Boardwalk Badness Weekend (Thursday)

Thinking that I would write and post anything so soon after I got home was obviously over-ambitious on my part. Coming home, on a high from a party, I always forget how quickly drop will hit me...and hit hard.

Weather delays made travel on Thursday hectic at best. I made my connection in Nashville only due to luck. Although I was originally to remain on the plane for a 2 o'clock departure, we were kicked off the plane due to the length of the delay going into Philadelphia. When I got off the plane, the flight boards said that my flight was delayed until 4:15. I sat down to have lunch in a café. The music was loud enough that I couldn’t hear any flight announcements, a fact that I did not notice until later.

Just after getting my food, I noticed that the woman at the table next to me cursing at her iPhone. Usually, I would ignore such behavior but I looked over at her. She immediately explained that her flight was supposed to leave at 2, but had been delayed to 4:15, and she had just gotten a text saying that the flight was boarding. I asked if she was going to Philadelphia…of course she was. Suddenly, instead of having two hours to enjoy my lunch, I was scrambling to get my check, pay for my lunch, and get back to my gate.

I managed to get on the plane on time, but I was somewhat scattered. A vaguely familiar man sat next to me on the plane. He asked where I was headed and I answered, “Philadelphia.” He appeared startled, which seemed odd to me considering that the plane was headed there. But when he responded to my return question with “Atlantic City,” I began to wonder. Such curiosity did not keep me from falling asleep, however, and I spent the flight catching up on my sleep. (As usual, I had left my packing until the last minute and stayed up far too late the night before.)

Just before we landed, we began making small talk again. He mentioned that he had seen my frantic flight from the restaurant in Nashville, which made me wonder if I had really made a fool of myself. He again mentioned that he was going to Atlantic City. When I asked what was in Atlantic City he said, “Oh, I’m…getting together…with some...friends.”

Universal code, right? As you might have guessed, I ran into him the next day at the hotel. As it was, I hurried off the plane to make arrangements to get to Atlantic City. I got in too late for registration that night, but I was able to catch up with Craig over dinner. We played a bit and I turned into a pumpkin, as I am inclined to do entirely too early in the evening.