The Flight and Arrival

Finally the big day was here, we were up the night before until 3AM trying to finish packing and we had to leave for the airport at 6:15AM. We hadn't slept for more than a couple hours for the last two days, so we were already exhausted when we left for the airport at 6:40. The downside of the amazing deal we got on the flights was, as usual, it required a long stopover. When we booked the flights we thought it would be great to have 11 hours in New York, we even considered going to Aladdin on Broadway. The flight to New York was uneventful, we got to the gate just on time and the only delay was for deicing. Of course, not having slept for days, we were too tired to do anything once we arrived in New York. We spend the day in a Bagel and Ice Cream shop trying to keep the baby entertained and driving around trying to get him to sleep.

My sister and her family drove from Lakewood to Cedarhurst to meet us for dinner at Carlos and Gabby's, which was nice. As could be expected, we ended up rushing to the airport, even though we were already checked in and our bags were already on the plane. We got to the airport almost two hours before our flight, which is unheard of for me. When the TSA agent checked my boarding pass, he told me to keep my shoes on and go into the priority line with my wife and son. When we got near the front of the line, the next agent told us we were next after someone in a wheelchair that he put in front of us. Without any explanation another agent came over and said "No, you guys come with me" and directed us to the back of a long line. After making it through that line we were directed to another line for the xray machine, which was impossible to get into with a stroller. When we told the agent we couldn't get in the line, he looked confused and overwhelmed and didn't tell us what to do. By some miracle the people in the line were nice and let us cut in near the front. After all that we made it to the gate at the final boarding call, only to find out that we had to go through yet another security check before boarding. Thank G-d we made it on the plane in time and there were still many others who came way after us.

One of the latecomers, a middle aged couple who boarded at least 15 minutes after us, seemed to have lost their business class seats because they were so late. The wife was berating the husband for making them late by staying in the lounge too long. She stopped in the aisle next to us to stow their carry on bags, looked at us and said loudly "oh great, now you got us seats behind a baby!". My son has been on quite a few flights before and we always made friends with the people around us who were so happy that he was so quiet and well behaved. Of course now that he's a year old, it's a lot harder for him to sit still and be quiet, but he's still a chilled baby. Our flight left at 9:45PM and we hoped he would sleep through most of the flight. Of course, that didn't work out as planned. At first he was so excited by the plane that he kept standing up on his car seat and laughing at all the people he could see. About an hour and a half into the flight he finally fell asleep after throwing a few tantrums. This was the first time I experienced what it was like to be the parent of the baby that everyone is mad at and it was not fun. The only thing that made it slightly better was knowing that the obnoxious lady behind us was fuming. Several times throughout the flight he was woken up by the people sitting behind us and every time he voiced his displeasure. I spend most of the flight holding him, either trying to console him or keep him from jumping all over the plane.

The flight seemed to drag on forever, but finally we did land! After the momentary exuberant feeling of the arrival ended, we had to walk what seemed like 3 miles with all our carry on bags, which was not easy. Miraculously, we avoided the customs line and the customs agent didn't ask us a single question, all she did was flirt with the baby and let us go. My in-laws met us with a giant van they rented (it held 15+ passengers, plus luggage and there were only 5 of us counting my in-laws). The moment we stepped outside the warm air hit us together with the springlike scent and we were finally here and able to relax, for now...