Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - The Unexpected
Our return flight from Philly to Miami was delayed for several hours due to weather. We were scheduled for a late night flight to São Paulo that we would miss by at least an hour or two. The next available flight wasn’t until 8 PM the next day and since it was due to “weather” they wouldn’t give us hotel vouchers, we were on our own.
I booked us a room in Miami and joined Patty and kids waiting near our gate. The gate was packed as there were several other flights waiting there. I struck up a conversation with a woman sitting next to me and mentioned her that we had to spend 24 hours in Miami at a hotel. She said “That’s crazy; you have to come and stay at my house. I have a nice place and you can have the whole upstairs if you’d like.” She didn’t look like an ax murderer, very well dressed, flying first class, so we took the chance. I canceled our reservation.
Upon arrival in Miami the plane parked and went blackout. We deplaned at 1:30 AM in the glare of a six million lumen flashlight held aloft by a crew member. “Thanks for flying American, sorry for the delay… Head towards the light…”
Barb was waiting for us when we got off with directions to her house. We hired a van and got there a few minutes later. (Nice house in a nice neighborhood) She has gone on ahead and had an air mattress set up upstairs in the master bedroom, giant bed for us, and a couch for Daniel. She had towels laid out in the giant bathroom. We all fell into a coma.
Barb lives in Miami but works in Philadelphia, marketing consultant, single. Her mom was visiting. They had been a military family so they wouldn’t hear of people having to stay in a hotel if they had room. I cooked breakfast (eggs), Patty made the coffee, Barb made bacon. She just completely opened her home to us as if she knew us all her life. The kids spent the morning swimming in her pool. Later she took us out to lunch with her mom and drove us to the airport in the afternoon.
Barb had said that when we sat down with her, her first impulse was to move, but since our kids were so well behaved she stayed. That just goes to show you that first impressions can be, um, inaccurate. We had a great time staying at her house and hope to meet again under less stressful circumstances.
Barb, we owe you dinner but you’ll have to stay at our house to collect.
Mac
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