February 8th-9th

WEDNESDAY - TRAVEL DAY

Columbus > Miami

So I booked a morning flight so I could spend the afternoon at the pool soaking up some much needed rays.

Woke up to "white death 2012".  It's a joke amongst my friends.  When it snows in Columbus, the news media tends to go a little overboard.  We havent really had snow this winter, so they were itchin' for a snow storm.  This one happened to hit at rush hour, so it was gold!

I gave myself about 50 minutes to get to the airport, instead of my usual 13 minutes.  It was indeed rush hour and for whatever reason, when it rains or snows, people flip out and forget how to drive.

Sure enough, 670E was all backed up, so I made a game time decision and switched lanes to 70E and planned on hitting 71N and then picking up 670E on the other side of downtown.  It's a few extra miles, but I figured it was worth it.  It was a little backed up, but that's normal.  

I got to the airport around 65 minutes prior to departure.  I'm golden.  I spent 15 minutes looking for a spot in the parking garage.  WTF?  Since I was running out of time and needed to check a bag, I decided to exit the garage and valet.

I have this swiper card for the airport.  My parking gets direct billed to my credit card.  This way I never have to worry about losing the ticket OR wait in line to pay.  The payment is automatic and the receipt is emailed.  

ANYWAY when I was leaving the garage to head to valet, as I pulled into the "AVI" exit lane, I quickly realize that my antilock brakes have locked and I am skidding towards the gate.  It was one of those slow motion moments, didnt even have time to verbalize the curse words I was thinking.  In my left hand was the card and I was holding it up and the gate wasnt moving and I wasnt stopping and then out of no where, just as the gate was centimeters from my windshield, it went up.  Thank you Jesus!!  Breaking that gate would of definitely caused me to miss my flight.

So I race around to the valet.  I am looking at about 9 minutes until Delta stops accepting luggage.  The valet dude comes running over - "How are you ma'am?"  "Well I would be a lot better if I didnt just spend 15 minutes looking for a spot in the garage.  There arent any!"  "Well ma'am did you know that the green lot has lots of spots and is much cheaper than valet"  "I don't have time.  I park in the garage or I valet."  "Well, when are you getting back?"  "Monday"  

"Wow, that's gonna cost a lot to valet, are you sure you don't want to try the green lot?"  "I dont have time!"

He would not stop talking OR get out of my way.  I practically had to push him aside so I could gather my stuff.  And breaking news mr. valet...  if you continue to encourage people to park in the green lot, you arent going to have a job for very long!

I ran to the Delta counter and got my back checked in the nick of time!

Boarded and of course we were delayed because we needed to de-ice.

I fell asleep before take off.

I woke up on the "initial decent" - looked at my watch and realized we were going to be late.  By like at least 20 minutes.  Considering I had a 41 minute connection time, I was screwed.

Typical...  the gate agent had issues driving the jet bridge and we waited an eternity to deplane.

I had to go 24 gates, which considering Atlanta; was not bad.  I didnt have to change concourses.  If I had, there wasnt a chance in hell.  But still, it's a haul.  I had about 11 minutes before the flight closed.  But sometimes you will get that surly gate agent who closes the flight early - so I didnt want to take a chance.  So I got my "OJ on".

I made it ....  I was close to a heart attack by the time I sat down.

Then I started to worry about my luggage.  So I decided to track it on my handy dandy Delta ap.  This is when I realized, I no longer had my bag tag claim ticket.  It must of gotten lost in the hustle and bustle of going thru security.

Oh serenity now! If this bag doesnt make it, I will NEVER see it again.  Considering I am going to MIA, which is the worst airport in the world.

And yes, I know better.  You NEVER fly into MIA...  you ALWAYS go to Ft Lauderdale, but I made a rookie move and went with MIA.

As we were making our approach, I realized that the afternoon of sunshine at the pool wasnt happening.  The skies were completely overcast and hazy.  There was not a chance in hell the sun was going to break thru.

Nicole is cranky.

Made my way to baggage claim, with low expecations.

Holy crap it was there!!

YAH!!!

Do you believe in miracles?!

Then I made the 1.5 mile walk to the "MIA MOVER" train that takes you to the new rental car facility.  By the time you walk that far and then take that train, it's pretty much where the cars use to be.  You have basically travelled to Cuba.

There were Mustang convertibles...  I passed.  There was no need.  I was in a terrible mood about the weather at this point.

Another "positive" of MIA is the fact that you are underground and the surrounded by cement structures as you are leaving..  so your GPS can't find a satellite.  So I just picked a road and of course it ended up being wrong.  The 7 mile drive to the hotel took 40 mins.  God I love Miami!

Since there was no rush to check in to the lovely Holiday Inn Coral Gables, I stopped at a deli near the hotel.  It was just as yum as I remembered!

Stopped at Publix for some other essentials and then checked in.

Used my "I have a prescription that needs to be refrigerated, so would it be possible to get a room with a fridge?"  

If you ask for a fridge, there is usually a $15 charge (sometimes more).  But when it's a medical necessity, they have to oblige and do so for free.  And thanks to privacy laws, they can't ask for proof.  If they dont have one, or dont want to cooperate, they can tell you they will store it in their fridge, that's when I tell them I will just keep it in my cooler bag and keep adding ice.

So I scored a room with a fridge and a microwave (even though I didnt need that).

Perfect for the other half of my samich, the hummus I bought at Publix AND the bottle of wine.

I spent the next few hours catching up on email and such.

I planned on eating the rest of my samich for dinner but my friend Josh ended up texting me.  So I went out with him for dinner.  We went to Sports Grill.  It was like a local version of a Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was good and a nice walk.

Came back, worked on booking some travel for upcoming events and then read my new book until a little after midnight.

FRIDAY - GAME DAY

Virginia Tech vs Miami

It's easiest to just walk to the arena.  However, it was drizzling.  We still did it though.  

The day was pretty uneventful.  

For dinner, we walked in the rain to Titanic Brewery.

I had been there before.  It's your average bar food.

Game went well and was QUICK!  It was just under 1 hour 40 minutes.