hoyateach
Oct 13, 09, 11:28 pm
The Trip There
On Valentine’s Day of this past year, I took the State Department’s Foreign Service exam. If all went well, it would be the first step on the road to joining the American diplomatic corps and representing my country at various postings around the world. As it happened, I passed the exam as well as the subsequent step of submitting a series of short answers to 5 biographical questions. Up next: The Oral Assessment. (http://careers.state.gov/officer/oa.html)
I booked the flight to DCA using frequent flier miles and stayed with a friend so the total travel cost, not including meals along the way, was $10. Not bad.
The trip started the night before with an hour-long drive from our Texas apartment to the Hampton Inn at SHV. Saying goodbye to my infant daughter for the first time was tougher than I thought it would be. I mean, really, how can you be happy to kiss this face (http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/jyj101/Newborn/IMG_6675.jpg) goodbye?
But leave it I did. I checked into Room 413 and found that part of the hallway was under renovation. No work was happening at night, thank God, so I got a decent night’s sleep.
The room. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1277.jpg)
Rehab. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1280.jpg)
Northwest Airlines Flight 4385
Shreveport-Memphis
Scheduled: 0615-0724
Actual: 0605-0701
Seat 4A CRJ-200
Gate 11
September 27, 2009
I awoke at 0500, took a brief shower, dressed, grabbed my bags, and headed downstairs. The Hampton Inn at SHV allows guests to leave their cars in the parking lot at no cost so I tossed a small bag of laundry into the trunk and caught the hotel shuttle bus across the street to the main terminal.
Inside SHV (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1282.jpg)
I reprinted my boarding pass at one of the self-check-in terminals and was delighted to see that an image of a NW-liveried A330 was still the default image for NW-coded flights. I’ve been flying NW since I was 14 and have mixed feelings about its merger with Delta. This trip, I realized, might be my chance to fly on the “old” NW before the planes and people are fully subsumed into DL and the Northwest brand vanishes into history.
I polished off the complementary bottle of water I’d found in my hotel room before passing through security and found myself in line behind four middle-aged guys on their way to Canada for a hunting trip. The TSA screeners were friendly despite being on the job at 0530 on a Sunday morning.
My bag was passed through the x-ray machine four times – a personal record – because, apparently, my CD case was somehow suspicious. Seriously?
I waited at Gate 11, once NW’s sole gate at SHV and now re-branded with the DL logo.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1284.jpg)
The wait was some 15 minutes and the majority of today’s passengers were already waiting at the gate. I passed the time chatting with one of the blue-shirted TSA agents about my job interview in DC and gave the State Department’s career website url (careers.state.gov). You know, in case she wants to move up in the world.
Boarding commenced at 0550 and it went quickly. The aircraft doors closed at 0605. Only 20 or so passengers today and I had an empty next to me. I asked the FA how she liked working for DL and she said she liked it. I wonder if that was the truth or merely the correct response.
Pondering my expansive legroom, I reflected on my first flight into SHV from MEM just a few years earlier, in FC on one of NW’s now-retired Avro RJ-85s. How times have changed.
We pulled away from the gate 0611 and started taxiing. I noticed a set of bright lights on the taxiway heading in our direction. Apparently, the tower did, too. We braked hard at 0612, pulled off, then turned around and doubled back. Going the wrong way, perhaps?
We were first in line for takeoff and rolled down Runway 14, lifting off smoothly at 0618. We took a long, sweeping turn to the right and passed north of Shreveport. At 10,000 feet I got my first glimpse of dawn in the clear, dark sky. It reminded me how tired I was.
Our FA announced that sodas were free, the trail mix was $3.00, and came around with the cart. I rested, read the Sunday Shreveport Times I’d snagged at the hotel, and jotted notes for this report.
Notes. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1286.jpg)
At 0646, we started a gentle descent into MEM. Moments later, the captain announced that we were some 80 miles out. We took a southerly approach, crossed the Mississippi River, and swung left.
The mighty Mississippi. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1298.jpg)
The descent was calm – we waggled a bit on short final – and landed on Runway 36L at 0701, over 20 minutes early. We taxied around the end of one of the B Terminal wings which, to my delight, was crowded with NW-liveried aircraft.
