Patrice and I headed to New York today in order to celebrate her ??? birthday. Her actual birthday was yesterday. So if you forgot to call or message her forget it, it’s too late, and you are on her no fly zone list. Don’t worry she got congratulatory messages from her credit card company and insurance agent.
As a special birthday gift we both get rewarded by flying when the government has been shut down resulting in TSA agents and Air Traffic Controllers working without pay.
We had a pleasant ride to LAX. Our taxi arrived on time and we seemed to have a great driver. Apparently there is an app that he uses that critiques his driving. A couple of times we heard this mysterious voice announce, “Rolling stop detected”. Wow, glad I don’t have one of those in my car. I can just imagine what it might be telling me: “You might want to drive a little slower” or “Is your turning signal broken?”.
Boarding was uneventful as was the flight. Unfortunately the ride from JFK to our hotel was less than ideal. A crash on the highway slowed our voyage. But it wasn’t a total loss because we learned some interesting phrases from our cab driver. At one point I checked Google maps and it said we were 1.1 miles from the hotel but the estimated arrival was 24 minutes.
Don’t these people know it is my wife’s birthday and we need to get to the city?
After checking in at the hotel we got a quick bite to eat and then tried to get tickets to a Broadway show. With travel being so unpredictable we didn’t want to buy tickets in advance, in case our flight got canceled. So we tried to get rush tickets at a variety of shows. We failed at 3 locations and finally were successful at getting the last 2 tickets for the show “Chess”. We heard a lukewarm review from one of Patrice’s friends but we thought what the heck, what else do we have to do? The show is a fictitious story about a chess match between an American and a Russian that supposedly happened in 1979. All I can say is that we won’t be asking Patrice’s friend for show recommendations. We loved the show even though we got the last 2 seats and had to sit on opposite sides of the theater (Patrice here, that was the best part).
The set of “Chess” before the show began.
After the show we decided to stop by for some late night gelato at a store next to the hotel. We arrived there at about 11:15 pm and saw about 50 people on line. We decided that we didn’t need gelato that much and came back to the room so I could write the blog.
People on line for gelato at 11:15 pm.
Great first day of our birthday celebration. More fun planned for tomorrow.
One thing I can always count on for our trips is that Patrice will find something interesting to do. They don’t always work out but usually they do. For example last night she found “Taste of Minnesota”. Although we didn’t spend a lot of time there it was interesting. She also found a show for us to see at the Guthrie theater.
The theater is named after Sir William Tyrone Guthrie who was an Irish director who as evidenced by his knighthood was quite accomplished. Apparently in 1959 he took out an ad in the drama section of the New York Times looking for a community interested in developing a residence theater. He was contacted by the people of Minneapolis and in 1963 the theater was completed. Guthrie worked as the art director for a number of years. He died in 1969 but the theater and his legacy live on.
Last night we saw “The Little Shop of Horrors” at the Guthrie. We got great seats for the very modest price of $36. The production was excellent and best of all Charlie had a good time. The theater was walking distance from our hotel so we got a chance work off some of the calories from our dinner at Murray’s.
Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Breakfast this morning was at the Hen House Eatery (114 S 8th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402). The place came recommended by the same friend who recommended Murray’s. Breakfast was great. We had an apple cinnamon roll as a starter. I also had oatmeal to pretend I was being healthy.
Apple Cinnamon roll. It was even better than it looks.
Enough about food, today was about baseball. We were fortunate to see the Astros play the Twins at Target Field today. Everything went smoothly, the seats were perfect, and it was a great game. Unfortunately the Twins won with a walk off home run. At least the majority of the fans left the stadium happy even if we didn’t. Actually Patrice was happy. She got a lot of reading done and the game didn’t go extra innings.
Our trio getting ready to enjoy some baseball.
I mentioned yesterday that today was going to be a happy and sad day. The sad part is that we had to say goodbye to Charlie. We took him to the airport to fly home because tomorrow he starts baseball camp.
Delta would not let both of us go to the gate with him. Just wait until Delta’s public relations department realizes that Robert Reiss posted on his travel blog that he hates Delta. I’m sure some heads will roll. Sorry if you think I have become a power monger since my blog has become so popular. Yes, the power of being an “influencer” has gone to my head.
The only thing more annoying than Delta is TSA. They insisted that I take off my sandals and go through the scanner barefooted. To add to the absurdity in 55 days when I turn 75 I will no longer have to remove my shoes to go through security. America, do you feel safer now? Remember I am the guy who in addition to wanting to go through the scanner while wearing his sandals is the same person who tried to smuggle an unopened box of toothpaste through the airport security in Pellston, Michigan. Should they put me on the “No-Fly” list?
