After a long absence trying to survive a pandemic, we are finally feeling comfortable enough to step outside of our house. If you believe public health officials (and I do) and we are not careful, we might be in for more trouble very soon. With that in mind, Patrice and I have set out on a trip. What could be more appropriate than a trip devoted to Baseball, BBQ, and Blogging?
As loyal readers of this blog, you are aware, Patrice and I are certified “Memphis in May” BBQ judges. My mouth is watering just thinking of the days we have spent judging. During our time judging, we heard many people talk about the Kansas City BBQ Society as being the only true competitor to Memphis as the king of BBQ (Texas people please settle down, you’ll get your turn).
In addition to our search for the supreme BBQ experience, we are also attempting to visit every Major League Baseball stadium. On this trip, we will be able to add one more, Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals.
Our flight on day 1 already produced some excitement. Our flight took us through Dallas on our voyage to KC. Upon check-in, we were told our flight from LA was delayed an hour which would leave us only 20 minutes to catch our next flight. Worrier Robert already started to obsess but we soon learned that the second leg of our trip was also delayed so we knew we’d be okay.
Our flight from LAX started out uneventful except we did have a flight attendant of note. Do you have a vision of a curvaceous young thing with a beautiful smile? Well, enjoy yourself but that’s not what I’m about to describe. Our flight attendant was Dave and he had to be close to 70 years old. I watched him move the food cart up and down the aisle at a snail’s pace. He would offer travelers some pretzels and then get their drink orders. I thought we would be in Dallas by the time he got to us and we were sitting in the 9th row. When he offered Patrice a blue bag of pretzels she asked if he had anything else. Dave lumbered back to the cart and on his return, he said “I can offer you a red bag of pretzels?”. I chuckled and then he asked for my order. I asked for club soda. Dave said he had Canada Dry Club Soda. Personally, I can’t tell one club soda from another so I gladly agreed to his suggestion. Dave returned, handed me a glass and the can of soda, and cheerfully said, “I shook the can real good so it should be very fresh”. I had found my clone.
We received an announcement from the pilot telling us due to weather we were in a holding pattern for 45 minutes (note to self: avoid DFW in the future). So I used this delay as an opportunity to talk some more to my new friend. It turns out this is a second career for Dave. He previously worked as an attorney and was credentialed to present a case to the US Supreme Court. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to present the case because it was sent back down to the lower court (where the case was decided in his favor). It was time to get back to my seat and let Dave do his job. Before I left a woman approached Dave and said “I have a question”. Dave quickly answered before she could speak another word and he said “Should you kiss on the first date? Definitely!” You gotta love this guy. What else can I say except I was wrong, he isn’t almost 70, he is 80.
Enough fun on the plane. We finally arrived at DFW to find out our flight to KC was canceled and we get to spend the night in Dallas. Our luggage is spending the night somewhere at the airport. They offered to find it but would only promise that the bags would arrive sometime between 4 and 8 hours. We will rough it with what we have.
Please see me and my new pal, Dave.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 