MEM (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1303.jpg)
Unfortunately, it seemed we landed a little too early. Once at the gate, we had to wait for an empty luggage cart to be pulled out of the way before we dock with the jetbridge, which we finally did at 0709.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1312.jpg)
On the way out, I chatted a bit with a young uniformed U.S. Air Force Airman on his way to Afghanistan. He was cheerful to the point of irritation but seemed to have no qualms about heading into a war zone. I shook his hand and offered him luck. I hope he’s okay.
Northwest Airlines Flight 1644
Memphis-Washington National
Scheduled: 0830-1130
Actual: 0827-1120
Seat 7A Airbus A319
Gate B39
September 27, 2009
I killed some time at the airport’s sole bookstore, chatted with my sweetie on the phone, and made my way to the gate around 0755. I encountered a mob scene.
Scene of the mob. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1313.jpg)
Apparently, some genius at DL/NW looked at the schedule, saw that flights from MEM to DCA, LGA, DTW, and LAX all left within a 4 minutes span, and thought, “hey, let’s put all 4 flights at adjoining gates!”
I hung back for a while and let the crowd thin when the flights to LGA and LAX were called.
Around 0800, boarding for the DCA flight was announced.
The gate (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1316.jpg).
The DL signage is everywhere in MEM now.
I settled into my seat at 0810 and gave thanks that the middle seat remained free when the door closed. We pushed back at 0827 and, even though we sat near the gate for several minutes, still beat the other 3 flights onto the runway.
We took off from Runway 18L, over a handful of U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo planes, and eventually topped out at 37,000 feet.
Globemaster. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1319.jpg)
Once airborne, I leaned back, read, napped, and rested as best I could. The seats on the Airbus felt palatial compared those I’d left behind on the CRJ and I managed to get a bit of sleep.
We started our descent about 25 minutes out of DCA. The closer we got to DCA, the thicker the cloud cover became. I’d picked my seat in the hopes of making a northerly approach down the Potomac and getting some pictures of downtown Washington. Alas, it was not to be. Alexandria and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge are nice but it’s not the same. A number of pleasure craft were in the Potomac. Despite the clouds, it seemed like a very nice Washington Sunday.
Alexandria (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1331.jpg)
We raced by the old A Terminal, where a pair of NW birds were waiting, and landed on Runway 4.
A Terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1336.jpg)
Of course, we had to double back the length of the runway to get to the A Terminal but I used the time to call a friend who was picking me up at the airport. I was back in DC, baby! And it was good to see DCA again, too.
Old DCA. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1339.jpg)
The Trip Home
On Monday morning, I showed up at a State Department Annex building, signed in, and joined a group of 9 other Foreign Service Officer hopefuls. To pass the Oral Assessment, I needed an average minimum score of 5.25 on a scale of 1-7 across three assessed areas in order to be provisionally hired. I walked out with a 5.00.
Ah, Hilary, we could’ve been grand together.
My flight home didn’t leave DCA until almost noon on Tuesday so, after saying farewell to my friend at her office that morning, I wandered towards my undergraduate alma mater and got a decent workout strolling the hills of Georgetown. I toted my camera along and soaked in some memories.
Georgetown. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1347.jpg)
From Georgetown, I caught what was for me a new bus, the Connector. It runs a circuit between upper Northwest DC and downtown Washington, using the same stops as the Metrobus. It costs $1.00, compared to $1.35 on the Metrobus. And the interior isn’t shabby, either.
Connector. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1354.jpg)
From the Foggy Bottom Metro station, I parted with $1.35 and hopped the Blue Line south towards DCA. At that hour of the morning, the trains out of downtown were fairly empty.
Metro train interior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1355.jpg)
Another beautiful day at DCA.
Metro train exterior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1356.jpg)
DCA station. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1357.jpg)
While in Georgetown, I’d noted the flight patterns out of DCA. Flights were heading up the Potomac north from the airport so I was optimistic about my chances of getting some good shots of DC on takeoff. I kept my fingers crossed.
The train platform is opposite the newer Terminal B building. I was in college when it was built and remember reading about a fancy gala ball held there the night before flight operations commenced. It’s still one of the prettier terminals out there.
B Terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1358.jpg)
I cruised the terminal a bit, got some Godiva chocolates for my sweetie, and spotted a film crew getting footage of the arrivals sections next to security at the south end of the building. And yet amateur photographers are sometimes harassed when they take pictures of airport interiors. Hmm.
I will say that I was never once approached or admonished for taking any of the pics anywhere in this report.
NW’s DCA operations are still – as of this writing – in the much older A Terminal and getting there meant a ten-minute walk that carried me through the original terminal building, now home to the DCA airport museum and some administrative offices. Much of the original seating and detailed glasswork remain, however, and it gives a sense of how air travel once was.
Old DCA Interior (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1359.jpg)
Glass detail. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1360.jpg)
Detail. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1361.jpg)
Once past the USO and into A Terminal proper, I snapped a quick runway shot and assured myself that planes were still taking off from Runway 4. So far, so good.
Runway 4. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1363.jpg)
Northwest Airlines Flight 1641
Washington National-Memphis
Scheduled: 1130-1244
Actual: 1126-1230
Seat 17A Airbus A319
Gate 4
September 29, 2009
I poked my head in the door of the NW Worldclub – excuse me, SkyClub – and chatted a moment with the attendant. She mentioned that the club was due to move to B Terminal in November, after which no one there was sure who would still have a job. The décor itself was the same as ever. No sense sprucing up a place you’re planning to leave, I suppose.
I reprinted my BP and was through security in 6 minutes. Not bad, considering. The airport even provided free plastic bags for the liquids carnival, the first airport I’ve ever seen do so.
Once clear of security, I stepped back into the past. I first set foot in the A Terminal in 1994, just before the start of my freshman year of college. I'd zipped through when I'd arrived because I had to meet my friend but now I could take a moment to study it. Aside from the new Dan Brown novel on the newsstand counter, it hadn’t changed a bit.
A Terminal. How Grand. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1364.jpg)
I strolled up to Gate 4 and waited.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1366.jpg)
While chatting on the phone with my sweetie, I watched a DL-colored A319 pull up, park, and start its turnaround procedure.
My ride to MEM. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1367.jpg)
The plane emptied. We waited, then started boarding. I’d originally booked Seat 17A, well back of the wing, in the hopes of getting some good pics of downtown DC when the plane took off and banked to the left on its initial climb. Despite the availability of seats toward the front when I reprinted my BP, I kept my seat in the back of the plane with crossed fingers.
We pushed back on time, rolled out to the taxiway, and turned… right. Hallelujah, I was finally going to get the photos I’d been wanting. We were second in line for takeoff, then first. The takeoff roll was smooth, though we had just a touch of light chop when the wheels left the ground. I pointed my camera at the window and started shooting.
The Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1373.jpg)
The National Mall (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1374.jpg)
The Kennedy Center and Watergate complex on the waterfront with the Whitehurst Parkway coming from the bottom left. You can also get a sense of the broad avenues that criss-cross the city’s otherwise sensible street grid. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1376.jpg)
My fair alma mater, Georgetown U. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1377.jpg)
The suburbs just north of Georgetown. Note the National Cathedral in the upper left corner. The REALLY observant among you should be able to spot the Russian Embassy. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1379.jpg)
We also overflew American University. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1380.jpg)
More cloud cover soon kicked so I eased the seat back and drifted off to sleep.
Plane interior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1390.jpg)
I awoke on final approach into MEM.
Approach into MEM. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1396.jpg)
The FedEx facility was full of aircraft that afterrnoon. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1397.jpg)
So was the Air National Guard facility, with its lineup of C-17s.
More Globemasters. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1405.jpg)
We touched down on Runway 36R:
Touchdown. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1406.jpg)
The taxi was short, taking us around sparsely-populated terminals (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1409.jpg)to Gate B7.
Northwest Airlines Flight 4301
Memphis-Shreveport
Scheduled: 1430-1540(approx)
Actual: 1431-1530 (approx)
Seat 3C CRJ-200
Gate C3
September 29, 2009
As at DCA, I popped into the new SkyClub. As far as I could tell, the only thing really different about it was the name, although I didn’t stick around to try the amenities. The staff was as friendly as ever. I hope they get to keep their jobs. With a couple of hours to kill, I meandered to C Concourse for a bagel and lox at Einstein Brothers’ Bagels. Delicious.
