Thursday and Friday, March 27 and 28, 2025
For early flights, I always prefer going to an airport hotel the afternoon before the trip. Just cuts down on my travel anxiety and Chuck indulges me. Unlike our last trip, we didn’t have any last-minute house problems.
We left Pumpkin sulking under the couch. He hates to see the suitcases roll out. He knows his staff is taking another unauthorized vacation.
The shuttle to the airport left on time but the traffic was terrible. I was very happy not to be driving and not worrying about getting to a flight. Several passengers kept checking their watches/phones during the ride.
We stayed at the airport Hyatt Place again. We like the location and the prices are reasonable. We walked over to the Ruby Tuesday for dinner. The service was very slow but, once it finally arrived, the food was good. We each had their special of the evening – one trip to the salad bar and a smash burger with tater tots.
After a restless night (typical for a trip), I got up at 5:30 for a shower. The bathroom light is on a motion-sensor. Last time we were here, the sensor didn’t work and I was caught in the shower in total darkness until I could reach the switch. This time, when the lights went out, I just had to move a little and they came back on.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and caught its shuttle back to the airport. With CLEAR, TSA-precheck, and not having any carry-on go through the “naughty” line, we quickly arrived at the T-gate which is right past the security area. We don’t get to fly out of T-gate very often, so it was nice that we didn’t have to take the tram to another gate.
The flight left on time. I watched the movie “A Complete Unknown” about Bob Dylan. I’m not a huge Bob Dylan fan so I wasn’t sure I would like it. I thought it was very good. Chuck watched several episodes of 1923.
We arrived in San Diego early but then we had to wait for a gate to open so the flight ended up being officially late. We took an Uber XL to the Best Western Bayside. Getting to the Uber pick-up area in the airport was very easy which I appreciated. Not that way in every airport.
The traffic was bumper-to-bumper, and a lot of construction was going on, but we got to the hotel by 2:30. Our room was ready but “there is currently no hot water but we’re working on it.” Oh, great. Hoping we’ll have it before tomorrow morning. I am not a cold shower person. The hotel is very near the port and the view is always interesting.
With the time change and the breakfast being a long time ago, we were soon ready for dinner. We walked to the Queenstown Public House, a New Zealand inspired restaurant. We’ve eaten there before and enjoyed the food. This time, we were seated inside because I thought it was too breezy and chilly for the outside seating. We were by a window so we could still watch all the dog walkers.
We got there during their happy hour so we chose food from that menu. Chuck chose the fish and chips, and I chose the chicken/pineapple/potato chip slider with string fries. Everything was very good.
We walked back to the hotel. I was getting the bags tagged for the ship, and we heard a loud bang. We saw a car on its side, the traffic light down, and the windows blown out of the Starbucks. There were numerous police vehicles and rescue vehicles. I hope the person(s) involved would be okay. We had just walked through that intersection about 20 minutes prior to the accident.
The time change was finally getting to me. 7:00 – lights out.
Up next – Embarkation
