Today after praying for my daughter’s last wedding attendee, (who had not returned home after waiting for a flight for 7 days), learned he left at 6 a.m., on a non-stop flight, first class to the State of Washington. Well deserved. My son in law drove him to the Newark Airport in the wee hours of the morning.
He is in the air as I write…
Some fun the night before departure.
While I’d like to say this is a happy ending the suffering from these situations will continue as our climate changes.
Will be sending a Feng Shui charm to this last wedding attendee as a gift.
Spoke with my daughter today and after 7 days one of the wedding participants still has not arrived home. He was on call for flights for 4 days in Newark and each one was either cancelled or his stand by seat never came to pass.
My daughter and her now husband in Brooklyn insisted he come to their home and they picked him up in Newark. The airline has promised a flight in 2 days, however one can only hope.. He has used his work vacation time, paid for his own food, and countless other amenities. What a way to end a wedding visit, and glad my daughter didn’t go on a honeymoon so she could offer some respite for her guest.
Sadly, this will be the case as climate concerns continue to plague our Earth.
The Frontier seats are plastic, they do not recline but leg room is comparable to the regular airlines, and for a 2 hour flight to save $80 one can grin and bear it… All food and drinks are paid, there is no service, and most were aware of this so they planned ahead. Prices are good for what is offered, and of course, have your credit card ready…
The attendants were pleasant, but curt, and that was fine. They need to adopt this demeanor for unruly passengers, and to keep all in check. It is understandable.
They do come through to collect garbage hourly, and attendants are a presence on the plane with the usual flight announcements, and promotion of the airline credit card. Frontier is now flying to the EU so unsure what arrangements will be made with that transport.
While this could happen on any flight when we were to land we returned to the skies for a 10 minute circle. This is only the second time this occurred in all my years of flying. The other was in New Zealand.
Overall, will try Frontier again if in a jam, and as a cost saving measure..
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Final Caveat: While this didn’t affect my trip was grateful Governor Shapiro got the I95 situation fixed in 10 days. There were billboards throughout I 95 thanking him. Nice touch..
Wedding over– time to recoup, lay low, and be frugal. My first step in this endeavor was to try Frontier Airlines, and this was an experience in preparation.
While the fare is cheap $123 vs $240 one way from Philly to Jacksonville 2 weeks before departure, learned that an additional payment was required for the seat making the fare $150. plus a $69. luggage fee. WOW! Since I already purchased the ticket and it was non-refundable had to figure out a way to avoid the $69 baggage fee ($99 fee when purchased at the airport).
After observing UTube videos about this decided I can and must do this!
Also, boarding passes cost 9.50 at the gate so make sure you run off these culprits or find a hotel that does. And believe me this is not easy – the secret is using the Frontier AP as on line printing is difficult if not impossible.
Preparation
Brought old clothes and shoes to the wedding so those I tossed before departure or gave to clothing boxes. Even tossed the mother of the bride, and rehearsal dinner dress. When will I wear these again and got both for $35 total on clearance.
Then used an old suitcase 🧳 and ditched that as well, as the flight down was with American. They allowed my bag.
For the Frontier sized bag used a free AARP bag. Received that after buying car insurance from them. The size was perfect and I was set.. Amazon has these bags for about $13. – just put in their search field Frontier Airline bags and you’ve got it!
Once at the airport Frontier has equipment available to size your bag and of course mine fit. Besides tossing items I also over dressed wearing shorts, a dress, a blazer, double socks, a bathing suit, 4 tank tops and hiding the bag my daughter brought me from Italy 🇮🇹 in my shorts. TSA had a field day with that one.
While this sounds ridiculous I recall moving from NY to the South wearing 3 coats and 4 # frozen butter In the coat pockets, which were wrapped in plastic, of course..
The Philadelphia Airport needs a renovation badly. Folks here are so nice don’t want to complain, however, staff and customers deserve better. No charging stations was my biggest beef, come on Philly..
On a positive note….car rental offices are near the airport, and actually within walking distance if you want to get run down in the process. The waiting lines were horrific, but everyone kept their cool with the hour plus wait.
TSA were friendly and quick. Liked the verbal in line reminders by staff. Here I didn’t have to remove my DVD player from my carry on either. Nice touch – wish they made that rule uniform.
