Curacao - Day 1

[lsanderson]

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The flight, which left at 5:20 am from MSP to Atlanta, was a cattle car. They were offering vouchers because it was overbooked. We got to Atlanta 20 minutes early, so of course, we sat on the tarmac and waited for half an hour for the gate to open up. In Atlanta, we had to switch from the A terminal to the T terminal -- one terminal apart, but difficult for my cousin. Unlike MSP, the little scooter cars are as rare as hen's teeth in Atlanta, but we all made it to the gate and on the flight. I picked up two Sookie Stackhouse books in case I find time to read.

We also got into Curacao early, but unlike Atlanta where we had to wait for a gate to open up, they just wheeled the stairs out to the plane, warned us that it was a wee bit windy and to hang on to the passports and forms to get into the country. We went and got into some rather long lines. Several people, on getting to the agent, got sent to the back of the line. We never figured out if they didn't fillout their forms or filled them out wrong. I got the woman who sent several back around, and I made it on the first try. Still, it was fun to watch Merikans attempt to deal with another country's officials.

There was a group of four or five drag queens in one of the lines, most of whom were quite tall and thin. I didn't talk to them. They were not on the same plane we were on, and I think we made it through the initial line faster than they did. (We certainly made it through the customs line waay faster than anybody did.)

After we collected our suitcases, my cousin engaged a porter. He loaded our suitcases on a cart, went out to talk to the officials, and took a route that bypassed the quite long line that had formed by that time. He had several heated exchanges with other officials as we skirted the loong line, and any official oversight that I noticed. He took us to a bus, and after some paperwork, we wuz off through Willemstad to the resort.

We all went to this resort in Jamaica a few years ago, so it's not like we're unfamiliar.

There's music from the next resort or maybe from this one. There was a sax player in the main area when we went down for drinks and dinner. So far, the special drink has been a blue breeze, with Orange Curacao, coconut cream, pineapple juice, and vodka, and we've been consuming our fair share. The resort appears to be saturated with free wi-fi, and I've seen people down by the pool with their laptops trying to surf under a tropical sun.

I should be down at the bar drinking the pre paid for booze, or downtown at the gay bar. The one espresso I drank after dinner appears to have done some magic, but I suspect it will fade fast as flowers fair.

I slept some on the flight to Atlanta and a little bit on the second flight. At least it was nice not to end up in Alaska.

The movie was The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Granted the screens were about 4 inches by 6 inches, but I wasn't overwhelmed.