The Epic Search for a Cheap Lobster
Jan 2, 2006, 2:05 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DCA
Posts: 3,395
The Epic Search for a Cheap Lobster
The Epic Search for a Cheap Lobster
Or: “So they make a Portland in Maine now. Oh…”
In honor of Independence Air’s untimely demise I thought I would share a story about this great airline
A little background info:
Dr. Cha and I have been best friends for nine years. We went to high school together and both did our undergrads at the University of Michigan. After undergrad he went to Med School and I went into a MPA program to do Public Finance. When I think back at my memories of “crazy” things I have done over the years, I can honestly say the good doctor is in all of them.
Anyway, we both bought Glide Passes this summer on Indy Air, which entitled the holder (a ‘college’ student) to fly all they wanted on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday for just paying the taxes (Around 10 bucks a segment).
Anyway, I was working as a summer intern for a major congressional agency when I got a call from my physician…
“Dood… didn’t you say you get every other Wednesday off?”
Me: “Yeah… DOOOOD… I have been told I am the only person in the entire team with Wednesday as a Flex Day.”
Dr Cha “You know what we should do?” Me: “No idea…”
“We should go on an epic search for a cheap lobster”, Me: “Cha… you remember I am mildly allergic to seafood, right?”
Dr Cha. “Dood… I am a doctor, you will be fine”.
Cha is definitely not a doctor, yet. But, the trip sounded like a lot of fun and my allergy is pretty mild. And so it began, we made plans to day trip from Dulles to Portland, Maine. Since we had found a loophole earlier in the summer with the Happy Bags promotion the trip only cost us 40 cents.
The Trip
I woke up at my tenement (I spent like 2 minutes deciding between the word “apartment” and tenement… ) around 4:30 and made the 20 minute walk to the Metro. The Metro at 5am is pretty entertaining; it is an eclectic mixture of those going to their days and a handful coming home from their nights. Anyway, I met up with the good doctor at Roselyn and we waited for the metro bus to Dulles. As we were on the bus, cha asked me “Yo dood… umm… did you bring any money?” I looked in my wallet and reported that I had five one dollar bills. Cha informed me that he had one dollar… The trip was already well on its way to being memorable.
Anyway, we arrived at Dulles 15 minutes late at 7:45. Our flight was schedule to depart at 8:10. We sprinted to security and found a super long line. Not even cha’s appeals to the TSA agent that he “had a platinum card” could get us into a faster line. (Side note: Cha likes to make fun of my Amex Platinum card by showing his Visa Student Platinum card… ). Anyway, we lucked out and our flight was delayed 15 minutes awaiting inbound passengers. So, we boarded the flight and were greeted by quite possibly the most beautiful flight attendant in the 101 years of aviation. It was awesome!
Anyway, we settled into Indy Air’s version of First Class (e.g. the bulkhead…) and placed our drink orders. The flight itself was uneventful and had everything I ever ask for in a fight (On Time, Bulkhead or Exit Row, and a full can of pop).
The only problem that arose on the flight was that each of us had apparently assigned the other the task of figuring out how to get into town from the airport. So, we landed in Portland with six dollars and no idea how to get into town. To address these problems, we figured we would hit an ATM machine in the airport before heading to the information desk for some help. Fortunately, both the ATMs and info desk were being “upgraded” and thus didn’t exist. I did manage to pick up a cartoon map that was not drawn to scale and seemed to have some perspective issues. Anyway, as we were considering our options in front of the airport, a bus miraculously arrived so the doctor and I jumped on after asking the critical question “This goes to Portland, MAINE, right?” (With the emphasis on Maine as in to imply the alternative was Oregon, it was funny at the time...)
So, we were riding on a bus that we were certain was heading to Maine trying to use our cartoon map to figure out where the cheap lobster was and where a restaurant that we had bought a $25 gift certificate on Restaurant.com was located. At this time, I was really concerned that the road we were riding on would be gobbled up by the McDonald’s restaurant that according to the map was larger than four city blocks. Ultimately, the locals on the bus took mercy on us and told us where the get off… (I have to say all the people we encountered in Maine were amazingly friendly to us).
As it turned out, the Restaurant we were searching for had closed for three weeks while the owners vacationed in Italy. No amount of knocking on their door was sufficient to bring the owners back. (Although a hilarious account of this event did earn the good doctor a couple free restaurant.com gift certificates, hahaha).
Anyway, we headed down to the port and just wandered around the waterfront, eventually finding a pretty decent local’s bar to grab some food. We spent about an hour talking to the bartender and a fisherman about how the industry worked and about their local economy. We also heard a hilarious story about how our companions had earned a lifetime ban from a neighboring bar. Furthermore, we expressed our horror at the summary judgment another bar owner had rendered against them for simply attacking patrons with beer bottles. After hearing that story we had to bid adieu but not before getting some recommendations of places where we could find some cheap lobsters.
