Places to be thankful for...

As an amateur historian (meaning I like and study history), I thought I'd share a few places that I have been that I think every American should visit to truly understand this country, and the sacrifice of the men who made this country great on this Thanksgiving holiday.  I'll close with a few places I'd like to visit and then open it to anyone to share their places to visit ideas.

1. Gettysburg - Every American should be required to visit the battlefield at Gettysburg.  Walk the fields.  See the views from Big and Little Round Top.  Walk up to that big tree where Pickett's Charge was turned back (especially moving for someone who's heritage was on the losing side) and ponder the fate of a nation was sealed that day.  Do as I did as a kid and memorize Lincoln's short Gettysburg Address and you will be forever moved.   I first went as a 12 year old kid.  I've been back twice since as an adult, and the place never fails to make me cry like a baby.
2. Pearl Harbor - While this one is tougher to get to for everybody, it is a must see place.  If you're military, take the Navy's private tour (vice the Park Service's, h/t Blunoz).  At a time when the free world's fate hung in the balance, this vicious attack spurred our country into action.  Freedom was saved and events that wouldn't work themselves out for another 50 years (the Cold War) were set into motion.  The Arizona memorial, like Gettysburg, is another cry your eyes out site.  It's especially difficult these days knowing how many WW2 vets we're losing every day.  These guys are national treasures.
3. Independence Hall - The place where our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution would be forged and signed is another must see for Americans to truly get a feel for the debates and discussions that framed our country.
4. Washington DC monuments, Capital Building and the White House - If a visit, taken within a historical frame of mind, to our nation's capital, doesn't move you to patriotic thoughts, you're not an American.  Among the memorials you must put on your list (but may be tempted to miss) - the Iwo Jima memorial, Arlington Cemetary, the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial and close-by Korean War memorial.  Walk the halls of Congress and make an effort to visit what is your house after all.
5. The Alamo - The first four are required, this one is interesting, and demonstrates what freedom loving men are capable of achieving against long odds.  The Alamo was a loss for the Texans, but, it provided time for Sam Houston to achieve victory and has given us legends (true and untrue) that persist to this day.  
6. Civil War/Revolutionary War Battlefields - if you live on the East Coast, you can probably, wherever you are, get to one of these in an hour's drive.  Make it a point today to commit to a visit, learn the history and take your kids.  Pack a picnic lunch.  Talk about it.

Places I need to visit:

1. Ground Zero - I put this in the Pearl Harbor/Gettysburg vein.  It is above all others.  I haven't been to New York in years (obviously), but this is a trip I am remiss in making.  
2. Normandy Beach and the Cemeteries at Normandy - another one in this class of must see's.  
3. Iwo Jima - made more famous by recent books (The excellent Flags of our Fathers) and movies, it is a place I would like to see before I die.

Any recommendations of yours are encouraged and requested.  And, if you've been to any of these, what were your thoughts and emotions?

Travel Trouble. Thanks Delta!

It doesn't happen that often, and usually only when I am forced to fly USAir, but this weekend was a fun time with Delta.

Sunday night, I intended to leave Providence at 5:30 to return home to Atlanta.  Unfortunately, our flight was a very short one, since the landing gear on our plane (an ASA CRJ) refused to retract after takeoff.  So, we returned to Providence and proceeded to get the shaft from Delta/ASA.

Since this was the last flight out to Atlanta, apparently, ASA thought they would pretend that we might actually depart on the same plane...for a while. At one point, they even suggested that the plane could return to Atlanta with a few passengers with the landing gear locked down.  In their plan, the flight would take 6 hours, be forced to fly at low altitude, and require a fuel stop.  Haha. Seriously, they said that.

Finally, some saner heads prevailed, and they posited that the final arrival from Atlanta (which arrived at PVD some time around midnight), would turn around instead of overnighting.  In this scenario, the maintenance team was going to fly in from Atlanta on that flight and fix our plane to be the 6am departure, while the people from my flight would leave around 12:30 am, and get to Atlanta about 3am.  Whooooaaa.

At that point, they started issuing hotel and food vouchers to those who were not willing to wait it out.  So, that's where I gave up and decided to just stay overnight.  That was the right decision for Delta/ASA and me, unfortunately, by the time I got my carry-on (plane checked) bag back and my vouchers and got to my hotel, there was no place open close by to eat, so, Dunkin Donuts for me!  Excellent.  I recommend the flatbread sandwiches.