Einstein's. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1413.jpg)
After lunch, I lingered in the CNBC store, perusing magazines and eventually went to the gate.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1414.jpg)
When boarding was called, I stepped aboard what might be my last flight on a “bowling shoe” NW-liveried plane. For all my NW nostalgia, the bowling shoe is one paint scheme I won’t miss at all.
The bowling shoe. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1415.jpg)
Boarding was surprisingly smooth given the inoperative computer at the gate. The GA called each seat number as we passed with BPs showing, which a colleague entered by hand into a different terminal. Roughly two-thirds of the seats were occupied. Fortune again rewarded me with an empty companion seat.
We pushed back at 1431, rolled over to Runway 36L, and lined up behind another RJ and a FedEx MD-11.
MD-11. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1418.jpg)
We waited two minutes for wake turbulence to clear, then followed the NW CRJ into the sky. I snapped some pictures of the airport and city of Memphis on the way up. The contrast between the empty passenger terminal and the crowded FedEx facility was striking.
MEM main terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1421.jpg)
MEM main terminal II. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1422.jpg)
FedEx facility. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1424.jpg)
Memphis. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1427.jpg)
Takeoff was smooth and the sky perfect of aerial photography. The FA came around with her cart and poured a ginger ale for me. It wasn’t Krug and I wasn’t on SQ in First, but it was still nice to be flying home.
Not Krug. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1428.jpg)
Our descent into SHV was smooth as glass. We passed north of Barksdale AFB, home of the 8th Air Force and a squadron of massive B-52 bombers, and north of Shreveport proper. After a lingering left turn, we landed on Runway 14 with a hard thump and had to double back the length of the runway to Gate 11.
I returned to the hotel, retrieved my car, and headed home to my wife and daughter. The news I brought from DC might have been disappointing but coming home to family was the sweetest consolation of all.
On Valentine’s Day of this past year, I took the State Department’s Foreign Service exam. If all went well, it would be the first step on the road to joining the American diplomatic corps and representing my country at various postings around the world. As it happened, I passed the exam as well as the subsequent step of submitting a series of short answers to 5 biographical questions. Up next: The Oral Assessment. (http://careers.state.gov/officer/oa.html)
I booked the flight to DCA using frequent flier miles and stayed with a friend so the total travel cost, not including meals along the way, was $10. Not bad.
The trip started the night before with an hour-long drive from our Texas apartment to the Hampton Inn at SHV. Saying goodbye to my infant daughter for the first time was tougher than I thought it would be. I mean, really, how can you be happy to kiss this face (http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac261/jyj101/Newborn/IMG_6675.jpg) goodbye?
But leave it I did. I checked into Room 413 and found that part of the hallway was under renovation. No work was happening at night, thank God, so I got a decent night’s sleep.
The room. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1277.jpg)
Rehab. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1280.jpg)
Northwest Airlines Flight 4385
Shreveport-Memphis
Scheduled: 0615-0724
Actual: 0605-0701
Seat 4A CRJ-200
Gate 11
September 27, 2009
I awoke at 0500, took a brief shower, dressed, grabbed my bags, and headed downstairs. The Hampton Inn at SHV allows guests to leave their cars in the parking lot at no cost so I tossed a small bag of laundry into the trunk and caught the hotel shuttle bus across the street to the main terminal.
Inside SHV (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1282.jpg)
I reprinted my boarding pass at one of the self-check-in terminals and was delighted to see that an image of a NW-liveried A330 was still the default image for NW-coded flights. I’ve been flying NW since I was 14 and have mixed feelings about its merger with Delta. This trip, I realized, might be my chance to fly on the “old” NW before the planes and people are fully subsumed into DL and the Northwest brand vanishes into history.
I polished off the complementary bottle of water I’d found in my hotel room before passing through security and found myself in line behind four middle-aged guys on their way to Canada for a hunting trip. The TSA screeners were friendly despite being on the job at 0530 on a Sunday morning.
