OK, time to leave. My pick up at 6:00am from Atlantis for an 8:45am departure was designated by the hotel transfer operator. “You should be at the airport 3 hours before departure.” The maths didn’t work, but I didn’t mind.
They were 10 minutes late, which is better than their no show on arrival. The driver cheerily pointed out various points of interest on the approx. 30 min drive to the airport, notwithstanding it was still dark outside and you couldn’t see much! He automatically addressed all of us (me + 3 others) as Americans.
At the airport, check-in at American was easy, security not bad, then into USA Immigration pre clearance. This wasn’t a big queue, but it was slow due to the agent at one of the 3 booths taking almost all people presenting to him along to one of the back rooms …. Yikes, yes, I got him but, through in minutes.
No lounge at NAS and a couple of take-aways open at 7:00am for breakfast.
Tripit Pro warned me that the flight to MIA would be 20 mins late at 7:30, and a check of Flight Aware confirmed this, but the gate didn’t announce the late 30 minute departure until about 8:15am, by which time TripIt Pro was advising 40 minutes. The in-bound plane had to turn back to MIA and a replacement was flying out.
Amazingly, boarding was called at 8:50am, so it looks like the delay might not be too long.
Wrong! We went through the scanning point, down the escalator to the gate out to the apron, and there we waited, peering out as they re-fuelled the plane. We could also watch as the baggage handlers tried to get the bins open so they could start loading the baggage. At 9:02 the wheelchair people are taken out to the tarmac, but only as far as just outside the door (in the humidity), and there they stopped. At 9:06 the baggage handlers still haven’t gotten the bins open and the wheelchair pax are still sitting outside, with the rest of us inside.
At 9:10 success! Wheelchair pax are taken out to the plane, and baggage starts to be loaded.
At 9:14 we are let out the door and in a few minutes we are lined up, stationary on the tarmac while a ummmmmmm… quite large pax …. Is taken up the gangway and into the plane. Slow process.
After all standing on the tarmac for 5 minutes, the bulk of the passengers are allowed onto the plane; it’s about 30 minutes after I went through the scanning point. The doors closed about 10 minutes after the last passenger boarded, as they did a head count in the E145 three times and we begin taxiing at 9:25am.
We de-planed at MIA at 10:13am (I’m first off) and OF COURSE we are at an off-stand, maybe 50m from the far end of the terminal. I fast walk to the skytrain, lucky to get on one about to depart, travel to the stop at the other end of the terminal, go down to the gate, where boarding is under-way, and its 10:23am.
A bit stressed, I plonk myself down in the 757 First class seat and prepare for the couple of hours flight to DFW. Door close at 10:45am, but pilot is in the galley chatting to the FAs. At 11:25 we complete our taxi and begin the take-off roll. And at that point, the passenger behind me stands up and heads for the toilet! General entreaty to sit down works. Ya gotta wonder how many passengers on any one flight are completely oblivious to everything said to them and the conditions around them.
Flight was pretty good; had a tortilla and rice for early lunch, no booze as I was picking up a car at DFW.
Arrived late, but that was OK as I had a 7 hour layover (after delay) and had arranged to get an Avis car and mosey round a bit. Found my way to the curb where a ‘rental centre’ bus picked us up and we headed out to the next county (it seemed) to the hire car centre; a big operation out in the boonies.
Car OK, and I headed to Grapevine Mills, a huge mall about 20 minutes north, a place recommended by AFFers.
This is the F (J) lunch on board the AA flight; OK without being great; and one of the entrances to the Grapevine Mills mall.
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I discovered it was something of an ‘el cheapo’ mall – set in a tin shed, one story only and full of outlet type places, with normal type fronts and insides, but just sitting inside the shed. I guess that means for cheap mall overheads, keeping prices down, but its rather an unwelcoming sight from the outside.
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I bought a pair of reconditioned BOSE ear bud noise cancelling jobs for US$280 after tax at the Bose outlet store which I discovered wasn’t that much under new retail (US$330 I think), but the product is excellent; I’d say about 75% of the BOSE15 effectiveness, but so much easier to cart around and wear on airplanes when you might have your head to one side.
I then drove into the centre of Dallas, about 40 minutes away to visit Dealey Plaza and the JFK site. TBH I was a bit reticent to visit; it seems a bit unsavoury to have a place of interest (a tourist attraction?) of the site of some-one’s murder, but I decided it would be silly not to visit, given that it is a legitimate museum site.
Surprisingly, I found parking only a block away for a few dollars. First thing I passed was the JFK memorial, about a block away from Dealey Plaza, the latter being a block off to the right.
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And here is the assassination site (panorama photo, so the distances are a bit distorted). The ‘Texas Book Depository’ on the right, and the vehicle in the middle at about the site of the first shot. “The grassy knoll’ in the background. I must admit it was a bit surreal to be in a locality I had seen so many times on TV and in films. It was all more compact than I thought it would be.
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I went to visit the 6th Floor Museum but there was some kerfuffle at the entrance at the time and I didn’t get in. A shame, but I was thinking that this place may attract weirdos and I didn’t want to be caught up in anything.
