Getting There

The absolute worst part of traveling is travel. Many times a good portion of the trip is getting to and fro, especially on a short jaunt. In the span of three days I visited several cities. Originating in Chicago I went to Miami, Key West, the cities between Key West and Marathon, Fort Lauderdale and Philadelphia. The most I’ve traveled in years. I am not complaining, many people do it all the time.

I have to admit overall my flight experiences were fairly uneventful. I worried about the layovers. But quickly discovered they weren’t that long and in one case not long enough. After I arrived in Miami from Chicago I had to move quickly to make my connecting flight (always as far as possible).

The gate I needed seemed to be missing. I overlooked it twice and went in a huge circle. I heard “This is the final call for passenger Torres.” It turns out the sign was hand lettered on a piece of cardboard by a set of stairs, which I had to descend. The sign did not indicate there were also letters associated with the gate number, A-E. Since the gate was not printed on my ticket I had to locate someone who was not busy with the teaming humanity in the cramped space. Fortunately I didn’t miss the shuttle that took me to the plane.

When planning the trip I found a flight that went directly to Key West International Airport rather than Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Since I was traveling alone I figured that would be the more cost effective bet and it would be easier to get to my final destination in Marathon. Well the airport is rather small. Though there are many taxis available there weren’t many options to get to the resort in Marathon. The taxis charged $150 for travel to Marathon. And they are cash only. Greyhound offered service to the major airports a couple of times a day. It was late morning and the next one didn’t leave until evening.

A helpful Greyhound employee and sheriff let me know that there is local bus service that goes to Marathon. Of course the bus didn’t come to the airport, which would be helpful to all of the travelers with destinations in other parts of the Keys. The close bus stops were the Publix Grocery Store and Sears. I opted to take a taxi to the grocery store so I could get a reasonably priced cold beverage. Unfortunately the stop was a standing only deal. So I used the time to update anxious relatives.

The ride was approximately an hour, a straight shot over the Overseas Highway. The bus let me off directly across the street from Tranquility Bay Resort for a flat rate of $3, talking about cost effective

Airplane Confessions

I don’t like flying, but will do it in the interest of getting there faster. Looking down into the fluffy white clouds, knowing the earth is thousands of feet below, I can’t help but contemplate my mortality. Let’s face it even my morality. It is easy to be cynical and maudlin on terra firma not so much in the air in what amounts to a bus in the sky. I pray for more opportunities to continue to parent my children and grow old with the first and only love of my youth.

I feel that obnoxious itchy-popping-under-water ear sensation. I contemplate the narrow cabin and seats. I curse the extra cushion that has managed to creep back from two months of unemployment and a general feeling of malaise.

I wonder about my future. Am I destined to be tethered to the mundane concerns of the day to day, surrounded only by the familiar of my own creation? Then I just wonder. Why did I buy that overpriced tasteless airport coffee? Whoever farted needs to become friends with “Colonix.”

This trip didn’t seem like it was going to happen but I am on my way. So I lean back in my seat and wait for what lies ahead.

Tropical Plans

I am in hell. I am planning, last minute, a trip to Florida. This seems like it would be an awesome thing and it is! My beautiful younger cousin is getting married. I am excited to go but stressed to piece together a trip with bubble gum, bits of string, and prayer. In other words I am navigating inadequate reward miles, fares, last minute deals, and search engines that compare the same darn travel sites. Not to mention the fares that change by the hour. Sigh.

Like many Americans we have had to tighten our belts in the past couple of years. Trips really haven’t been in the budget. Not even the frequent, almost biblical, sojourns to our hometown. Not being a frequent traveler hasn’t worked to my advantage either. A wiser person would have squirreled away the errant dollar for this highly anticipated event. Well that wouldn’t be me. Procrastination, sadly, is where my true expertise lies. However, it is inseparable from my disarming honesty and adds to my charm.

My dream trip would involve Esther like preparation, months of pampering, fasting, and praying. And I would have found an exquisite outfit already (which of course would include all accessories). So here I am blogging and working out my dilemma, with Maury as background. And two days away from the first leg of my trip. It would be funny if I wasn’t such a spaz. I am going to make this work for my cousin and for the fabulous view!  Picture courtesy of http://www.tranquilitybay.com/.