My bag was passed through the x-ray machine four times – a personal record – because, apparently, my CD case was somehow suspicious. Seriously?
I waited at Gate 11, once NW’s sole gate at SHV and now re-branded with the DL logo.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1284.jpg)
The wait was some 15 minutes and the majority of today’s passengers were already waiting at the gate. I passed the time chatting with one of the blue-shirted TSA agents about my job interview in DC and gave the State Department’s career website url (careers.state.gov). You know, in case she wants to move up in the world.
Boarding commenced at 0550 and it went quickly. The aircraft doors closed at 0605. Only 20 or so passengers today and I had an empty next to me. I asked the FA how she liked working for DL and she said she liked it. I wonder if that was the truth or merely the correct response.
Pondering my expansive legroom, I reflected on my first flight into SHV from MEM just a few years earlier, in FC on one of NW’s now-retired Avro RJ-85s. How times have changed.
We pulled away from the gate 0611 and started taxiing. I noticed a set of bright lights on the taxiway heading in our direction. Apparently, the tower did, too. We braked hard at 0612, pulled off, then turned around and doubled back. Going the wrong way, perhaps?
We were first in line for takeoff and rolled down Runway 14, lifting off smoothly at 0618. We took a long, sweeping turn to the right and passed north of Shreveport. At 10,000 feet I got my first glimpse of dawn in the clear, dark sky. It reminded me how tired I was.
Our FA announced that sodas were free, the trail mix was $3.00, and came around with the cart. I rested, read the Sunday Shreveport Times I’d snagged at the hotel, and jotted notes for this report.
Notes. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1286.jpg)
At 0646, we started a gentle descent into MEM. Moments later, the captain announced that we were some 80 miles out. We took a southerly approach, crossed the Mississippi River, and swung left.
The mighty Mississippi. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1298.jpg)
The descent was calm – we waggled a bit on short final – and landed on Runway 36L at 0701, over 20 minutes early. We taxied around the end of one of the B Terminal wings which, to my delight, was crowded with NW-liveried aircraft.
MEM (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1303.jpg)
Unfortunately, it seemed we landed a little too early. Once at the gate, we had to wait for an empty luggage cart to be pulled out of the way before we dock with the jetbridge, which we finally did at 0709.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1312.jpg)
On the way out, I chatted a bit with a young uniformed U.S. Air Force Airman on his way to Afghanistan. He was cheerful to the point of irritation but seemed to have no qualms about heading into a war zone. I shook his hand and offered him luck. I hope he’s okay.
Northwest Airlines Flight 1644
Memphis-Washington National
Scheduled: 0830-1130
Actual: 0827-1120
Seat 7A Airbus A319
Gate B39
September 27, 2009
I killed some time at the airport’s sole bookstore, chatted with my sweetie on the phone, and made my way to the gate around 0755. I encountered a mob scene.
Scene of the mob. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1313.jpg)
Apparently, some genius at DL/NW looked at the schedule, saw that flights from MEM to DCA, LGA, DTW, and LAX all left within a 4 minutes span, and thought, “hey, let’s put all 4 flights at adjoining gates!”
I hung back for a while and let the crowd thin when the flights to LGA and LAX were called.
Around 0800, boarding for the DCA flight was announced.
The gate (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1316.jpg).
The DL signage is everywhere in MEM now.
I settled into my seat at 0810 and gave thanks that the middle seat remained free when the door closed. We pushed back at 0827 and, even though we sat near the gate for several minutes, still beat the other 3 flights onto the runway.
We took off from Runway 18L, over a handful of U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo planes, and eventually topped out at 37,000 feet.
Globemaster. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1319.jpg)
Once airborne, I leaned back, read, napped, and rested as best I could. The seats on the Airbus felt palatial compared those I’d left behind on the CRJ and I managed to get a bit of sleep.
We started our descent about 25 minutes out of DCA. The closer we got to DCA, the thicker the cloud cover became. I’d picked my seat in the hopes of making a northerly approach down the Potomac and getting some pictures of downtown Washington. Alas, it was not to be. Alexandria and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge are nice but it’s not the same. A number of pleasure craft were in the Potomac. Despite the clouds, it seemed like a very nice Washington Sunday.
