Journey to Fairhope - Leg 1

Hi! I am sitting in the Minneapolis Airport right now knowing you are already pining for my presence. LOL. I am very tired, but excited, after a very short night spent on my friend Evy’s couch! I was up at 4:15 am and I’m glad I got to the airport early, because I was able to snag emergency exit row seats for the next two legs of my flight….

I have already had a very interesting day….

The shuttle from the Westin downtown was full, but it drags a taxicab along with it, so I hopped in that with some ladies who were leaving a conference for Women’s Shelters that was held in Edmonton. I met a lady from Charleston, SC and another from San Franciso, CA. The taxi driver was from an African nation, and was not very perceptive……he asked the ladies if they learned how to “squeeze men more” at their conference. How embarrassing from an Edmontonian perspective. We picked up a young and obviously drinking young man as well, and then drive to the airport included hitting a curb, and some farting, and some other wonderful experiences. The lady from San Francisco, though, was a little pistol – she made the driver turn down the radio and garnered his respect shortly after his faux pas. At the airport, she said to me, “That was worse than some third world experiences….”. Think about that – a woman who runs a battered women’s shelter in San Francisco was saying how bad our experience was. Perspective. Mayor Mandel, clean it up if you want to be a world class city.

I arrived ½ hour before I could even check in at the airport! So, I chatted with a guy from Tyco, which was really interesting because a firm I worked for in Washington, D.C., (Dames & Moore) had a business relationship with Tyco (which was then EarthTech). That guy was a techie guru, and looked up several spots for me to visit in Fairhope from the Blackberry he was carrying. Very nice guy from Baton Rouge – beautiful accent.

I met another couple who was flying Northwest from Edmonton, to Minneapolis, to Toronto, because it was cheaper than flying Canadian airlines!!! Go figure.

And finally, this little old lady in a wheelchair and her attendant who were flying to New York to take a cruise. The lady was 87 years old, I believe, and planning on living a lot longer so she could take more trips!!! They had trouble with their travel agent, so I gave them my travel agent’s name…..always good to drum up more business for your travel agent. J

I have to say that when I arrived here in Minneapolis, I felt a little heart tug of home….more in terms of cleanliness of the facilities than anything else. I LOVE toilet seat covers!!! Really, I do!

But the perspective is way off – the mall here at the airport has hired a harpist to play in one of the aisles…..a piano playing some lovely classical music is playing on its own in another…..I feel like I have traveled to a land in the height of decadence in that regard. Interesting, for sure.

So, I may very well get bored in Memphis, too, and may e-mail you from there! Who knows what can happen….hopefully, I haven’t bored you with my e-mail!

See you soon!