Although saying goodbye was a sad moment we did get to go back to our hotel room and use that gorgeous bed for something other than sleeping. As you know 70 is the new 50 and we are both physically active so we looked forward to the alone time so we could…… you know. See below.
Use our devices of course.
Patrice and I return home tomorrow. I’ll have my usual final post of the trip with interesting photos we have collected.
Loyal followers of this blog will recall that last year we took our grandson, Charlie, on a baseball trip. We previously took his older brother, Owen, on trips to Canada and Panama. Last year was Charlie’s first excursion with us and because he is a big baseball fan we invited him to join us on our quest to see all 30 MLB parks. Last year we visited Dallas, Texas and saw the Astros beat the Rangers in a very exciting game. My most vivid memory from that game was the 3 women sitting in front of us who drove from Houston to see their Astros. They went bananas when Jose Altuve hit a crucial home run late in the game. They stood up and sang “Jose, Jose, Jose” to the music of Ricky Martin’s hit “Ole, Ole, Ole”. Even more exciting than that was seeing Astros manager Dusty Baker in the hotel lobby. Charlie got to chat with the skipper and get a baseball signed.
From there we traveled to Chicago and saw the Blue Jays beat the White Sox. The Cubs were out of town so we had to be satisfied with a tour of Wrigley Field.
This trip we will see the Blue Jays again but this time it will at Rogers Centre, their home park in Toronto.
Since we will be leaving the country we made very sure that Charlie had his passport. I realized that for Canadian travel you can use your passport card instead of a regular passport (see below).
Example of a Passport Card complements of our friends at Wikipedia.
I didn’t want to have the hassle of carting around the regular passport so I just brought the card. Patrice stupidly brought both saying “Just in case”. Well one of us was indeed stupid, and it wasn’t Patrice. When we went to check it we were told that the passport card is only valid for entrance by land and sea, not by air.
I immediately dropped everything and headed home in panic mode to get my passport repeatedly saying to myself “I am an idiot, I am an idiot.” Good thing Patrice wasn’t with me because she’d would have been saying “Yes, you certainly are, you certainly are!” No, she wouldn’t say that, she’d yell it.
If you’re not familiar with LAX the American Airlines terminal could not be located further away from the place where you pick up cabs (an area named LAX-it). So I took off running keeping my eyes open for a taxi dropping off a fare nearby. Initially I saw a car that had some sort of transport lettering on the side but the driver said he wasn’t a taxi. I next saw a couple getting out of a car; I asked if it was an Uber but they said no. I started to run again. Then I saw someone getting out of a Tesla. I asked if it was an Uber and they say YES! I was in business. I knocked on the passenger side window and opened the door asking if he was an Uber driver to which he said “No!” I asked again in disbelief to which he again said no but this time he added, “I’m a Lyft driver”. I hopped in, told the driver my situation and begged him to take me home and return to LAX for a cash payment (not a time to mess with the Lyft app). He agreed and we were off. Traffic wasn’t bad going home. He kept obsessing about putting my address into his gps and I just wanted him to drive as quickly and as safely as possible.
Luckily I was able to shut off the alarm and open the garage door when we were approaching our place. I grabbed the passport and rushed back to the Uber, (I mean Lyft), resetting the house alarm from the car. The trip back wasn’t as easy. Traffic wasn’t horrible but it was definitely heavier than my first ride to LAX this morning. When we arrived at LAX, cars were at a standstill and I received a message from Patrice saying that they cut off check-in one hour before the flight. My Uber, darn I mean my Lyft, was due to arrive at terminal 4 at 7:15 only 40 minutes before our flight. I texted Patrice, “What are our options?” She didn’t reply, I presume because the options she was considering were divorce or murder.
The Lyft driver (see, I can learn from my mistakes) dropped me off. I handed him enough cash for him to take the rest of the morning off and have a great story for his wife when he got home. I sprinted to check-in and found Patrice and Charlie right where I had left them. It was then a sprint to the Bradley terminal gate 159. For some reason apparently you can no longer check-in at Bradley for American Airlines flights. So off we went, Patrice, Charlie and me running to the international terminal. I took Patrice’s backpack and my own to allow them to run ahead. Unfortunately they weren’t able to get there much quicker than I was (amazing how fast someone can run when they’ve made the bonehead move of the century).
We arrived at Bradley and learned something very helpful for this and future flights. Previously after checking in we would walk to the right to go through security. Today we saw there’s also an entrance on the left and it had virtually no travelers so we got through security in no time.