Alexandria (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1331.jpg)
We raced by the old A Terminal, where a pair of NW birds were waiting, and landed on Runway 4.
A Terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1336.jpg)
Of course, we had to double back the length of the runway to get to the A Terminal but I used the time to call a friend who was picking me up at the airport. I was back in DC, baby! And it was good to see DCA again, too.
Old DCA. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1339.jpg)
The Trip Home
On Monday morning, I showed up at a State Department Annex building, signed in, and joined a group of 9 other Foreign Service Officer hopefuls. To pass the Oral Assessment, I needed an average minimum score of 5.25 on a scale of 1-7 across three assessed areas in order to be provisionally hired. I walked out with a 5.00.
Ah, Hilary, we could’ve been grand together.
My flight home didn’t leave DCA until almost noon on Tuesday so, after saying farewell to my friend at her office that morning, I wandered towards my undergraduate alma mater and got a decent workout strolling the hills of Georgetown. I toted my camera along and soaked in some memories.
Georgetown. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1347.jpg)
From Georgetown, I caught what was for me a new bus, the Connector. It runs a circuit between upper Northwest DC and downtown Washington, using the same stops as the Metrobus. It costs $1.00, compared to $1.35 on the Metrobus. And the interior isn’t shabby, either.
Connector. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1354.jpg)
From the Foggy Bottom Metro station, I parted with $1.35 and hopped the Blue Line south towards DCA. At that hour of the morning, the trains out of downtown were fairly empty.
Metro train interior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1355.jpg)
Another beautiful day at DCA.
Metro train exterior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1356.jpg)
DCA station. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1357.jpg)
While in Georgetown, I’d noted the flight patterns out of DCA. Flights were heading up the Potomac north from the airport so I was optimistic about my chances of getting some good shots of DC on takeoff. I kept my fingers crossed.
The train platform is opposite the newer Terminal B building. I was in college when it was built and remember reading about a fancy gala ball held there the night before flight operations commenced. It’s still one of the prettier terminals out there.
B Terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1358.jpg)
I cruised the terminal a bit, got some Godiva chocolates for my sweetie, and spotted a film crew getting footage of the arrivals sections next to security at the south end of the building. And yet amateur photographers are sometimes harassed when they take pictures of airport interiors. Hmm.
I will say that I was never once approached or admonished for taking any of the pics anywhere in this report.
NW’s DCA operations are still – as of this writing – in the much older A Terminal and getting there meant a ten-minute walk that carried me through the original terminal building, now home to the DCA airport museum and some administrative offices. Much of the original seating and detailed glasswork remain, however, and it gives a sense of how air travel once was.
Old DCA Interior (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1359.jpg)
Glass detail. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1360.jpg)
Detail. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1361.jpg)
Once past the USO and into A Terminal proper, I snapped a quick runway shot and assured myself that planes were still taking off from Runway 4. So far, so good.
Runway 4. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1363.jpg)
Northwest Airlines Flight 1641
Washington National-Memphis
Scheduled: 1130-1244
Actual: 1126-1230
Seat 17A Airbus A319
Gate 4
September 29, 2009
I poked my head in the door of the NW Worldclub – excuse me, SkyClub – and chatted a moment with the attendant. She mentioned that the club was due to move to B Terminal in November, after which no one there was sure who would still have a job. The décor itself was the same as ever. No sense sprucing up a place you’re planning to leave, I suppose.
I reprinted my BP and was through security in 6 minutes. Not bad, considering. The airport even provided free plastic bags for the liquids carnival, the first airport I’ve ever seen do so.
Once clear of security, I stepped back into the past. I first set foot in the A Terminal in 1994, just before the start of my freshman year of college. I'd zipped through when I'd arrived because I had to meet my friend but now I could take a moment to study it. Aside from the new Dan Brown novel on the newsstand counter, it hadn’t changed a bit.
A Terminal. How Grand. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1364.jpg)
I strolled up to Gate 4 and waited.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1366.jpg)
While chatting on the phone with my sweetie, I watched a DL-colored A319 pull up, park, and start its turnaround procedure.
