Escalators

 

There sure were a lot of these at Atlanta International Airport.

Buckle Up

 

Fortunately, the crew didn’t have to buckle up. Pretty smooth ride, this despite my having to drive through rain and even a rainbow (!) to get to the airport.

Boeing 757-200HD

 

My ride from Norfolk to Atlanta was a Boeing 757-200HD.

Layout

There is a logic to how airports are laid out, I'm sure. But I have yet to entirely understand it, despite having taught logic to undergraduate students. Hmm. For instance, why this HUGE space dedicated to eateries with a little sculpture something-or-other in the middle? The only advantage I can see is that I certainly got my steps in before the flight. Not nearly as many as I got by walking from my plane to my rental car in Atlanta, but a decent number nonetheless. Or maybe the persons responsible were thinking about future expansion. In any case, it's confusing. So maybe I should have consulted this terminal map BEFORE I arrived? 

 

Flight Crew

 

This photo taken at Norfolk International Airport actually later proved helpful as I was trying to remember where I parked my car, although my original interest was in the flight crew evidently heading off either for a well deserved rest or else heading home.

Packing

 

Spent the better part of yesterday packing for a . . .

lightning-quick flight (Oops! Maybe an unlucky turn of phrase that.) to Georgia today . . .

to attend a coat-and-tie affair on Wednesday.

Always tricky, given that I never travel with anything more than a carryon and maybe, occasionally, a camera bag. Still haven't quite decided about the latter. Just one more complication as I pass through airport security. Still, I might give it a whirl. 

Steamed Milk

 

THE major discovery during my trip--steamed milk in my morning oatmeal at the Tandem Bagel Company. Why, oh why, did it take me so long to discover this fantastic new dimension to my morning ritual?! My great thanks to the manager on duty at Tandem for instructing me on how to do this at home!

Beds

 

Are you curious about housekeeping details? I am. So when I checked in to my hotel in Massachusetts, one of the first things I did was to see how the bed was made. No fitted sheets here. Just one sheet spread on top of another with a cover nicely tucked. 

One thing I'm always very careful about are feather pillows. Nope! Can't have any. Badly allergic. The hotel here likes to include two feather pillows with two synthetic. But within five minutes of my arrival, the switch to all synthetic occurred. Thankful for that. 

Residence Inn

 

Created to provide accommodations for more long-term stays, this Residence Inn in East Windsor nonetheless served my needs. Arrived late, of course, due to terrible traffic farther south. But what a relief to get off the road even for a short stay overnight. The complimentary breakfast was a selling point. So many places abandoned that idea, I think, during and after Covid. 

Plan C

Time to play catch up, I suppose. Since last I posted, I was aboard a plane scheduled to fly from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was later scheduled to catch another plane to Hartford, Connecticut. But . . . the plane's brakes "broke", so passengers were forced to look for alternatives. Plan B, according to American Airlines, was to fly me to National Airport in Washington, D.C., later in the afternoon, to be followed by a late night flight leaving Washington at around 10:30 p.m. and not arriving in Hartford until midnight.

No thank you! I wasn't about to spend my Fourth of July holiday sitting around in airports waiting and just hoping that all my connections worked out. So, after speaking personally to the pilot on my original flight--no kidding, he and I had a tête-á-tête of sorts--I opted simply to cancel all my flights, rent a car, and drive to New Jersey. 

Broken!

Ha! No go. Brakes broken. And rebooking would mean spending a whole day meeting connecting flights and long layovers, so I cancelled all these and rented a car instead. Long road trip, but at least I was on my way, if you know what I mean, even with all the traffic in Washington and Baltimore.

RIC

RIC yesterday on what was reportedly the busiest day for flying this year in the United States.

Apple

Well, I'm off to see the wizard this morning. Actually, just flying to Massachusetts on what some experts predict will be the busiest flying day in the United States this years. Oh, joy! We'll see. There's also a heat dome settling over the eastern United States that should make things even a little more interesting.

So with all that being said, I think I'll share with you this little hopeful scene from yet another garden in Williamsburg.

Wingin' It

Over the North Atlantic

Over Frankford, New Jersey

Breeze Airways

 

This was my first experience flying Breeze Airways. I booked it primarily because it offered a direct flight from Hartford, Connecticut to Richmond, Virginia, and most definitely not because I would have to get up at 3:30 a.m. in order to get to Bradley International Airport in time for the 7 a.m. departure. 

Would I fly Breeze again? Definitely. Even if I had to get up again at 3:30 a.m., mostly because of my prevous experiences with connecting flights. Like the flights from Richmond to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to Hartford. No complimentary snacks, but there was plenty of room for my carry-on bag and briefcase. 

Naumkaeg

 

According to Wikipedia, "Naumkeag is the former country estate of noted New York City lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate and Caroline Dutcher Sterling Choate, located at 5 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The estate's centerpiece is a 44-room, Shingle Style country house designed principally by Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White, and constructed in 1885 and 1886." I stopped by for a visit shortly after attending the BSO's rehearsal at Tanglewood.

Tanglewood

Spent a lovely several hours in the Berkshires attending one of the Boston Symphony Orchestra's (BS0) rehearsals at Tanglewood. Recorded just a snippet of Yefim Bronfman "practicing" Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 with the BSO while lounging on the lawn in the shade of a tree and snacking on crackers and cheese.

Bridge

I've photographed this bridge many times over the past few years. The last time was last year on the Fourth of July. It's become something of a go-to destination every time I visit this region.

According to Wikipedia, the "Norwottuck Rail Trail Bridge is an eight-span steel lattice truss bridge. It crosses Elwell Island in the middle of the river, providing no access to the island in an attempt to keep the island otherwise untouched. Riding over the bridge shows eight spans, with two of them over Elwell Island. It was built by the R. F. Hawkins Ironworks Company. The bridge was redesigned by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. of Watertown, rebuilt by MassHighway, and opened in 1992 to bicycle and foot traffic as part of the Norwottuck Rail Trail."

View of the Connecticut River and Elwell Island

Fly or Drive

Honestly, I debated long and hard about whether to fly or drive to Massachusetts this year. I drove last year after several years of flying. What finally convinced me to fly again this year was the convenience. I REALLY like to hike every day, up to five miles or more a day. But driving to Massachusetts almost certainly meant spending more time in the car rather than on the trail. The cost, I figured, was about the same. What's more, by flying, I was able to fly AND hike in the same day, even with the unexpected delay this time in getting out of Richmond. On this particular trip, I was able to hike again one of my very favorite sections of the Norwottuck Rail Trail (above).

Close Call!

It was a really close call. My plane landed in Philly shortly after 11:30am. I thought the gate where my next plane was waiting was right next door. Nope! Turned out it was on the far side of the adjacent terminal. Oh jeez! 

So I basically power walked to the next gate and arrived just in time to find that all the other passengers already boarded and the plane on the tarmac primed for flight. Sheesh! 

Still, I made it. Moments later, as soon as I was safely settled into my seat, we were barreling down the runway on our way to Hartford, Connecticut.

Flying over Freehold, New Jersey. That's the Atlantic in the background.