Eventually, we found this industrial pier, which had one retail shop and several fish processing establishments. We went into the retail establishment and had a great conversation with the owner’s daughter. She told us a lot about how the wholesale business worked (apparently most of their business was wholesaling and just did the retail on the side) and showed us Midwesterners what claims, crabs, and lobster look like alive. She also let us see a 5 pound lobster, which was super cool. In retrospect, I am 99% sure she was flirting with us, which is awesome, although like typical guys we didn’t realize it until six hours later in DC... We told her about how we day tripped all over the coast, which I think she found pretty cool. Eventually, we ran out of conversation topics so it turned to aggressive negotiations to secure a cheap (and cooked) lobster. We eventually settled on a slightly irregular model that we got for like 6 bucks, which was fine by me (as I mentioned earlier I am slightly allergic…).
Anyway, we took our cooked lobster to the end of the pier, where we found a long abandoned half of a picnic table. I can only assume it was an employee break area, but cha and I sat at the table at the end of the pier surrounded by water. It was an amazing view as we ate our lobster. Two piers down you could see this magnificent restaurant where people were eating their 40 dollar lobsters and looking at the same view. I really think, though, that the completion of our quest and the fun we had doing it was the truly rewarding part of the experience.
Our trip back to the airport was pretty unremarkable, but when we got there we found our flight was delayed for an hour or so owing to a thunderstorm at Dulles. Cha was a little worried that he might miss his connecting flight to Detroit, but a friendly telephone agent put a note in his PNR to accommodate him on the later flight. (They were booked as separate reservations, but the flight to DTW was pushed back too, so it didn’t matter in the end).
Eventually, we started boarding and cha and I took our customary First Class seats 1A and C on a brand new Airbus 319. Either US Airways or United started rebooking people onto our flight since they cancelled their flight inbound to Dulles and cabin crew made an announcement for all the new passengers to take “any available seat.” Since we had the middle seat open, we decided to break out a few things we had learned in Flyertalk’s Southwest thread on strategies to prevent people from taking the middle seat. Anyway, we pretended like we were asleep and spread out into B and every single person (nearly 50 people!) walked right pass our seat. It was awesome! To tell the truth, if someone wanted B, there was no way either us was going to give up either the window or aisle to sit together.
Ultimately, our plane departed (exactly 90 seconds too early) and I paid Cha my remaining four dollars, which he used as a co pay to buy a beer. (We had bet on the departure time).
I hope that you have enjoyed my trip report. If people wish I will write up my exciting daytrip to Savannah, in which I successfully managed to dodge my extended family, our record time doing the Freedom Trail in Boston, or the time I had my dry cleaning done in Burlington, Vt.
Or: “So they make a Portland in Maine now. Oh…”
In honor of Independence Air’s untimely demise I thought I would share a story about this great airline
A little background info:
Dr. Cha and I have been best friends for nine years. We went to high school together and both did our undergrads at the University of Michigan. After undergrad he went to Med School and I went into a MPA program to do Public Finance. When I think back at my memories of “crazy” things I have done over the years, I can honestly say the good doctor is in all of them.
Anyway, we both bought Glide Passes this summer on Indy Air, which entitled the holder (a ‘college’ student) to fly all they wanted on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday for just paying the taxes (Around 10 bucks a segment).Anyway, I was working as a summer intern for a major congressional agency when I got a call from my physician…
“Dood… didn’t you say you get every other Wednesday off?”
Me: “Yeah… DOOOOD… I have been told I am the only person in the entire team with Wednesday as a Flex Day.”
Dr Cha “You know what we should do?” Me: “No idea…”
“We should go on an epic search for a cheap lobster”, Me: “Cha… you remember I am mildly allergic to seafood, right?”
Dr Cha. “Dood… I am a doctor, you will be fine”.
Cha is definitely not a doctor, yet. But, the trip sounded like a lot of fun and my allergy is pretty mild. And so it began, we made plans to day trip from Dulles to Portland, Maine. Since we had found a loophole earlier in the summer with the Happy Bags promotion the trip only cost us 40 cents.
The Trip
I woke up at my tenement (I spent like 2 minutes deciding between the word “apartment” and tenement…
) around 4:30 and made the 20 minute walk to the Metro. The Metro at 5am is pretty entertaining; it is an eclectic mixture of those going to their days and a handful coming home from their nights. Anyway, I met up with the good doctor at Roselyn and we waited for the metro bus to Dulles. As we were on the bus, cha asked me “Yo dood… umm… did you bring any money?” I looked in my wallet and reported that I had five one dollar bills. Cha informed me that he had one dollar… The trip was already well on its way to being memorable.Anyway, we arrived at Dulles 15 minutes late at 7:45. Our flight was schedule to depart at 8:10. We sprinted to security and found a super long line. Not even cha’s appeals to the TSA agent that he “had a platinum card” could get us into a faster line. (Side note: Cha likes to make fun of my Amex Platinum card by showing his Visa Student Platinum card…
). Anyway, we lucked out and our flight was delayed 15 minutes awaiting inbound passengers. So, we boarded the flight and were greeted by quite possibly the most beautiful flight attendant in the 101 years of aviation. It was awesome! Anyway, we settled into Indy Air’s version of First Class (e.g. the bulkhead…) and placed our drink orders. The flight itself was uneventful and had everything I ever ask for in a fight (On Time, Bulkhead or Exit Row, and a full can of pop).