Then there was the run to the gate. Signs said gates 151-159 this way. Of course 159 was the last gate. I’m still in sprint mode and my thoughts were 1. Are we going to make it to the plane? and 2. I’m I going to have a heart attack?
We made it! We boarded and took our seats. Patrice sat with Charlie and I sat across the aisle with a pilot hitching a ride home to Chicago. I explained what happened and apologized if he had to breathe through his nose. He then told me he had Covid 3 weeks ago and couldn’t smell a thing. There’s a sobering thought for you.
Our flight from Chicago to Toronto was much less eventful. After check-in at the hotel we had a lovely dinner at Scaddabush Italian Kitchen & Bar Front Street (200 Front St W Unit #G001, Toronto, ON M5V 3J1). Apparently this is a local chain but we found it very good. The entrance to the restaurant has a sign that says they make their pasta daily. We thought it was delicious. Charlie, being the Italian cuisine expert, of course ordered the chicken tenders.
We are now relaxing at the hotel ready for the umpire to yell “Play ball!”
By the way, I’ve apologized to Charlie and Patrice for my stupidity this morning. They both forgave me for being an idiot.
Patrice here: He is definitely an idiot but still quite lovable.
Today is the last day of our trip and we are on our way home. It rained today and we have been so lucky to have had excellent weather up until now.
After breakfast, we headed to the dock via horse-drawn carriage. We sat up front with a great view of the horse team’s butts. The rain stopped long enough for us to board the ferry without getting soaked. We then took the shuttle from the dock to the Pellston airport. If looking at the horse team’s butts wasn’t unpleasant enough it was a dream compared to watching our driver spit his tobacco juice into a water bottle. Is that my breakfast that I feel trying to come up?
The Pellston airport is tiny but must be a prime spot for terrorists. I had an unopened tube of toothpaste in my carry-on that was confiscated. Not only was the tube unopened, I had not even opened the box.
Upon arriving in Detroit and heading to our connecting flight I spotted a traveler wearing a Houston Astros jersey. I had to ask him if he saw the game where they pulled the pitcher after 7 no-hit innings. He did and was in complete agreement with me. Lucky for him he was in a hurry to catch his flight because I was about to unload on him my frustration about the TSA taking my unopened tube of toothpaste. All I can say is that you can all rest comfortably knowing the TSA has prevented the father of 3, grandfather of 4, Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCLA, non-gun owner, non-smoker, non-pill taker, with a perfect driving record, who just reached 74 years old, from taking an unopened tube of toothpaste onto a commercial flight from Pellston, Michigan to Detroit. The whole system is ridiculous.
In addition to hearing about airport security, I thought you might like to see a few interesting pictures from Mackinac Island.
Looking for a job? Do you meet the qualifications?Open 11:30 am to 9:00 pm and 9:00 pm until 2:00 am. Closed at 9:00 for 60 seconds?Do you think Dr. Putz is a urologist? I am not the only criminal TSA needs to worry about. This criminal must have lost a shoe climbing over this fence.Detroit Airport says “Don’t touch!”Maybe TSA is right. This is clearly an individual with criminal intent.
Our plane leaves tonight which leaves us time for ………..MORE BBQ.
Today we had lunch at Q39 which gets its name because they specialize in BBQ and they are located on 39th street. [1000 W. 39th Street; Kansas City, MO 64111] The place was recommended by my friend Jeremiah with the Astros. Judging by the quality of the food I have to say that Jeremiah must enjoy the team’s trips to KC. They don’t serve our favorite (baby back ribs) but their spare ribs left us with nothing to complain about.
Prior to heading to the airport, we made a short stop at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library. We had previously been to 8 presidential libraries [JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush] and this one didn’t disappoint. They had some great videos making me feel like I am not as much of history-phile as I thought. It was quite hot when we arrived at the library but luckily we were able to hydrate while at the library. Please check out the photos on arrival and departure.
Dehydrated upon arrival at the library.After a little hydration, we look and feel better.
I am sure you realize that was just a little playful fun. The photos were complements of Nick Nikkah in KC. We met Nick and his incredible store that makes figurines using a 3D printer and the same technology that he used to make those photos that I inserted in front of the library. In addition to being a nice guy, he also has an amazing shop. Check it out at:
Then it was on to Kansas City International to board our flight to LAX via Phoenix. Upon arrival, we were informed that our flight was delayed and we would not make the connection to LA meaning we would have to spend the night in Phoenix. Is this a joke? Is this really happening? As you know, I married up and Patrice suggested we try to get a different airline. The check-in agent looked up United and Delta without success. I pulled out my phone and found a flight from PHX to LAX on Southwest. American doesn’t have an agreement with Southwest so if we don’t get to PHX in time, we are out of luck. I hope this works but I am mentally ready to spend the night in Phoenix.
