and wait and wait. No bag! The belt stops and still no bag! I'm not really feeling the Southwest LUV now as I head over to speak to the two poor women who work in lost luggage. They confirm that I have no bag and they have no idea where it could be. They send me home bagless but with a nice letter telling me that they are sorry for the lost bag. Nice letter but I'd rather have my bag!
No news through the evening so I go to bed bagless and without a clue of where it could possibly be vacationing. This morning I received notification that my bag stayed on the plane in Tampa and ended up flying to Pittsburgh where it spent the night. It flew back to Tampa and as I am writing this almost 24 hours later it is supposed to be on it's way to me.
Normally it wouldn't be such a big deal but in this particular case I'm needing it quickly. We've got a 7:05 flight tomorrow morning to kick off our next adventure and there is a little laundry to be done!
I'm still a big Southwest Airlines fan although not quite as much today!
Good news for tomorrows flights; we're low B's for the Tampa to Chicago flight and middle A's for the Chicago to Louisville flight! No lost luggage tomorrow..........hopefully!
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| Sometimes you just gotta do it! Glad I don't live too close to Atlanta or pass through there too often. |
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| Star Fish Company, Cortez, Fl on a Saturday afternoon. |
