The Worst Part

The worst part of a vacation (for me at least) is the travelling. Our recent trip to Antigua was no exception.

On the trip down, we had to get up early in the morning to get to the airport for our 7:20 am departure time. We flew to Miami where we were supposed to have a 3 hour layover. The three hours turned to 4 when our flight crew was delayed by an international flight. We arrived in Puerto Rico with only a half hour to spare for our connection to Antigua. While that seems like a lot of time, the gate agents were calling for final boarding while we were trying to run through the terminal. But, alas, that flight was also delayed by a driving thunderstorm that closed the ramp. We finally left about a half hour late, and arrived in Antigua in the dark. Unfortunately, our bags were still in San Juan. They did not have time to make the connection. There were about 5 couples who were in the same situation. By the time we arrived at the resort and got checked in, it was about 8:30 pm. We were starved as our last meal was breakfast in Miami, so we hightailed it to the closest restaurant we could find (we had a delicious Caribbean meal and several drinks). Happily, our luggage did arrive at the resort at about 1:15 am the next morning.

So, was the return trip better? No, the return trip made the outbound trip look like a piece of cake. Our phone rang at 5:30 am to wake us for our last day in Antigua. We had a quick breakfast and were shuttled to the airport for the second flight of the day. We wound up arriving so early, that the agents moved us to the first flight. That turned out to be fine because we were able to travel with a celebrity. Actress/model Amber Valletta was on our flight. You may remember her from her role as Allegra in the movie Hitch. She had been in Antigua for a photo shoot. I am pleased to say she is just as lovely in person as she is on the big screen. We lost track of her in San Juan where we had a 3 hours layover before flying to JFK. We arrived in JFK at about 5 pm, ready for our 5 hours layover before our next flight. Luckily, there was a great bar/restaurant where we were able to hang, and it was next to a sterling silver store where I purchased 2 rings. Finally, at about 10 pm, we boarded the final leg of our trip. We were so excited to be on our way home until the pilot announced that we had about an hour wait to get to the runway. We fell into our beds at home at about 1:30 am. Yes, we both had to go to work the next day.

The best part of the return? I caught someone's cold on the flight to JFK. I was so sick, I was unable to go to work on Tuesday. I am feeling much better now, but still have a bit of congestion. The travel was definitely hellish, but I think the trip was still worth it.