DLSoce

Flying Standby

Flying standby is a little like playing chess. It takes some savvy and understanding of how the flight system works, otherwise, you can find yourself stranded in a connecting city or at your destination without a way to return. We are lucky, in the fact, that my husband works for a company that has benefits to multiple carriers and we also keep a credit card with flight points as a back up. On this trip, the backup points became useful. We needed to get there to make it to a family funeral, so we didn’t hesitate to utilize the flight points. For this adventure, we were going from Phoenix, Sky Harbor to Orlando International, otherwise known as MCO. I just found out the MCO stands for McCoy Air Force Base, formally on the same location as the airport.

We started our trip on the 25th of May, leading into Memorial Day weekend. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get across the country using only standby, and Phoenix is always notoriously difficult to grab a standby flight. Most of the flights are fairly full and any spots open are quickly picked up by employees. Phoenix is an American hub, so that choice was out of the question. Having three travelers makes it even more difficult. We were prepared to break up to get seats. Fortunately, we caught a ride to Houston, IAH on a United flight. From there I wasn’t taking a chance of not getting to the funeral, so we flew with my points on Southwest. Houston => Dallas => Orlando. Yes, it was a long day! So far we have gone twice across the country using standby and it has taken 3 planes to make it. To us, it’s a small price to pay to save 2-3k in airfare. Did I say, a long day? It ended up being longer with a mistake made at the rental car location at 3 am. We made it to bed by about 6 am, the day of the funeral. Wait! This ended up being an experience that gives me reassurance that there really are good, kind people out there.

Matt, my saving grace!

Tired, exhausted, slightly hangry, I made a mistake that could have caused me a nonending headache. Everyone who knows me, knows how important to me my camera is and how expensive the equipment is. I never let it out of my sight and rarely off my shoulder when we travel. I always put all of my cards and, in this case, my and my son’s passports in it because I know I will protect it like a baby. Well, it slipped out of my possession. We had placed all of our bags in a Dodge SUV and then decided it wasn’t right for us. While moving the bags over, I grabbed the backpack on top of my carry-on bag, which had been my bag while working and now was my husband’s. In my mind, at 3-4 AM, I had my bags, yeah, not really. I had left it in the backseat and didn’t figure it out until we had drove all the way to the Airbnb. Ugh!!!!! After kicking our son out of the SUV to the rental, where my sister-in-law was fast asleep, we turned around and went back the 30 minutes to the airport. Normally, I’d be losing my s**t! Now, after finding a better calmness in me, I thought to myself, the story is going to fall where it wants to, nothing I do right now can change it, as long as I stay calm and safe and work through it. The Dodge SUV was gone! In the matter of about an hour and a half, someone rented it and had left. Deep breath……… first employee I talked to was new, had no answer. I told him, I’m not leaving until I have a path to finding the bag. The second employee saw me looking in the other vehicles and wanted to know what the problem was. I told her what had happened, so she called her supervisor, Matt. What a breath of fresh air! A genuinely good human who wanted to make it right. He and I sat in front of the computer looking at a few hours of security footage until we found the SUV. They have 10s of thousands of vehicles, so he needed the plate to find the renter. He reassured me that he would e-mail and call the renter by morning and get it back. He did!!! He was sure to word it carefully that he knew the bag was in the vehicle and that it was seen on security camera. We went on to the funeral, very tired, but at peace that a huge problem was solved. Saving grace!!! The funeral went well, maybe our uncle had something to do with finding Matt for us. He would have gone the extra mile to help a stranger, no question, he was that kind of person. He will be sorely missed by all of us, but will live on in his family. The next morning Matt picked up the bag after getting off work and delivered it to me at the Airbnb. I might add, he showed up in a Charger, a perk of being the manager. LOL!!! He told me he was just doing his job, I had to disagree. He went the extra mile and showed that he’s someone who cares. That takes time and effort to do. We talked for awhile, nice young man, who has a great future in front of him.

St Johns River/Blue Springs State Park

The next day we rented a pontoon boat from, https://www.hontoon.com/, and spent the day cruising the river with a stop at, https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/blue-spring-state-park. I think all of us would agree that it was a perfect celebration of life in honor of our uncle. He was an avid fisherman and loved the outdoors. Each and everyone of us has a story, or many, to tell about catching fish with him or spending time with him by the ocean, lake, river or a stream. Manatees alluded us that day but we did see, gators, several types of birds and fish. My favorite was the longnose gar along the Volusia Blue Spring of the State Park where fishing was not allowed. Some of them looked to be 3-4 feet long! The large white house was originally built for cultivation of citrus in the mid-19th century and a railway was constructed. By the 1890s, a freeze ended the citrus farming and tourism was started for fishing and hunting. Later in 1972, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection acquired the park and started its manatee protection program.

