Deep South Road Trip #1

Tuesday 10th April

And so began our long journey.  I treated us to one of the airport lounges so we could start in style.  We boarded the plane without issue and were all set for a slightly early take off until they realised there was some luggage still to come.  While waiting for that luggage BA realised there was a fault with the entertainment system and decided to try to fix that too.  90 minutes later (and 90 minutes late) we finally took off.  This was not good news as our connection in Miami was already tight and I had been made aware they we would have to clear immigration, collect our bags and re-check them in.

Still, given as they had taken the time to fix it I watched three movies (Darkest Hour, The Death Of Stalin, How To Marry A Millionaire) and some TV (I always seem to end up watching Family Guy on a plane!).  There was a lot of turbulence coming into Miami.  When we landed we found our flight to New Orleans was delayed and we were given our boarding passes in bright orange “Express Connection” envelopes which we hoped would help us through.  They were useless.  Queue at immigration wasn’t ridiculous but took a good 30 minutes.  Bags were collected quickly.  But Miami airport is very confusing with signs that seem to stop before you get where you’re trying to go.  After a few missteps we found the bag check in with 25 minutes to go and knew we wouldn’t make it.  No matter, another flight in an  hour.  60 minutes later, we get to the front of the queue.  There had been nothing in place to help those on connecting flights.  We were checked into the flight knowing we might not make it through security in time.  As it turns out we were 5 minutes late and now stuck in Miami without any luggage.

Another long American Airlines queue to find out that the two early flights to New Orleans were fully booked and we were checked into the 8pm flight.  The BA desks were now closed and the AA people couldn’t help with compensation but they did book us into a Doubletree which had a shuttle bus.  We would have to pay for everything and claim it back.

Wednesday 11th April

I woke the next morning with a few “coulda woulda shoulda”s (maybe we shouldn’t have tried to make that last flight.  Maybe we should have asked everyone in every queue if we could jump) but finally resolved that instead of spending another day at Miami airport we should see some of the city (or at least the beach!).  Mia had the same thoughts so we showered, put our dirty clothes back on and headed back to the airport.

We had wanted to speak to someone at BA first but the desk didn’t open until midday so we decided instead of wasting any more time we’d leave it.  We took a shuttle into Miami which took about 30 minutes then walked down to the beach.  It was now approaching lunchtime – I had had breakfast but Mia hadn’t.  We quickly popped into a shop to get me a dress and Mia some flip flops then chose one of the Ocean Drive tourist traps.  2 for 1 cocktails.  I’m sure I asked for a regular (at $35!!!) but these were humongous (and pretty strong!  When the bill came it turned out these were $55!!!!!). We both had seafood and fries but basically spent the rest of the afternoon trying to finish our bowls of cocktails.  We didn’t drink enough for them to pull a fast one when they tried to charge us for both cocktails but did leave hoping BA would be feeling generous with their compensation…

We decided not to return to the beach but to wander up Washington Avenue.  We did a couple of tourist shops and stopped for a sobering tea and coffee before catching the bus back to the airport.  We finally had a chance to speak to someone from BA who gave us a generous $72 of meal vouchers.  Immediately back through security – we had plenty of time but were determined not to miss this flight!  After a couple of places refusing to take BA vouchers (I was really starting to hate both this airport and the lack of cohesion between the codeshare airlines) we found a very nice restaurant to spend them.  We were just about sobering up at the point – just as well given one of us would have to drive tonight!

I dozed on the 2 ½ hour flight but got some great night time views of Miami as we departed.  I had been very nervous about whether our luggage made it but it appeared they held it back and it was put on the plane with us – soooo happy to see it!  We picked up the hire car, paying extra for a Sat Nav (we did bring some maps but for in town driving I find it essential).  The car was so new, shiny and like a spaceship it took me ages to work out just how to start it!  It’s incredibly comfortable but the Sat Nav is not very easy to use and we arrived at completely the wrong house at first!

When we did arrive at Creole Cottage we were met by Robert.  An insanely chatty man who insisted on providing stories at a ratio of around 3 per useful piece of information.  We finally managed to walk away with the keys.  It was nearly midnight and all we were bothered about was sleep.  We set up the sofa bed, I gingerly got my suitcase up the spiral stairs and we crashed.