The only problem that arose on the flight was that each of us had apparently assigned the other the task of figuring out how to get into town from the airport. So, we landed in Portland with six dollars and no idea how to get into town. To address these problems, we figured we would hit an ATM machine in the airport before heading to the information desk for some help. Fortunately, both the ATMs and info desk were being “upgraded” and thus didn’t exist. I did manage to pick up a cartoon map that was not drawn to scale and seemed to have some perspective issues. Anyway, as we were considering our options in front of the airport, a bus miraculously arrived so the doctor and I jumped on after asking the critical question “This goes to Portland, MAINE, right?” (With the emphasis on Maine as in to imply the alternative was Oregon, it was funny at the time...)
So, we were riding on a bus that we were certain was heading to Maine trying to use our cartoon map to figure out where the cheap lobster was and where a restaurant that we had bought a $25 gift certificate on Restaurant.com was located. At this time, I was really concerned that the road we were riding on would be gobbled up by the McDonald’s restaurant that according to the map was larger than four city blocks. Ultimately, the locals on the bus took mercy on us and told us where the get off… (I have to say all the people we encountered in Maine were amazingly friendly to us).
As it turned out, the Restaurant we were searching for had closed for three weeks while the owners vacationed in Italy. No amount of knocking on their door was sufficient to bring the owners back. (Although a hilarious account of this event did earn the good doctor a couple free restaurant.com gift certificates, hahaha).
Anyway, we headed down to the port and just wandered around the waterfront, eventually finding a pretty decent local’s bar to grab some food. We spent about an hour talking to the bartender and a fisherman about how the industry worked and about their local economy. We also heard a hilarious story about how our companions had earned a lifetime ban from a neighboring bar. Furthermore, we expressed our horror at the summary judgment another bar owner had rendered against them for simply attacking patrons with beer bottles. After hearing that story we had to bid adieu but not before getting some recommendations of places where we could find some cheap lobsters.
Eventually, we found this industrial pier, which had one retail shop and several fish processing establishments. We went into the retail establishment and had a great conversation with the owner’s daughter. She told us a lot about how the wholesale business worked (apparently most of their business was wholesaling and just did the retail on the side) and showed us Midwesterners what claims, crabs, and lobster look like alive. She also let us see a 5 pound lobster, which was super cool. In retrospect, I am 99% sure she was flirting with us, which is awesome, although like typical guys we didn’t realize it until six hours later in DC... We told her about how we day tripped all over the coast, which I think she found pretty cool. Eventually, we ran out of conversation topics so it turned to aggressive negotiations to secure a cheap (and cooked) lobster. We eventually settled on a slightly irregular model that we got for like 6 bucks, which was fine by me (as I mentioned earlier I am slightly allergic…).
Anyway, we took our cooked lobster to the end of the pier, where we found a long abandoned half of a picnic table. I can only assume it was an employee break area, but cha and I sat at the table at the end of the pier surrounded by water. It was an amazing view as we ate our lobster. Two piers down you could see this magnificent restaurant where people were eating their 40 dollar lobsters and looking at the same view. I really think, though, that the completion of our quest and the fun we had doing it was the truly rewarding part of the experience.
Our trip back to the airport was pretty unremarkable, but when we got there we found our flight was delayed for an hour or so owing to a thunderstorm at Dulles. Cha was a little worried that he might miss his connecting flight to Detroit, but a friendly telephone agent put a note in his PNR to accommodate him on the later flight. (They were booked as separate reservations, but the flight to DTW was pushed back too, so it didn’t matter in the end).
Eventually, we started boarding and cha and I took our customary First Class seats 1A and C on a brand new Airbus 319. Either US Airways or United started rebooking people onto our flight since they cancelled their flight inbound to Dulles and cabin crew made an announcement for all the new passengers to take “any available seat.” Since we had the middle seat open, we decided to break out a few things we had learned in Flyertalk’s Southwest thread on strategies to prevent people from taking the middle seat. Anyway, we pretended like we were asleep and spread out into B and every single person (nearly 50 people!) walked right pass our seat. It was awesome! To tell the truth, if someone wanted B, there was no way either us was going to give up either the window or aisle to sit together.
Ultimately, our plane departed (exactly 90 seconds too early) and I paid Cha my remaining four dollars, which he used as a co pay to buy a beer. (We had bet on the departure time).
I hope that you have enjoyed my trip report. If people wish I will write up my exciting daytrip to Savannah, in which I successfully managed to dodge my extended family, our record time doing the Freedom Trail in Boston, or the time I had my dry cleaning done in Burlington, Vt.
Apr 29, 2008, 6:58 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DCA
Posts: 3,395
Just to forshadow. The good doctor is getting married and he and I are going to go on one last adventure before he settles into a life of marietal bliss and I continue my nomadic existence. Hawaii! The long way via Hong Kong and Tokyo.