Miami Vice

We met up with Pat and Rachel in the Minneapolis airport and boarded a plane for Atlanta leg of our flight. It was uneventful until arriving in Atlanta…

We were squooshed onto a mini-plane, and waited. And waited. And waited. And then, the intercom crackled to life and began calling a list of passenger names. “The following passengers please re-check the gate…” After some commotion, the flight attendant gave a lengthy and concerning explanation. Apparently, Key West was foggy and our plane needed extra fuel in the event of diversion to another airport. In turn, the extra fuel weight meant passengers would need to be booted since Key West has the shortest commercial runway in the nation and we didn’t want to skid into the ocean.

After much shifting about and a 30 minute delay, we departed for the Keys. The flight was pretty smooth until a sharp bank to left and another odd prediction from the intercom. “Folks, we’ve had three flights attempt to land in Key West and due to lack of ability to see the runway, aborted landing. So, uh, we’re going to be landing in Miami and we’ll let you know from there what is in the plans for you.”

It took far too long to get a gate agent to the door and get us off the plane. We were happy to stretch our legs but less thrilled with the announcement that there were no hotel rooms left in Miami and no chance to flying to Key West as the fog had gotten worse! Around 11PM we were loaded onto a coach bus and began the 3 hour drive. We finally arrived at 3AM and were greeted by our friend Terre. I’m hoping for a much more uneventful trip home!