My ride to MEM. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1367.jpg)
The plane emptied. We waited, then started boarding. I’d originally booked Seat 17A, well back of the wing, in the hopes of getting some good pics of downtown DC when the plane took off and banked to the left on its initial climb. Despite the availability of seats toward the front when I reprinted my BP, I kept my seat in the back of the plane with crossed fingers.
We pushed back on time, rolled out to the taxiway, and turned… right. Hallelujah, I was finally going to get the photos I’d been wanting. We were second in line for takeoff, then first. The takeoff roll was smooth, though we had just a touch of light chop when the wheels left the ground. I pointed my camera at the window and started shooting.
The Tidal Basin and Jefferson Memorial (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1373.jpg)
The National Mall (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1374.jpg)
The Kennedy Center and Watergate complex on the waterfront with the Whitehurst Parkway coming from the bottom left. You can also get a sense of the broad avenues that criss-cross the city’s otherwise sensible street grid. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1376.jpg)
My fair alma mater, Georgetown U. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1377.jpg)
The suburbs just north of Georgetown. Note the National Cathedral in the upper left corner. The REALLY observant among you should be able to spot the Russian Embassy. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1379.jpg)
We also overflew American University. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1380.jpg)
More cloud cover soon kicked so I eased the seat back and drifted off to sleep.
Plane interior. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1390.jpg)
I awoke on final approach into MEM.
Approach into MEM. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1396.jpg)
The FedEx facility was full of aircraft that afterrnoon. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1397.jpg)
So was the Air National Guard facility, with its lineup of C-17s.
More Globemasters. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1405.jpg)
We touched down on Runway 36R:
Touchdown. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1406.jpg)
The taxi was short, taking us around sparsely-populated terminals (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1409.jpg)to Gate B7.
Northwest Airlines Flight 4301
Memphis-Shreveport
Scheduled: 1430-1540(approx)
Actual: 1431-1530 (approx)
Seat 3C CRJ-200
Gate C3
September 29, 2009
As at DCA, I popped into the new SkyClub. As far as I could tell, the only thing really different about it was the name, although I didn’t stick around to try the amenities. The staff was as friendly as ever. I hope they get to keep their jobs. With a couple of hours to kill, I meandered to C Concourse for a bagel and lox at Einstein Brothers’ Bagels. Delicious.
Einstein's. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1413.jpg)
After lunch, I lingered in the CNBC store, perusing magazines and eventually went to the gate.
The gate. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1414.jpg)
When boarding was called, I stepped aboard what might be my last flight on a “bowling shoe” NW-liveried plane. For all my NW nostalgia, the bowling shoe is one paint scheme I won’t miss at all.
The bowling shoe. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1415.jpg)
Boarding was surprisingly smooth given the inoperative computer at the gate. The GA called each seat number as we passed with BPs showing, which a colleague entered by hand into a different terminal. Roughly two-thirds of the seats were occupied. Fortune again rewarded me with an empty companion seat.
We pushed back at 1431, rolled over to Runway 36L, and lined up behind another RJ and a FedEx MD-11.
MD-11. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1418.jpg)
We waited two minutes for wake turbulence to clear, then followed the NW CRJ into the sky. I snapped some pictures of the airport and city of Memphis on the way up. The contrast between the empty passenger terminal and the crowded FedEx facility was striking.
MEM main terminal. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1421.jpg)
MEM main terminal II. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1422.jpg)
FedEx facility. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1424.jpg)
Memphis. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1427.jpg)
Takeoff was smooth and the sky perfect of aerial photography. The FA came around with her cart and poured a ginger ale for me. It wasn’t Krug and I wasn’t on SQ in First, but it was still nice to be flying home.
Not Krug. (http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s62/ftphotog/SHV-MEM-DCA%20RT%20Sept%2027-29%2009/100_1428.jpg)
Our descent into SHV was smooth as glass. We passed north of Barksdale AFB, home of the 8th Air Force and a squadron of massive B-52 bombers, and north of Shreveport proper. After a lingering left turn, we landed on Runway 14 with a hard thump and had to double back the length of the runway to Gate 11.
I returned to the hotel, retrieved my car, and headed home to my wife and daughter. The news I brought from DC might have been disappointing but coming home to family was the sweetest consolation of all.