Anyway, booked onto today's 12:35pm flight, I left the hotel where I ran into a couple of ladies from my flight.  They said that Delta/ASA eventually decided to cancel the whole idea of going back to Atlanta, and took the checked bags off about 10pm, and they got their bags at 10:30.  Glad at 8:30 I bailed hearing that.  Also, a reason I don't check bags unless forced.

Anyway, the travails of air travel will get you every time.  Fortunately, I am not a frequent enough flyer (maybe 15 times/year) that this really impacts me much.  But, let me say to Delta - I thought the flight vouchers we were getting were worth something, so I didn't look at it until the morning, and it was only $100.  What happened to airlines actually giving a free domestic roundtrip flight for these kinds of things?  At least the last time I got jerked like this by USAir, they did give a free domestic round trip and the hotel they put us up in was much nicer, but the La Quinta wasn't awful, just basic and the wi-fi was solid enough to work off.

And, ASA did kind of make it up, when our 12:35pm flight was delayed 2 hours, they actually gave every passenger another $100 voucher, which they didn't have to do.  So, I made $200 out of it and got to stay in Providence for another day.

All in all, a succesful trip.

end...

A Rotten Travel Night

I have had some rotten travel experiences, but tonight is shaping up to be one of the more frustrating ones. As many may know a major storm system is forcing its way across the East Coast today, and this morning, it severely impacted Atlanta (my destination) and tonight it is killing the Northeastern states. As I sit here, my 8:10 flight to Atlanta from Newport News is now delayed to 11:02pm as we await the aircraft to leave Laguardia for PHF. Since it's not off the ground there yet, at 10:21pm, I'd say our chances of making it out of here by 11 are nil.

Anyway, since it is highly unlikely I will hit Atlanta before the trains stop running (my car is parked in a remote MARTA lot 35 miles from the airport), and I am too cheap to pay $60 for a hotel room, ask my wife to spend 1.5hrs and $30 in gas to come get me, or to pay $50 for a cab ride to my car, I decided to look into sleeping at the Atlanta airport and taking the train at 5am when they start up again (by now, it's looking like I'll only have to kill 4 hrs til then, and hey, I've already been sitting on my butt here for 7 hours, what's 4 more!). So, if you're ever in this same predicament and are lucky enough to have Internet access, check out this web site, Sleeping in Airports. It's chock full of great hints and tips about how to make yourself comfy at an airport and provides lists of the best airports to crash in. Plus, now I know about a whole subculture of people who are too cheap to stay in hotels, and actually use airports as their vacation spots.

Another great site for tracking flight status is Flightstats.com, which I recommend to use to find out early on whether your flight is hosed or not.

See how this night ended after the jump...

Don't
Well, the LGA-PHF flight landed about 11pm in Newport News and we had about the quickest turn around I have seen and were in the air to ATL by 11:40. Since I was arguing with my wife not to come get me at 2am at the Atlanta airport, we kind of departed on a sour note. I knew she didn't want to, but she felt compelled to. Personally, I could have slept the 3 or 4 hrs I needed to before the trains resumed at 5am, except....when we landed in Atlanta, you would have thought is was 5pm on Thanksgiving Eve with all the people in the airport, waiting to catch flights still, and in line to get their travel plans completed the next day. My plane was turning around and going back to PHF, the normal 12:15 arrival not due in there until 2:11 by the sign, but since we landed at 1:25, that was unlikely. Can you imagine, arriving in Newport News at about 3am??? Funny.

Actually, now surveying the airport, there are lots of places for sleeping. A lot of people were taking advantage of the floors alongside the moving walkways between concourses, where it was less crowded, and there were plenty of plugs for laptops. They looked pretty comfy down there. In the concourse, no way. The place was crowded, people were mad, and there was going to be no sleeping there! Had my wife not decided to come get me, I would have headed over to the international terminal to attempt to find some comfy places. Much less crowded, usually, over there.

So, despite getting hom eat 3:30, it was ok. Anytime you can return home from a trip safely, it's a successful one. 4 hrs of sleep and back to work!