Kennedy Space Center

While we were in the Orlando area, we decided to take our youngest son to see the Kennedy Space Center, or KSC https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/ . We had been there two other times in the past with our oldest son, but the youngest was too young to remember the last trip. He has been very interested in NASA, Blue Origin and SpaceX, all of which have locations on Merritt Island by the KSC. Starting off with the bus ride has seemed to be the best choice for us each time. They shuttle you around the premises pointing out the launch pads and give you a brief history of each location, including the very large, iconic, Vehicle Assembly Building or VAB. During previous tours, we were driven closer to the building to observe, but this time it was from a distance from a nearby road. The tour stops at the Apollo/Saturn V Center where you can see many of the historic pieces from the early space program development and launches. Our favorite addition to the KSC was the Atlantis exhibition. The actual space shuttle Atlantis is in the center of the exhibition. Way Cool!!! This section was a new edition since our last visit and is much more up to date with interactive stations for kids and adults to enjoy. The Hubble telescope is on display, and a memorial to the fallen space shuttle crews can be seen. The KSC is located on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so as you take the bus tour, there is a possibility to see some interesting wildlife. This trip we saw the eagles nest, and on a previous trip there happened to be a few very large alligators on one of the waterway banks along the tour.

Tampa, Sand Key Beach (near Clearwater)

After spending time with family in the Orlando area, we drove over to the gulf side of Florida to see a few more family members. I LOVE the gulf side of Florida, eastside is beautiful but, to me, the water and beaches on the gulf side are gorgeous! One of the days, we started off trying to see Clearwater, but it was crowded as usual, so we went a little south to Sand Key Beach, which was still gorgeous! The water was refreshingly clear, all along the sandbar. The kids even net cast to fish for small fish along the sandbar. A pleasant surprise happened when a playful dolphin swam in and around the beachgoers chasing a fish. It came within a few feet of our son, (I was slightly scared and also amazed at the same time), glad it was a dolphin and not a shark! About an hour later, two manatees floated by just relaxing in the current along the beach, being pulled south. Later, we left to eat along the boardwalk at https://johnspassvillage.net/. There are many choices of places to eat and shop. Last, we finished the circle from Tampa and back, through St. Petersburg and drove across the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge to make our way back.

The Florida Aquarium and Downtown Tampa

This wasn’t our first time to Tampa, but it was our first time enjoying the downtown area. Our family chose to take us on a tour of The Florida Aquarium https://www.flaquarium.org/ which sits right alongside the TECO street car system, (it’s free) and tourist area where the Tampa Bay Cruise Terminal, Maritime museum, dining and sports arena are located. Using the street car, you can ride to the historic area of Ybor City with it’s Cuban culture and hand rolled cigars. https://www.visittampabay.com/districts/ybor-city/ I was able to stand on the sidewalk and watch them hand roll the cigars through the window. The buildings are a mix of Spanish, Moorish and French renaissance. Everywhere I go, I really enjoy checking out different varieties of architecture. Unlike so much of today’s buildings, they have so much art and unique styles that you don’t find anymore. I’m always looking for unusual angles and light to showcase the artwork of the historic buildings, which is one of my favorite subjects to photograph. Founded in 1885, it was once known as the “Cigar Factory of the World.”

End Of The Trip

To make our way home, we had to drive back to Orlando to return the rental car and catch a standby flight back home. My husband was going home, but our son and I were going to visit our oldest son in Ohio. The flights were open to make it to Chicago O’Hare, and from there we separated. While waiting for our flight in Orlando, I was getting coffee and I heard a conversation between a couple of men at the bar. It was a story about kayaking on the St Johns river. One of the men was from the Florida area and the other wasn’t. The Floridian was telling about the encounter while kayaking where he and a friend encountered two large bull sharks. Whoa!!! We were just there and swam near the shore. LOL!!! Yes, It’s Florida! Everything wants to bite you!

I decided to start writing about our trips, hikes and adventures. I’ve gotten many comments about how everyone likes my pictures that I take, so I thought it would be a good idea to start adding a blog to go along with the pictures, that tell part of the story, but not all of it. Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed engaging with people along the way. I truly believe that each soul that enters our lives, if even for a brief moment, is there for a reason. When I take pictures, my joy is to catch the beauty of the subject. It’s the same for people. One of my goals has always been to improve my writing skills and become a better story teller. I hope you appreciate the stories, and I plan to do more.

To new adventures,

DLSoce