The Jaunt to Florida

So I went through the entire week without at least a recap of my weekend jaunt to FL. I was going for a science conference, a fun one. I got the airport and was told that I was wait listed for a seat. Shit. Fortunately, by the time I got to the terminal they had a seat ready and boarding pass printed out for me. Joy! Even better, it was an aisle seat on the exit row. Yay! Legroom!

The flight was fast, I got in and realized I didn't have the hotel address, so the Limos couldn't drive me there. Thankfully my cell phone had some charge left and I was able to call. The hotel was listed in their directory, but under a different name. Once I got in to the hotel I hung out with some folks I know, and we had a nice dinner at a Mexican place. I didn't eat much, which is odd because at Mexican food I tend to pig out. We got back to the hotel and there was talk of going on a bar hop, but I didn't go. I went back to my hotel room to find that my blocking bar (the thing that keeps the door being pushed open) had been pushed into place by the curtains. I was locked out! I went to the desk and they called a maintenance guy, whose eyes bugged out when he saw what had happened. He tried to knock it down...he was about 40 lbs. lighter than me so that wasn't happening. Fortunately, there was enough room for his had and he got a screwdriver to remove it.

Saturday was the conference and it was loads of fun. Lot's of good topics and I got to meet people I've chatted with online in person for the first time. That night there was the party and it was rather...boistrous. Hotel Secruity came, then the police. Many of us figured it was a good time to leave. Mind you, we weren't doing any damage, we just had music playing and were talking. You think we were shooting out streetlights.

The party 'continued' at the hotel pool. Some folks even jumped in the pool. I declined, not being drunk enough and figuring 60 degrees is a wee chilly for a dip.I did have a good enough time to lose track of time and was not back in my room until around 6AM. There was supposed to be an open house but I had to sleep through it. Except for one trip for mediocre food at the next-door Dennys I was there most of the day.

The next day was the flight back and everything went smoothly. I think I actually found AirTrans to be a decent airline. At lest my legs didn't feel cramped up and everything was on time. I had figured they were a sooper-low fuck-you budget airline. But they did a good job.