I am picturing myself in one of those Adirondack chairs. Serenity NOW!

Lincoln Park Zoo

It is so easy for one lazy summer day to morph into the next until they all become indistinguishable. So every year my children and I create a list of the activities they would like to participate in. We may not get to all of them but we try to make a decent dent in the list. We made the list early this year, to accommodate Spring Break. And unlikely as it was the weather this year was quite cooperative. Intending to surprise my brood with a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo, let my husband know of my intention, he wasn’t exactly thrilled.

My dear husband is overprotective. This is part of the reason Chicago remains a mystery after an almost 8 year residence. For some reason he believes that I have zero street smarts, even though I was raised in the wild wild city of Cleveland (translation Eastern Suburbs). However, I am no stranger to urban situations. I began making regular unsupervised sojourns into the interior of Cleveland at a fairly early age. Of course this is when it was still possible to ride RTA buses with endless transfers. Meanwhile my sweetie was languishing in a small town, west of Cleveland. Many of whose natives are afraid to venture past the town limits, believing Cleveland is a dangerous and exotic destination.

So it is with my inherent sense of adventure I set off, snacks packed, change in place (I don’t go on the expressway often enough for an I-PASS), car full of gas, two sets of directions, and three curious children belted in. Because of my horribly late start I had the pleasure of sitting in traffic for over two hours, combination expressway and narrow city streets. This is for a destination that is less than 32 miles away. A perfect example of why we are reluctant to leave our bedroom community. Chicago traffic is the pits! We do not time destinations based on mileage because that has very little to do with how long it takes to get where you are going.

Friends and family visiting from Ohio do not understand this, until they get here. It isn’t uncommon to get calls like this “We will have a layover in O’Hare. Come and visit us.” Um …NO. Or “I am here on business why don’t you meet me at 6p.m. on Tuesday? I am staying on Michigan Avenue.” NOT.

Meanwhile we are in the car. The children are asking the proverbial and cliched question “Are we there yet?” They also wanted to know where they were going. Remember this was a surprise. For three reasons: 1) Though the zoo was on their list kids can be contrary. “Mom we don’t want to go there today, maybe tomorrow.” 2) I wanted to leave myself wiggle room in case I got to the expressway and it was too crowded. Nickel City, in Northbrook, would not have been a bad trade off. What they don’t know… 3) Because there is no true expectation once they get there everyone is happy! And it worked!

Lincoln Park Zoo is free to the public aside from the cost of parking. Lake Michigan makes a beautiful backdrop from certain areas of the Zoo. We stopped at the information desk and got maps. I let the children direct the tour, keeping it as linear as possible. Unfortunately, some of the animals weren’t out because it was so early in spring. As disappointing as that was there was still plenty to see.

The lions were a definite highlight for us. But as you can see in the picture the male lion wasn’t as happy as we were. As a matter of fact he kept his back to us. Certainly a sign of disrespect, clearly mere humans gawking at him was not his idea of entertainment.

The enormous male gorilla, in the primate house, was actually on the floor level of the enclosure. However, he had his back to us also. The less intelligent humans, adults by the way, decided that they were going to stand there and hit the window until he turned around. He was not impressed. I couldn’t help thinking about King Kong. Fortunately he didn’t take the bait and demonstrate exactly how strong the glass was or wasn’t.

When we first got there the tiger was deep in the waterless moat in the outside enclosure. It seemed like it would have been a short leap to where the visitors stood. The picture shows that it is a much further distance. Still one would have to question is it far enough? Especially in light of the mauling at the San Francisco Zoo. 

On the way out we stopped once more at the tiger exhibit. There is an outside glass viewing area. The tiger was pacing on the ledge on his side of the glass. There was a crowd of people. One man thought it was a good idea to slap the glass and scream every time the tiger walked directly in front of him and his young son. The tiger was simply massive. His head was about half the length of my 5'4 son.
This was a good time to point out to my already horrified children how important it is not to antagonize animals, wild, or domestic.

Beyond the antics of the human “animals,” it was a great time. There were reptiles, bats, bugs, birds, and more, with the requisite lions and tigers and bears. My children got a chance to apply some of the things they learned in school. We had an awesome time discussing their thoughts and observations. It was the perfect day trip and they were perfectly tired. And I lived to “Mom” another day.