Here we go...

Good Day Mates! Yes, I know that is Australian lingo, but oh well.  At the moment I am sitting on my flight from Miami to London.  I am just gonna recap the day for yall…

Today began my big adventure, I embarked on the journey to LONDON, ENGLAND with my bud, Katie Jones.  The day began at 6:30 with my alarm going off and duh I didn’t get up for another 30 minutes. However, when I turned on the Today Show, they were talking about London.  It was a sign…sigh!  I quickly got ready, chatted with the parental as they headed to work, then Katie and her dad picked me up to drive to ATL. (Theme song:  “Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play…”).  At the airport I was relieved to find my 2 suitcases were under 50 pounds each, one 45 and the other 47 to be exact.  Katie’s were 48 and 49.5…that was close! Then we grabbed lunch and hopped on our first plane to Miami.

On our first flight we sat by a very nice Floridian who was glad to be chatty with me.  He was a sweet old man from south Florida.  At one point in the flight I was watched the state dinner at Buckingham Palace with President Obama and Queen Elizabeth…sign two…sigh!  Bahh! I am going to LONDON!!! Can’t contain my excitement.  Oh so, we landed in Miami (theme song:  “Welcome to Miami, Bienvenidos a Miami…”) Once in the airport we noticed the board of flights did not have ours listed, odd right!? So we asked a Delta guy and immediately he said Gate D10…we were impressive, except when we got to the gate he must have known since we were the only delayed flight in the terminal. Yikes!! My first thought was geez that dang Ash Cloud from the volcano in Iceland is interfering, but no it was just a mechanical issue that would only delay our flight for 3 hours. 

So as we sat around trying to figure out what to do next, we sat by this sweet couple from Athens, GA (Fran and Emory).  Emory was a retired history professor from UGA.  They were quite chatty, but such an interesting pair who seem quite cultured.  Then another couple came to chat with us, Don and Katie also from GA…I never really caught where. Don works at the VA dealing with homeless and drug addicted veterans and Katie is a preschool teacher.  Don was originally from AL and graduated from University of AL and at one point lived in Birmingham, so obviously the four of us became buds!  About that time a Delta representative started handing out $25 gift cards to help while we were stranded.  So after meeting our new friends, Katie J and set out to eat dinner with Don and Katie Farris at a rando restaurant in the Miami airport.  Carlos our waiter was a confused man because he was definitely Cuban in an American airport, yet kept using French terms like Bon Appetite!  Hil-arious? Yes!

During dinner Katie J and I learned about Katie and Don lives' and their family.  They were headed to England to see their oldest son graduate from University at Oxford.  He was a Rhodes Scholar which is one the most prestigious scholarships/honors EVER!  Impressive right? Also he is about to go to Harvard Law while his wife is in her medical residency at a hospital in Boston.  Then there other son was in Atlanta still and they were sad it didn’t work out for him to join them on this trip, but that is life.  They had traveled all over the UK years ago and were telling us highlights of places we needed to check out when we are using our BritRail pass (any train we want in the UK!). 

 Dinner in Miami Airport with Don and Katie Farris

After dinner, Katie J talked on her phone and I sat with our new buds…all 4 of them.  Fran helped me pick out a book at a store.   I got “The Help” which I am pretty sure Julia recommended? Or maybe Kristin?  I can’t wait to read it!  Then we just sat around and chatted.  Fran and Emory are just going to London for a fun trip.  They are probably in their late 60s/early 70s and seem to just travel and visit their children and grandchildren who live in Sewannee, TN (WOOP WOOP) and Seattle, WA.  Then Don was trying to recruit me to work at the VA…ha! Who knows where I will end up, but he sure made it sound good! I could totally do a Monday-Friday 8-4 job with 10 paid national holidays.  Katie Farris then joked that I should marry their 23 year old son Jason…I could work and he could stay home with the kids since he doesn’t know what to do with his life yet.  Hahaha! Everyone keeps trying to marry me off, but I am ok with that! 

Then about an hour and a half later it was time to board.  Finally!  So  now I am typing this as we sail through the air over the Atlantic Ocean.  My next move is to watch a movie, maybe Harry Potter 7 part one to get in the British spirit, which let’s be honest I am already in.  So on that note, I am gonna peace out.  Cheers Ya’ll!! (that is my Southerner-British combo!)