While the airport is old but liked the art as it wasn’t too modern nor cumbersome.
The stores were the usual blend, fast food types with a sampling of supply stores for reading and travel needs.
Philadelphia Pride..
And there was a splattering of comfortable chairs..
But my favorite part was the staff acknowledgement.. we need to recognize folks more.
Tomorrow. The frontier experience – is it the Wild west or what???
Post wedding decided to get out of Dodge, meaning Stroudsbourg, Pennsylvania, so texted the happy couple my congrats, and got on my way. Had heard many of the attendees were staying for continued partying the following day, and what would a 66 year old mother be but in the way…
In my journey to Philadelphia stopped at Crystal Caves, and what a great tour. It has been around over 100 years, and discovered by farmer’s searching for limestone. Initially when the tour began 100 years ago it was 7 hours long with patrons using lanterns. Scary thought, especially when the docent shut off the cave lights for 60 seconds. It’s dark in there!!
These stalagmites were cut off by initial visitors – oh dear – not a thing to do. These formations are unable to survive outside the caves.
The humidity in the caves is 97-100 percent with temps 51 to 54. Initially the farmers used the caves to store food but that didn’t work as the food spoiled.
Was a great tour with a film at the start then 45 minutes in the caves.
Doesn’t this look like Prairie Dogs?
Adult fare $18 for a visit. Kids can also pan for stones, and there are picnic tables as well.
Don’t forget to make a wish.
If you are into stones, of which I am, they have a phenomenal assortment.
I found a small clear topaz for 1.99!
Transport here is a bit challenging with minimal signage so make sure you have full charge to navigate through the Pennsylvania farmlands…
During wedding week found myself in the hotel from hell. Just the stress I needed to add to the mix. Since I paid for 3 days in this Expedia failure stayed and locked up tightly each night. The final night was the pinnacle when 200 kids were carrying on poolside till 3 am.
Called the Strousbourg P.D., and this was handled promptly with all quietly in their beds by 0315.
Thanks, guys..
All that said one of my outings included the new Jennifer Lawrence 🎥. no Hard Feelings.
She’s returned to the screen after birthing I am told 2 children and back to her humor routes.
Thanks, Jen.
We all need a good laugh. I even had a stomach ache from laughing. Go see it!
Another get away during bridal journeys for “stuff” was Bushkill Falls.
This waterfall park was quite lovely, however, need to be agile to do this hike.
Also, signage can be difficult to navigate so recommend traveling with a partner for that second set of eyes..
Cost. $18 adult weekdays. There are picnic grounds and a gift shop on the grounds.
It was here I dropped my cell phone in a bit of 💦. On the way back to the rehearsal I received an odd message from the cell phone which I didn’t understand. Because the phone got wet it was unable to charge. Luckily I made it back to the house with enough charge as roads in Pennsylvania can be challenging and a cell phone is needed for navigation.
From this experience learned of the rice fix for wet phones. Put the phone overnight in a sealed plastic bag of rice and viola it charges again.
Spent the 5 days before the wedding doing projects to prepare for the event.. Much goes into these events, however, was able to find some side trips for rejuvenation. This one was the most inspiring occurring on the Summer Solstice.
Columcille Megalith Park was the brain child of a Presbyterian clergyman in 1974. This private park is open to the public, and a sacred space for inspiration, renewal, and rebirth. My visit on the Summer Solstice was the perfect date for this according to the volunteer.
The chapel, is dedicated to St. Columba, who was an Irish Abbot and missionary.
Most of the rocks are from the area with 17 dump trucks used to transport these beauties.
The ashes of the founder are located in this stone structure.
There is also a Labrinythe on the property. To begin this experience give an intention to Labrinythe, then walk through the stones to hear your message or messages. At the center offer thanksgiving to the Labrinythe via a rock, flower 🌸 or coin then continue your return walk.. Upon reaching the beginning turn, and thank the Labrinythe once again for the message.
A donation of 10 dollars is requested, and there is a film in the honor system gift shop with a nice collection of varied stones for purchase.
The Park can be used for special events with written requests.
Young Retiree Needs a Life 