One last tidbit, I was stopped at TSA because I forgot I had a small bottle of water in my backpack. The TSA agent couldn’t deal with my bag because he was intensely reviewing another traveler’s backpack. He was removing everything and finding NOTHING. I finally asked another agent if she could just remove the water bottle and give me my bag. She helped me out and I said I was very thirsty and could I just drink the water in front of her. No sir, you will have to go outside and go through TSA again. So read carefully friends. A doctor, with 3 wonderful children, 4 wonderful grandsons, and a family with an impeccable record of service to others is stopped from drinking some bottled water beyond the TSA monitors. Do you feel safe now?
Hopefully, you will next hear from me in Los Angeles. Don’t bet on it.
When I last left you we had just received an email from American Airlines that our flight home had been canceled. We called immediately and then waited 40 minutes for a call back. When we finally connected our options were to return home on Monday or leave immediately for a flight to Dallas, spend the night at DFW, and take our scheduled flight home in the morning. Suddenly being retired seemed more attractive. But I am not retired and I’m scheduled to see a lot of patients on Monday so we packed quickly and asked the front desk to call a cab.
We gave goodbye hugs and kisses to our babies (much too short in the case of Erica who is returning from Memphis to Madrid). Then we hustled downstairs. We told the doorman we were expecting a cab and he said that taxis rarely make it to the hotel. He asked if we ever heard of Uber or Lyft. I guess overeating on BBQ and not shaving for a couple days makes me look like I come from the Ozarks.
Patrice called for a Lyft and was informed that Daniela and her silver Prius would be arriving in 5 minutes. Twenty minutes later and after 3 phone calls Patrice and I hustled around the corner in a pouring rain to meet up with our driver. By the way, the taxi never showed up.
According to Google maps we would arrive at Memphis Airport as our flight was boarding. When we got to the airport there was only one agent and she sounded as if she was trying to solve a difficult problem. Luckily a supervisor came to deal with the problem traveler but unfortunately we were too late to check our bags and had to take them to the gate. This meant I had to sacrifice a bottle of water that I was hoping to help quench my thirst when we arrived in Dallas (BBQ can make a person very thirsty). We were the only passengers at security and they discovered that Patrice had a jar of BBQ sauce (a gift from one of the BBQ teams) and said she had to give it up. TSA took a jar of BBQ sauce from a grandma heading home to Los Angeles. Is this part of the master plan to Make America Great Again?
Since TSA was busy interrogating Patrice I told her I’d run ahead to make sure the plane didn’t leave without us. I wasn’t completely sure which way to go but two kind airport employees assured me I was headed in the right direction. When our gate finally came into focus I saw the ramp agent closing the boarding door. I yelled out “Wait!” He turned his head, looked at me, and calmly said, “Take your time, the plane isn’t here yet”. The plane isn’t here yet? Then where are all the passengers? “This is it”, he replied directing my gaze to 3 other people waiting to board.
Gate agent and the 3 passengers in front of us (hard to see the passengers)
Part of my head and all the empty seats behind us.
While waiting for the flight to take off I made arrangements for a hotel near DFW while Patrice (and later I) received this message from the American Airlines app.
Needless to say this got us concerned. Upon arrival to DFW we were exhausted and found a cab to take us to the hotel. We called American Airlines from the cab and received a recorded message saying we would get a call back in MORE THAN TWO HOURS. We decided to get some sleep and deal with this in the morning.
The next day we got an early start and headed to DFW. There we found loads of people trying to check in. Luckily we checked in online and only needed to get boarding passes and luggage tags. While I waited on line, Patrice went to an automated kiosk and successfully got what we needed and we were on our way to the plane. Then we saw this:
Fortunately we have TSA Precheck (my renewal finally arrived, after two months, just prior to our trip to Australia).
The flight home was a little delayed but we arrived relatively close to the scheduled arrival time. We then went to baggage claim only to find out, after waiting about 45 minutes, that our baggage was put on a later flight. Apparently they have had so many cancelled flights they couldn’t fit all the bags onto this one. I wasn’t happy about that but I could understand. What I didn’t understand was why weren’t we told that immediately? I didn’t need to wait for that long only to learn I needed to come back later tonight to pick up my luggage. Don’t these people realize I’m a busy man? Don’t they realize I have things to do? Don’t they realize that ON WEDNESDAY WE LEAVE FOR AFRICA?
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 