Unexpected gifts

[rivka]

I got home last night to a message on the answering machine. Northwest Airlines wanted to let us know that our flight out of Memphis was overbooked, and they were offering us one free round-trip ticket each to anywhere in the continental U.S., if we were willing to change our plans.

Apparently they weren't getting many takers, because by the time I called, they'd upped the offer to free round-trip tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S., Alaska, or the Caribbean. Especially if we could fly back into DCA (Washington National) instead of Dulles. Given that we'd be taking the subway to the airport in any case, that made absolutely no difference to us, so...

For the cost of (a) shortening our trip to Memphis by eight hours, and (b) a somewhat longer trip (through Detroit rather than a direct flight), Misha and I now have the distinct pleasure of studying Northwest route maps and planning a suddenly-affordable winter vacation.

Jamaica. Antigua. Puerto Rico. Cozumel. Palm trees and beaches and electric-blue water and rum drinks and warm, warm sunshine. Oh, that's going to be good.

Comments

[bunyip.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. :)

[jenett]

Very cool. Lucky you!

I went to Puerto Rico as part of a school choir trip my senior year in high school - and had a surprisingly nice time. We did a bit of hiking in a rainforest (which my lungs rather disliked, but which involved some spectacular scenery. I'm not sure I'd do it again, though. Rain forest humidity made me really unhappy.) The beaches are lovely (even in mid-march).

I also discovered that I quite like coconut as long as no one's done anything to it. (At least at the beach we were at, you could buy whole coconuts for a reasonable sum, the person who ran the stand would hack the top off and hand you a straw. You'd wander off, drink the coconut milk, and then wander back again eventually, and the stand owner would hack it into smaller pieces so you could easily get at the meat.

There's also a very nice historical fort (complete with ghost story) in San Juan which I found very intriguing.

There were areas of the city we were warned not to wander around in at night by ourselves, but in general, I felt quite safe and comfy there as a tourist.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Ooh, neat! Lucky!

I'm being pedantic...

[(Anonymous)]

but that's not coconut milk inside a fresh coconut. That's coconut water. Coconut milk is when you grate the pulp and extract the liquid, forming a creamy, milk-like substance.

--Trinker
(thinking that the hacking service sounds really nice, though.)
(thinking as well that she's done her lifetime quota of being in tropical "paradise", and would rather go to a museum or a ski slope.)

Re: I'm being pedantic...

[rivka.livejournal.com]

You want to send me skiing?!

I thought you liked me.

Frijoles frios

[mittelbar.livejournal.com]

pardner.

Re: I'm being pedantic...

[(Anonymous)]

Unless you're planning on taking me instead of Misha, I wouldn't think that my preferences come into play for this vacation...

(There are no mosquitos on the ski slope.)

--Trinker, unreasonable.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

I love Northwest Airlines. They're consistently cheaper than any of the other airlines that fly from the UK to North America, which is how come I've managed to get to two alt.polycons even though I don't have much money.

I do warn you though, Detroit airport is the most soul-destroying place I've ever been. There is absolutely nothing to do there, except play with broken 15-year-old video game machines and watch various strange American sports in the sports bar. And I couldn't find anything at all for sale that was vegetarian, so I ended up eating nothing but chips (which had probably been cooked in animal fat) for four hours.

Re:

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Baseball season is over, so we'll have no reason to even go into a sports bar. *grin* And I always, always travel with my own food. Because virtually all my American airport experiences have been much as you describe Detroit.

Four hours, erg. At least we won't be there long ourselves.